Is Food an Addiction?

I have been struggling the last few days and the desire to eat has almost overcome my ability to say no. It seems strange to me that the first few weeks were so easy and that on week three I would struggle so much. I have been reflecting on these desires for the last few days and I have come to realize that I am addicted to food. Many people argue that food cannot be an addiction, including the psychologist at my meeting last week, but let me explain.

It all started on Saturday when I had to go to an all day review session and then meeting with my study group. At one point everyone around me was eating potato chips (cheezy poofs even) and I was okay until they went for the tortilla chips and spinach and artichoke dip. Damn the dip!!! I made it through the day but Sunday was just as difficult. It started in the morning when I woke up and weighed myself and the freakin scale said I had gained a pound. Are you kidding me? I drink nothing but 800 calories a day and I gained a pound. WTF??? It didn't help that I was missing my man (he was out of town for an interview) and anxious (not sure why) and I literally had to leave the house for a little bit so that I wouldn't eat. Seeing that one pound gain on the scale devestated me and triggered this immense desire to drown my sorrows in food. I know just how ridiculous that sounds, but when you are on such a restrictive diet one pound seems like ten. It made me realize how much my emotions are tied to a ridiculous number and how I have such a propensity to sabotage myself.

So why do I think I am addicted to food? When I was at my heaviest I couldn't just have a handful of chips, or a slice of pizza, or quite frankly a taste of anything. I couldn't stop myself until the food was gone. It took many (more than 5) years for me to change my eating habits and still to this day I struggle with being able to walk away from food. I have constant internal battles with myself over meals and what to eat or snacks throughout the day such as a chip or a carrot. I have real emotional connections with what I eat and don't eat. I have equated food with happiness and fullfilment and togetherness and security and it is the one thing that has been constant in my life -- no matter how much I learn about nutrition and calories and fat and carbs, I still have to battle the desire to eat a Big Mac or Pizza or Meximelt from Taco Bell. I've often wondered how someone with so much knowledge and determination can have such irrational behavoir when it comes to food. Why would someone who knows that consuming too many calories and carbs is nutritional suicide and still do it? Who's to say, but I still did it when I was stressed, or sad, or bored, or to celebrate. Eating foods I knew were bad for me made me feel good for a little while - but that's the catch -- for a little while.

But is that an addicition? Are fatty foods my drug of choice? Some doctors these days think so - that food has become as addictive to some people as alcohol or cigarettes to others. What a lot of researchers are finding is that obesity, which once was thought to be a condition of the gastrointestinal tract - the stomach - now may be more of a psychological or neurological issue. Yep, that's right: The brain may be the culprit. Certain physicians believe that something in the brain of an obese person reacts to food, just as it would to other addictive substances. Food addiction is kind of a new term used to describe the compulsive or excessive craving for food to comfort the soul. Not only can this addiction be characterized by eating abnormal amounts of food (an entire carton of ice cream in one sitting, for instance) but the foods these "addicts" crave are not very healthy. When was the last time anyone said, "Gosh, I'd love to have a raw carrot right now!" or "I could really go for some steamed broccoli!" Not going to happen. Nutritionists have found that most people who are overweight tend to crave high-fat, high-calorie foods, which pack on the pounds. Studies have also shown that certain people who undergo bariatric surgery turn to other addictive habits after their operation, trading one addiction for another. So it becomes a vicious cycle. How to stop it? Doctors don't know, but they are researching ways to curb these cravings. There are also studies that show the withdrawal of food causes withdrawal symptoms in rats similair to drug addictions.

One article from USA Today cited:

Some studies focus on dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain associated with pleasure and reward. "Impaired function of the brain dopamine system could make some people more vulnerable to compulsive eating, which could lead to morbid obesity," Volkow says. She did groundbreaking research in this area while at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven (N.Y.) National Laboratory.

For some compulsive eaters, the drive to eat is so intense that it overshadows the motivation to engage in other rewarding activities, and it becomes difficult to exercise self-control, she says. This is similar to the compulsion that an addict feels to take drugs, she says. "When this occurs, the compulsive eating behavior can interfere with their well-being and their health."

Some experts say addiction is not the root of obesity and that food addiction is an overused term. They note there isn't enough research to prove that people are addicted to food and that people who turn to other addictions after treating their obesity with surgery may have addictive personalities, but that's not the driving force for obesity. These physicians say most obese people just don't know how to eat properly. They binge, they cut back, they go on diet after diet after diet. They splurge, feel guilty - the whole nine yards. They're not in control of their eating patterns. Obesity experts find that behavior modification and nutritional guidance usually help many obese patients lose enough weight to help them avoid certain illnesses, like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. So it's really more a life change than treating addiction.

Another exerpt from the article:

Although there is no official definition of food addiction, Gold defines it in much the same way as other substance dependence: "Eating too much despite consequences, even dire consequences to health; being preoccupied with food, food preparation and meals; trying and failing to cut back on food intake; feeling guilty about eating and overeating."
He believes some foods are more addictive than others. "It may be that doughnuts with high fat and high sugar cause more brain reward than soup."

Others pooh-pooh the idea of food addiction. "This is a dumbing down of the term 'addiction,' " says Rick Berman, executive director of the Center for Consumer Freedom, a group financed by the restaurant and food industry. "The term is being overused. People are not holding up convenience stores to get their hands on Twinkies.

"Lots of people love cheesecake and would eat it whenever it's offered, but I wouldn't call that an addiction," he says. "The issue here is the intensity of people's cravings, and those are going to differ."

As for me, I did lifestyle modification and even when I was gaining weight I exercised most days. Despite all those great lifestyle changes there are still days where instead of thinking of whole grain cereal and raisins, my head keeps telling me that spinach and artichoke dip would be good. Thinking about food is like a pounding obsession -- a hammer beating my head that is driving no nail. I hate food somedays and hate not being in control and allowing the demon of eating to take over me. Although I have never robbed anyone to feed my crack like addiction to food, I continued to practice bad eating habits knowing that I have a disease that can be controlled by what I eat -- for now atleast.

I am sure there will always be debates about food as an addiction because most people think being fat is a lack of self control and activity. Maybe that is true for some people, but as a most of the time healthy eater and avid exercise particpant--but still overweight, I will always beg to differ. Everyday I am on the Optifast program gives me strength and knowledge about my abilities to control my food behavoirs. It's not easy and I know that it will always be a struggle, but I am enjoying learning about myself on my journey as a work in progress!