2 min
Addiction is a word people throw around a lot when it comes to food. Especially processed food, which is clearly created to trigger insatiable consumption. For food manufacturers, more eating = more money, thus this is the behavior they want.
However, for some people, addition is not a joke. Let’s explore food addiction: what it is, how it’s different from “regular” overeating, and what helps.
Eating for pleasure is coded into our DNA.
I want you to understand this first: Pleasure-driven hunger—also known as hedonic hunger—is:
Humans evolved to a state where eating is pleasurable, so they would be motivated to seek out food. Plus, it’s simply delightful to enjoy what you’re eating. Whether that’s a sweet treat, or a fresh, crunchy salad, enjoy it. It’s also normal to overeat occasionally, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Eating happens on a continuum.
On one end, there’s eating that just about matches your physical energy needs (typically resulting in a stable body weight).
On the other end, there’s food addiction, where eating far surpasses your energy requirements, and yet you don’t feel like you can stop.
How do you know it’s food addiction?
Food addiction affects 2 to 11% of people in Western countries, with rates highest in the US. Although food addiction has many similarities to binge eating disorder, food addiction is different in a few ways:
This is so important to understand: Food addiction is not anyone’s “fault.”
Research is still emerging, but we know that food addiction is associated with a number of biological, social, environmental, and psychological factors. For example, food addiction is more likely…
How to Help
As a coach, I cannot diagnose or treat food addiction, or any other form of disordered eating. But how can I help?