Food Addiction – The Ultimate Guide

Food addiction remains a very controversial diagnosis, with some experts viewing it as a condition on its own and others including it in the bracket of eating disorders.

Considering those who view it as a separate condition, food addiction can be described as a disorder that causes a loss of control over eating certain foods. This is triggered by a cluster of chemical dependencies on specific foods such as fats, salt and sugars.

Eaten in large amounts, these foods typically bring on physical cravings that can, over time, distort thinking around food, leading to addiction. A 2010 study published in Gastroenterology supported the concept that certain foods can alter neural pathways and chemistry in the brain, similar to addictive substances.

If this is true, food addiction has no psychological basis but is rather behavioral and influenced by the chemical effects specific foods have on the brain.

Those who disagree argue that substance abuse can then erroneously be viewed in the same light. However, science has proven that substance abuse is a symptom of deep-seated psychological issues that leads to addiction. Without addressing the psychology behind the problem, people seldom genuinely find recovery from substance addiction.

This article takes a broad view of food addiction that includes eating disorders because it’s a severe and growing problem. We cover potential causes, prevalence, symptoms, treatment and how you can help a food addict without enabling them.

What is food addiction?

On its own, food addiction isn’t recognized in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Instead, it falls under Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorders that embraces multiple eating issues that cause significant stress and impairment but don’t meet the criteria of recognized conditions.

Therefore, all eating disorders can be explained as: a disease that leads to developing an unhealthy relationship with food and eating, resulting in severe interference in daily life and can lead to serious health conditions and death.

In various ways, people with eating disorders become obsessed with all foods, certain foods, eating, starving, binging, purging, hiding food, obsessive calorie counting and secretive behavior.

Whether it’s binging on junk food, eating only healthy food, excluding specific colors or regular fasting, food addictions aren’t just bad habits. They’re self-destructive mental and behavioral patterns that repeat themselves again and again.

In line with all addictions, food addicts are mostly in denial. They also realize that if they try to change their eating habits, they can’t, which leads to concealment. The addict doesn’t know what to do or how to change, and they might find security and comfort in their problem.

It’s important to understand that food addiction and eating disorders are complicated and have varying characteristics and diagnostic criteria. That’s why they’re surrounded by so much controversy.

The following disorders are diagnosable within the scientific framework of the DSM-5 using predefined clinical criteria –

Anorexia Nervosa

Driven by an irrational fear of gaining weight, anorexics can become dangerously underweight. Typically they eat far too little food to maintain a healthy body and might exercise excessively, take laxatives and diuretics, compulsively count calories and incessantly weigh themselves.

Food consumes a lot of their thinking, but they eat very little. Anorexics skip meals, replace meals with drinks, like coffee, weigh or portion food out, and lie about how much they’ve eaten. When eating in company, they’ll typically move food around to make it look like they’ve eaten or slip uneaten food into a napkin and discard it later.

Most anorexics have Body Dysmorphic Disorder and underlying anxiety issues, sometimes relating to perfectionism and unrealistically high standards for themselves.

Mental and physical health are severely impacted by anorexia.

Diagnostic crossover

Generally, people will be diagnosed with only one type of eating and food addiction; however, anorexics are inclined to develop bulimia as well. A study that tracked the progress of anorexics for eight years found that 62% eventually developed binge/purge behaviors. Separate research found that only 14%  of bulimics cross over to anorexia.

Binge Eating Disorder

Binge eating is when there’s a pattern of extreme overeating at least once a week over three months or more. Characteristically, there are regular attempts to lose weight, often by following strict, unhealthy diets, so a binge eater’s weight can fluctuate.

As they continually try to control their eating and weight, they experience cycles of improved confidence, followed by depression and despair.

Superficially all looks well, and periods of binging are almost always in secret, so family and friends are unaware of underlying problems. As a result, binge eaters might not seek help or be offered any.

Apart from the mental health burden of anxiety and depression, binge eating and restrictive diets can wreak havoc on the body.

Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia is a disease of binging and purging. Bulimics secretly gorge on massive amounts of food and then purge to get rid of it. Aside from using laxatives and inducing vomiting, they may engage in strenuous bouts of exercise to burn off calories as well.

The binge/purge cycle can happen every other day or numerous times a day. Unlike anorexics, bulimics have an average weight and don’t appear undernourished. Similar to anorexics, many bulimics have Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

It’s a disease characterized by anxiety that triggers compulsive, unstoppable binging immediately followed by severe guilt and shame that leads to purging.

