Food addiction is real.

Food has not only gotten more accessible throughout the last century, but it’s also gotten more flavorful!  With flavor often comes significant amounts of calories, fats, and sugar.  

This has not only led to weight gain and a slew of health problems, but it’s also introduced the complicated world that is food addiction!

Thankfully, research with respect to food addiction has increased substantially - bringing in very compelling correlations. 

Let’s dive deeper into a research that uncovered some of the characteristics that seem to put people more at risk of developing food addiction. [1]   

The Risks

According to a research by Burrows, Hides, & Brown in 2017, food addiction was found to be more prevalent amongst:

• Women 

• People who enjoy soft drinks 
• Also known as Soda or Pop (Coke, Pepsi, Rootbeer, Redbull, Fruit Punch, Fanta, Sprite, Lemonade, Iced Tea… (yes, event the diet ones)

• People that tend to be Impulsive 
• (can also be described as people who are spontaneous/quick to act or tend to do things in the spur of the moment with much planning)

• People who experience depressive symptoms 
• Feeling sad, Hopeless, Tired, low self-esteem, loss of interest in activities

• People who experience anxiety/stress on a regular basis 

Confirming that Food Addiction is Very Real

This same study revealed something that I found fascinating.  They explained that amongst their participants, the vast majority of people who identified as being addicted to food fell into the category of what is considered severely addicted.  Almost no participants fell in the category of Mild or Moderately addicted to food [1]

Think what you will, but when I read that it reinforces my opinion that Food addiction is very real.  Just like you can’t me mildly or moderately addicted to alcohol, opioids, or heroin.  It is very hard for someone to be mildly or moderately addicted to junk food.  

You’re either someone who eats junk food in moderation and therefore has a healthy relationship with food, or you’re someone who has great difficulty slowing down your consumption of junk food.  

This would also explain how people who suffer from food addiction can go through phases where their relationship with food becomes more healthy - and then phases (or relapses) where their food addiction takes control, just like any other addict.  

The Solution

Is there hope?  

Of course there is!!  I wouldn’t be writing this article if there wasn’t.  

Let’s go back to this same research.  They found that people who eat vegetables on a regular basis tend to not become addicted to food. [1]

I will repeat this because I don’t want anyone to get confused.  The research did not say vegetarian people.  The research said that individuals who eat vegetables on a regular basis tend to not become addicted to food.  

So, increasing your vegetable intake could be one of the many antidotes shifting you slowly into the right direction.  

Now let’s go back to the research.  They mentioned that people who describe themselves as impulsive have a higher risk of developing a food addiction.[1]  

If we go with logic, we could then say that people who can learn to create more time in between their emotions and their reactions - who can learn to engage in long and careful consideration before doing something probably minimize their risk of suffering from food addiction.  It could be another form of antidote to slowly recover from a food addiction. 

The research also mentioned that people who enjoy soft drinks on a regular basis tend to become addicted to food,[1] so it would only make sense to work on decreasing your soft drink intake to slowly improve your chances of recovering from a food addiction.

The research talked about people who suffer from depressive symptoms and/or anxiety often become addicted to food.[1]  So again, using our logic, we could determine that learning how to better manage and regulate difficult emotions could be another form of antidote against food addiction!  

Let’s summarize our list of food addiction antidotes:

• Increasing the amount of vegetables you eat
• Decreasing the amount of soft drinks you consume (remember fruit juices and diet soda counts)
• learn to create more time in between their emotions and their reactions - who can learn to engage in long and careful consideration before doing something
• learning how to better manage and regulate difficult emotions

Ok, But How?

If you find yourself struggling to lose weight because you have a food addiction, and you don’t think a list of 4 food addiction antidotes is enough to get you to where you want to be, I get it!  That is why I created a training that goes deeper into the solutions.  But first, you can start with my 5-Minute Blueprint to STOP Snacking at Night!  Click here to Grab Your FREE Copy!  

Wirth love,

Julie Richard

Occupational Therapist| Certified Health Coach| Founder of Ulikeyou Weight Loss| Creator of the Evolve Method

REFERENCES

1- Journal Article, Differences in Dietary Preferences, Personality and Mental Health in Australian Adults with and without Food Addiction, Burrows, Tracy;Hides, Leanne;Brown, Robyn; 2017