FOOD ADDICTION: SYMPTOMS, CAUSES, TREATMENT - ARTE - 2024

The food addiction is a psychological disorder that can affect some people unable to control their appetite and impulse eating high - calorie and palatable food. This is a problem that was not believed in until a few years ago. However, we have more and more evidence about him.

Simply put, this addiction is simply the urge to eat junk food in the same way that someone else might need to take drugs. In this process, the same areas of the brain are involved, and the same neurotransmitters; and in fact, many of the symptoms are extremely similar.

In addition, food addiction combines these characteristics with others more frequent in different types of eating disorders. For example, some factors are similar to those found in bulimia, in people who frequently "binge," and in those who binge eat too much.

Despite the severity of this problem, we still don't know much about what effects it may have in the long term or how it occurs in the first place. For this reason, it is necessary that we continue researching on food addiction. In this article we will tell you everything we know about her so far.

Symptoms

There is no simple way to diagnose food addiction. In the same way that occurs in similar cases caused by other types of substances, most of the effects have to do with behavior. Here we will see some of the most common symptoms caused by this disorder.

Cravings

Often times, people with food addiction are obsessed with a few types of food. In general, it is about junk food: pizzas, hamburgers, sweets and desserts… In fact, if they do not eat them frequently, they begin to notice that they miss them or "need" them.

These cravings can make a person feel very bad. Often times, even if you consciously want to avoid these foods, you will end up succumbing to temptation and ingesting them. This can be especially revealing if it causes the individual to skip their diet or gain more weight than they would like.

Eat more than normal

When a person with a food addiction gives up and begins to eat the food they want, they are often unable to stop. Even if you set out to take only a certain amount, most of the time you will end up breaking your own rules and continuing until you can't take it anymore.

This symptom can be especially serious when the individual eats until completely full. Often times, this will make you feel physically unwell, having pushed your body to the limit. If this happens often, it may be one of the most obvious symptoms of food addiction.

Guilt after eating

Many times, people with this problem find that they are doing something that they should not. For this reason, on many occasions the physical symptoms are added to others of a purely psychological nature. The most frequent of these is guilt: the feeling that something has been done that should not be done.

Guilt is often accompanied by a drop in self-esteem and the feeling of being a failure. The problem is that this symptom tends to reinforce the addiction, as the person seeks to feel better by eating his favorite food again. This is one of the effects that make ending this disorder so difficult.

Excuses about the problem

Because they are often unable to break their food addiction, people with this disorder try to come up with all sorts of excuses to help them momentarily feel better about themselves. However, deep down they know they are not true, so their problems tend to get worse over time.

Some of the most common excuses are the following:

- "I'm only going to do it this time."

- «Actually, nothing happens to eat something I like».

- "Yesterday I ate healthy, I can afford to skip the diet for a day."

Of course, in the long run these excuses make recovery much more difficult for the patient and tend to compound the problems suffered due to addiction.

Repeated attempts to break addiction

As we have already mentioned, it is common for people with food addiction to be aware that they have a problem. Therefore, they have usually tried to give up their harmful habits on several occasions. However, they tend to fail over and over again in their attempts.

It is also common for these individuals to have tried different approaches to get rid of their addiction. For example, they have been able to go on a strict diet for a while; Or have you considered cheat days every now and then so it won't be so hard. However, they relapse again and again in the problem.

Attempts to hide the problem

Out of shame and guilt over what happens to them, most food addicts try to keep others from finding out about it.

If they live with their family or roommates, they will deny having eaten certain foods from the house. Instead, if they live alone, they will try to appear healthy when dating people they know.

This symptom also tends to lower their self-esteem even more. In addition, it is usually very easy to see that it is a lie. When caught, food addicts feel very embarrassed and may even begin to avoid their friends and loved ones.

Causes

We have already learned to recognize the main symptoms of food addiction. However, why is this problem occurring? Below we will see the main explanations that are currently accepted.

Excess dopamine in the brain

Dopamine is one of the main neurotransmitters that are responsible for making us feel good. It is generally a very positive substance; but it also plays a fundamental role in the appearance and maintenance of addictions. The one that has to do with food is no exception.

Some types of foods, known as "highly palatable," are capable of dramatically affecting the dopamine reward system, causing us to need them more and more to simply feel well. These foods are usually high in calories, fat, sugar, or refined carbohydrates; and low in nutrients.