Over time, mental and physical health gets eroded.

Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorders

These include food addiction on its own and many other profoundly entrenched feeding and eating disorders. They’re diagnosed based on symptoms presented and mental and physiological complications.

Health professionals often regard these conditions as subclinical and precursors to developing full-blown eating disorders.

Here are a few –

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder is a condition that frequently manifests from early childhood. It’s characterized by an aversion to certain food types, colors, textures and tastes.

Parents can mistake it for picky eating, which is relatively common in young children. It becomes a problem, though, when it affects a child’s health, energy and developmental growth. People affected by this condition aren’t driven by weight loss.

Orthorexia Nervosa is a fixation on healthy eating. Orthorexics obsess about food quality, preparation and hygiene and fear getting ill from food. Consequently, their diet becomes very limited as they don’t want to eat food that might be “unhealthy”, leading to emaciation.

Like anorexia and bulimia, the condition is underscored by severe anxiety and leads to mental and physical health deterioration.

Pica often occurs in childhood but can appear at any time. It’s the persistent eating of things without nutritional value, such as ash, chalk, clay, feces, glue, hair, ice, paint, soap or soil.

Ingesting non-food substances can pose a significant risk to the body by introducing toxins, parasites and bacteria. Pica can be related to mineral deficiencies, particularly after pregnancy, or mental health problems.

Key food addiction statistics

For the most part, statistics on food addiction and eating disorders are relatively unreliable and likely understated because people don’t seek help for two prime reasons. Firstly, they don’t think they need help, often believing it “runs in the family” or, if they acknowledge it’s a problem, out of shame.

Also, since anorexia is the most well-known condition, numerous food-related addictions that cause weight loss can be lumped together and branded as “an affluent white teenage girls’ problem”.

Sadly, this myth prevents many from getting the help they need as they don’t identify with the stereotype. Anorexia isn’t a problem that affects young girls only; all eating disorders occur across genders, age, race, and socioeconomic conditions.

Another factor influencing statistics is that many food addictions aren’t recognized and therefore go unreported, even with treatment. For example, someone who’s overweight because of a food addiction might be diagnosed as depressed only, and their physical health problems recorded separately.

Statistics from Harvard School of Public Health on the social and economic costs of eating disorders in the USA

•  9% of the US population will have an eating disorder at some point in their lifetime
• 1 death every 52 minutes as a direct result of various food addictions
• ± 53,918 ER visits per annum
• ±23,560 inpatient hospitalizations per annum
• Females are 50% more likely to develop an eating disorder
• Eating disorders can start at around 5 years of age through to over 80s
• They affect all races and genders
• Only 50% of black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) are diagnosed and receive treatment

From National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders

• Below 6% of people with a food addiction are diagnosed as being underweight
• Genetic predisposition affects between 28 – 75% of diagnosed cases
• 26% of people with eating disorders will attempt suicide
• White people are more likely to be diagnosed with anorexia
• Black and Hispanic people are more likely to be diagnosed with bulimia or binge eating
• 32% of transgender people report using their eating disorder to transform their body
• Up to 10% of children with eating disorders have autism
• 20% of women with anorexia have autistic traits
• People with larger bodies are more at risk of developing bulimia or binge eating disorder
• People with larger bodies are 50% less likely to be diagnosed with a food addiction
• 81% of 10-year olds fear being overweight
• 46% of 9 to 11-year old’s report having been or being on a diet to lose weight

General statistics –

• Only 5% of American females naturally possess the ideal body promoted by mainstream media and advertising
• 42.4% of US adults were obese in 2018
• Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric conditions
• Collectively, eating disorders have the highest death rates among all mental illnesses

What causes food addiction?

Science has yet to discover what precisely causes eating and food addictions. Research has, however, revealed two direct links –

1. Genetics and physiology

As with many other addictions, there appears to be a genetic predisposition that puts people at risk of developing food addictions. Fluctuations and changes in brain chemicals play a significant role as well.

2. Mental health

Low self-esteem, perfectionism, compulsive or obsessive tendencies, past trauma and dysfunctional relationships.

Depression and anxiety regularly co-exist with eating disorders. Since both are complicated conditions within themselves, they contribute negatively and can worsen food addictions. In some cases, people avoid eating when depressed or anxious, and in others, they turn to food for comfort.

