How often do you hear that someone is "addicted to food"? Did you know that there is no such condition and that there is a downside to calling abnormal eating a "food addiction"?
Humans are hard-wired to experience pleasurable feelings from eating and sex to ensure both personal survival and survival of our species. Food is different from other "addictive substances" – we can give up alcohol and cigarettes without endangering our survival, but we must eat to survive. It’s fair to say that we are all addicted to food for this reason. When we eat, dopamine is released, and we feel good, which is nature’s way of making sure we eat again.
If "addiction" is not driving overeating, what is? Overeating and binge eating are compulsive behaviors that involve food. An important purpose for compulsive behavior is to relieve stress and discomfort. The person who regularly overeats or binges uses food much in the way that some people use alcohol or drugs. But there is a very important difference. A person can abstain from alcohol and drugs for an entire lifetime, but cannot abstain from food.
Research shows that the particular substance that a person uses to reduce pain and discomfort is less important than the reason for use. This is why not all people who use drugs become addicted. During the early 1970s it was common for U.S. soldiers to use heroin while stationed in Vietnam. They often had to be admitted to detox centers to withdraw after returning home. After detox, over 90% of soldiers stopped using heroin and never used it again.
At the same time, heroin use was increasing in the U.S., but the situation concerning discontinuation was quite different. Addicts found it much more difficult to quit, and many were admitted to rehab centers multiple times and never stopped using drugs. What made this situation even more confusing was that the soldiers in Vietnam were using much stronger heroin than the heroin used by drug addicts in the U.S. American soldiers should have had a much more difficult time withdrawing, but they did not. The reason: Why people use heroin is more important than the physical action of the drug.
Soldiers were using heroin to deal with the horrors of war. When they returned home, the threat was gone, so the need for heroin was gone for most of them too. On the other hand, the reasons why many American addicts continued to use heroin remained unresolved, which is one of the reasons they returned to the drug time and time again.[1]
Conventional treatment for "food addiction" usually involves some form of abstinence from certain foods such as sugar, white flour, desserts, or bread. The rationale is that person can’t have any of these foods because eating them will "trigger" a return to abnormal eating patterns.
There are several problems with this strategy. The first is that abstention from particular foods rarely works. Sooner or later the person eats bread or cake or a cookie.
Another is that this strategy relies on perfectionism and all-or-nothing thinking, two of the most common cognitive distortions that drive people to seek therapy. Perhaps most important is that the success rate for abstinence programs overall is very low, even with substances for which there is more clear evidence of harm and addiction like drugs and alcohol. And abstention does not address the psychology of use. If it did, there would be no need for abstention.
The reality is that poor habits and carrying excess weight are indications of a bigger problem – life! Most chronically overweight, serial dieters, in addition to an abnormal relationship with food, have other issues and thinking patterns that interfere with success, such as, unrealistic goals and an inability to set boundaries.
The goal should be to help the overweight person change his or her thinking and behavior patterns AND to learn how to have a normal relationship with food. ALL people who want to have a normal relationship with food CAN have a normal relationship with food IF they are willing to change their minds and adopt new thought patterns and behaviors.
Humans are hard-wired to experience pleasurable feelings from eating and sex to ensure both personal survival and survival of our species. Food is different from other "addictive substances" – we can give up alcohol and cigarettes without endangering our survival, but we must eat to survive. It’s fair to say that we are all addicted to food for this reason. When we eat, dopamine is released, and we feel good, which is nature’s way of making sure we eat again.
If "addiction" is not driving overeating, what is? Overeating and binge eating are compulsive behaviors that involve food. An important purpose for compulsive behavior is to relieve stress and discomfort. The person who regularly overeats or binges uses food much in the way that some people use alcohol or drugs. But there is a very important difference. A person can abstain from alcohol and drugs for an entire lifetime, but cannot abstain from food.
Research shows that the particular substance that a person uses to reduce pain and discomfort is less important than the reason for use. This is why not all people who use drugs become addicted. During the early 1970s it was common for U.S. soldiers to use heroin while stationed in Vietnam. They often had to be admitted to detox centers to withdraw after returning home. After detox, over 90% of soldiers stopped using heroin and never used it again.
At the same time, heroin use was increasing in the U.S., but the situation concerning discontinuation was quite different. Addicts found it much more difficult to quit, and many were admitted to rehab centers multiple times and never stopped using drugs. What made this situation even more confusing was that the soldiers in Vietnam were using much stronger heroin than the heroin used by drug addicts in the U.S. American soldiers should have had a much more difficult time withdrawing, but they did not. The reason: Why people use heroin is more important than the physical action of the drug.
Soldiers were using heroin to deal with the horrors of war. When they returned home, the threat was gone, so the need for heroin was gone for most of them too. On the other hand, the reasons why many American addicts continued to use heroin remained unresolved, which is one of the reasons they returned to the drug time and time again.[1]
Conventional treatment for "food addiction" usually involves some form of abstinence from certain foods such as sugar, white flour, desserts, or bread. The rationale is that person can’t have any of these foods because eating them will "trigger" a return to abnormal eating patterns.
There are several problems with this strategy. The first is that abstention from particular foods rarely works. Sooner or later the person eats bread or cake or a cookie.
Another is that this strategy relies on perfectionism and all-or-nothing thinking, two of the most common cognitive distortions that drive people to seek therapy. Perhaps most important is that the success rate for abstinence programs overall is very low, even with substances for which there is more clear evidence of harm and addiction like drugs and alcohol. And abstention does not address the psychology of use. If it did, there would be no need for abstention.
The reality is that poor habits and carrying excess weight are indications of a bigger problem – life! Most chronically overweight, serial dieters, in addition to an abnormal relationship with food, have other issues and thinking patterns that interfere with success, such as, unrealistic goals and an inability to set boundaries.
The goal should be to help the overweight person change his or her thinking and behavior patterns AND to learn how to have a normal relationship with food. ALL people who want to have a normal relationship with food CAN have a normal relationship with food IF they are willing to change their minds and adopt new thought patterns and behaviors.
References:
[1] Lance Dodes MD, Zachary Dodes. The Sober Truth: Debunking the Ba Science Behind 12-Step Programs and the Rehab Industry. Beacon Press.
Pam Popper, Wellness Forum Health President
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