The problem is that, as we begin to eat these foods more and more, our brain gets used to them. As they release large amounts of dopamine, we are becoming resistant to this substance, and each time we need a higher dose to feel good.

Hormonal imbalances

Foods high in sugar or refined carbohydrates have a very marked impact on our hormones. Especially when we eat them, the body's insulin levels skyrocket, to avoid the harmful effects that these substances have on our body.

Unfortunately, as in the case of dopamine, we increasingly need higher levels of insulin in our bloodstream to achieve the same effects.

This process of insulin resistance has a large number of side effects, such as constant hunger or a greater ease in gaining weight.

Because of this, there comes a point where, no matter how much we eat, we still feel hungry and want to eat junk food.

Lack of nutrients

One of the most serious problems with junk food is that, although it is very filling and provides a lot of calories, it does not actually give our bodies the nutrients it needs to function.

For this reason, despite the fact that we have ingested much more than we require in terms of energy intake, we are still undernourished.

The main consequence of this is that, no matter how much we eat, we are always hungry. People with food addiction experience this effect in an exaggerated way, to the point that it is impossible for them to stop eating because they always feel hungry.

Emotional factors

Finally, people addicted to food often have other underlying problems that exacerbate their symptoms. In general, they suffer from difficulties such as lack of self-esteem, social isolation, a feeling of failure, or even more serious ones such as depression or certain forms of anxiety.

Food, by releasing dopamine in the brain, causes us to feel good momentarily. This is why these people tend to rely on it to improve their mood. However, this is always momentary, and in the long run they end up feeling even worse than they were at first.

Treatment

There is still no universally accepted method for treating a problem as complex as food addiction.

However, because its prevalence has not stopped increasing in recent years, more and more treatments and methods to overcome it appear. Here we will see some of the most effective.

Radical diet change

As we have seen, some of the most important factors that cause and support food addiction have to do with the nature of junk foods.

If they continue to be ingested, it is practically impossible to break the cycle of addiction and achieve a healthy relationship with food.

However, there are a multitude of diets and eating styles that alone can end most cases of food addiction, except the most serious. Different experts recommend different ways to achieve this; but most of them have a number of elements in common.

Perhaps the most important factor in this regard is the fact of abandoning processed foods and centering the diet around "real" food. This means that only elements that we can find in nature should be ingested: meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, legumes, dairy…

An exception to this is cereals. Despite being something that we can find in the natural world, humans are not especially well prepared to take them. Their impact on our hormones is very high, and therefore, they tend to aggravate the problems of food addiction.

12-step programs

As with almost all addictions (such as those related to alcohol or drugs), 12-step groups have recently emerged around the world that help those who come to them to break their toxic relationship with food.

If you are interested in trying this method, you just have to do a search on the networks to find one of these groups in your city. Try the words "food addicts anonymous" or similar; If you live in a large city, it is almost certain that you will be able to find one of them.

Fix the base problem

If you think that what has led you to develop an addiction to food has more to do with your emotions than with your body, it is very likely that nothing you do will help you until you can solve the underlying problem. This can happen, for example, if you have very low self-esteem or if you feel that you are invalid.

Solving emotional problems of this kind can be very difficult; But if you do, all the other difficulties in your life will almost magically disappear.

To achieve this, you can try from traditional disciplines such as meditation or yoga, to more modern methods such as self-help or therapy.

Seek help

That said, if you have been struggling with your food addiction for many years, unfortunately it is very likely that you will not be able to end it yourself. Luckily, there are many specialized psychological therapies in the treatment of addictions that can help you in this regard.

If you think you could use a little assistance to end your problem, do not hesitate to go to a specialist. Some of the currents that have been found to be more effective for these types of problems are cognitive-behavioral therapy and the use of psychotropic drugs to alleviate some of the most severe symptoms.

References

1. "Food addiction" in: Health Line. Retrieved on: October 28, 2018 from Health Line: healthline.com.
2. "Food addiction" in: WebMD. Retrieved on: October 28, 2018 from WebMD: webmd.com.
3. "Food Addiction: Causes, Symptoms, Signs & Treatment Help" in: Eating Disorder Hope. Retrieved on: October 28, 2018 from Eating Disorder Hope: eatingdisorderhope.com.
4. "5 Ways to Help If You Think You Have a Food Addiction" in: River Mend Health. Retrieved on: October 28, 2018 from River Mend Health: rivermendhealth.com.
5. "Food addiction" in: PsychGuides. Retrieved on: October 28, 2018 from PsychGuides: psychguides.com.