Furthermore, research conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse revealed that up to 50% of people with eating disorders abused substances, and 35% of substance addicts had  an eating and food addiction.

Unintentional drug addiction can happen from using pharmaceuticals for appetite control. Diet pills are highly sought after and easy to buy, but they’re not as safe as they appear to be, and many are habit-forming.

Other contributing risk factors that can make someone vulnerable to developing any eating and food addiction include –

• Poor coping skills
• Feeling inadequate
• Eating alone often (particularly in children who are left alone)
• Separation from parents for an extended period
• Social pressure to be thin/muscular
• Being rewarded for the “perfect body” (competitive sport, fashion, etc.)
• Being overweight as a child
• Being raised in a culture that places great importance on appearance
• Childhood conflicts around mealtimes
• Under/overeating during childhood and puberty
• Loneliness at any age
• History of being teased or bullied
• Difficulty expressing emotions or feelings
• History of physical, emotional or sexual abuse
• Birth characteristics* that can predict eating disorders –
  • Premature birth
  • Low birth weight
  • Being born one of a multiple a birth
  • Being born from a complicated or difficult birth
  • Cephalohematoma: a traumatic hematoma that occurs underneath the skin in the dense layer of vascular tissue over an infant’s skull bone. It poses no risk to brain cells but causes blood pooling. It’s happens from –
    • Use of forceps
    • First pregnancy
    • Difficult and prolonged labor
    • The infant’s head being bigger than the mother’s pelvic bones

*Numerous studies have been conducted around birth conditions and the development of significant physical and mental disorders in later life. Research published in the American Journal for Epidemiology concluded that it could contribute to eating disorders across genders.

Why are food addictions so dangerous?

Although anorexia is considered the most fatal psychiatric disorder, all eating and food addictions show a higher than average mortality rate.

Death statistics vary substantially, but experts agree that suffers have a greater leaning to death by suicide than other major mental health conditions like depression.

That aside, no system in the body is immune to the effects of malnutrition, excess layers of body fat or raised blood lipids (fat).

Eating disorders can lead to the following chronic illness, amongst others –

• Adrenal insufficiency
• Diabetes (type 1 and 2)
• Gastrointestinal disease
• Gallbladder disease
• Heart disease
• Elevated blood cholesterol
• High blood pressure
• Hypoglycemia
• Hyperthyroidism
• Hypothyroidism
• Liver disease
• Osteoarthritis
• Polycystic ovary syndrome
• Renal disease
• Sleep apnea

Signs you have a food addiction

Broadly, there are two types of eating disorders – overeating and under eating; signs listed here are broken down accordingly.

Not everything will apply, but if more than half of the signs ring true, then it’s time to seek help. Food addictions can be deadly!

Overeating (binge eating, bulimia, food addiction)

• Preoccupation with food and eating
• A pattern of yo-yo dieting
• Continued weight gain OR fluctuating weight
• Overeating to the point of discomfort
• Gorging and eating very fast
• Eating without feeling hungry
• Eating in secret
• Stashing food in secret hiding places
• Lying about eating habits
• Nausea and indigestion
• Bloating and constipation
• Irregular sleep or insomnia
• Low energy levels and lethargy
• Eating to relieve stress or find comfort
• Losing interest or dissatisfaction with appearance
• Uncontrollable compulsions to east
• Anxiety, shame and guilt after binging
• Depression, anxiety, irritability and mood swings
• Social isolation
• Suicidal thoughts

Individuals who purge after binging can also have –

• Preoccupation with calories and weight
• Dizzy spells and fainting
• Heart palpitations and shortness of breath
• Muscle cramps and headaches from dehydration
• Swollen jaws from self-induced vomiting
• Erosion of tooth enamel and bad breath from stomach acids
• Recurring sore throat caused by digestive acids
• Regular diarrhea and frequent urination from laxatives and diuretics
• Bleeding in the mouth and cracked skin around the nose and lips
• Interruptions to the menstrual cycle
• Excessive (often obsessive) exercising

Undereating (anorexia, avoidant/restrictive, orthorexia, pica)

• Preoccupation with food and information gathering
• Careful analysis of food contents
• Obsession with calories and weight
• Viewing certain food groups as harmful and eliminating them entirely
• Believing that specific foods trigger allergies or adverse reactions
• Creating ritual behaviors, such as color grouping, not wanting foods to touch, cutting food into tiny pieces, or eating with a teaspoon, etc.
• Finding excuses and validating skipping meals
• Continued, unabated weight loss
• Dizzy spells and fainting
• Pale skin and sunken eyes
• Feeling cold all the time
• Numbness in extremities
• Bloating and constipation
• Irregular sleep or insomnia
• Aching muscles
• Chronic headaches
• Low energy levels and lethargy
• Excessive (often obsessive) exercising
• Checking body weight numerous times a day
• Irrational fear of gaining weight
• Denying hunger and quelling pangs with distraction
• Compromised immune system and recurring infections
• Dry and cracked skin, especially on the face
• Brittle hair and nails and hair loss
• Heart palpitations, chest pains and shortness of breath
• Interruptions to menstrual
• Social isolation
• Anxiety, depression and mood swings
• Feeling anxious about food in particular
• Rigid thinking around food and weight
• Difficulty focusing
• Feelings of shame and guilt
• Distorted body image
• Low self-esteem
• Setting unattainable goals and striving for perfection
• Suicidal thoughts

Physical signs

Unhealthy eating patterns will invariably lead to physical health conditions, irrespective of the type of food addiction. The most common are –

• Anemia
• Dehydration
• Vitamin and mineral deficiencies
• Gastrointestinal complications
• Hair loss
• Infertility
• Hormonal imbalances
• Kidney disease
• Liver disease
• Heart disease
• Swelling of the arms and legs
• Abdominal bloating
• High or low blood pressure
• Death

Truths and myths

Because myths abound that prevent people from seeking and getting help, 13 US-based organizations collaborated with Cynthia Bulik, PhD, FAED, published the “Nine truths About Eating Disorders“.

1. Truth: many people with eating disorders look healthy yet may be extremely ill.

   Myth: you can see someone has a problem by looking at them.

When it comes to food addictions and disorders, many look healthy, and the secretive nature of the disease means their behavior around food appears normal.

2. Truth: families are not to blame and can be the patients’ and providers’ best allies in treatment.

    Myth: families and mothers, in particular, cause the problem.

While these may be a genetic link, parents and family aren’t responsible for the condition’s manifestation. Examining historical family dynamics can help resolve issues and potentially break the cycle, making family involvement in treatment is crucial.

3. Truth: an eating disorder diagnosis is a health crisis that disrupts personal and family functioning.

    Myth: you only need to start eating correctly for everything to come right.

Bearing in mind that food is essential to sustain life, extremes in consumption directly impact the body, which in turn affects mental states. Excessive over or undereating harms the entire household as the addict struggles to live a balanced life, creating an internal crisis that can leave indelible emotional scars.

4. Truth: eating disorders are not choices but serious biologically influenced illnesses.

    Myth: it’s not an illness; it’s a choice. The problem is rooted in either gluttony or vanity.

Some think it’s a deliberate choice, even accusing addicts of attention-seeking. Medical science has shown the origins are far more complex, and sufferers have little choice in their condition. Over time, the effects of over or under eating affect both body and mind, resulting in severe and multi-layered illness.

5. Truth: eating disorders affect people of all genders, ages, races, ethnicities, body shapes and weights, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic statuses.

    Myth: only certain people are susceptible.

Statistics and research show that no one is exempt. The stereotype myth is responsible for thousands of people suffering alone without realizing that they can get help.

6. Truth: Eating disorders carry an increased risk for both suicide and medical complications.

   Myth: it’s a harmless problem of self-will.

Besides having a high suicide rate, all eating and food addictions can do irreversible harm to the body and organs that can lead to premature death. 

7. Truth: genes and environment play important roles in the development of eating disorders.

   Myth: external conditioning from society and advertising are to blame.

While it’s widely accepted that the fast food and fashion industries put out unhealthy messages to boost sales, research shows that they alone aren’t responsible. Genetics, mental health and environmental factors play a more significant role.

8. Truth: genes alone do not predict who will develop eating disorders.

   Myth: if it’s genetic, it can’t be changed.

Proper management of any condition, genetic or otherwise, has been proven to yield excellent results and improve quality of life.

9. Truth: Full recovery from an eating disorder is possible. Early detection and intervention are important.

   Myth: there’s no getting better.

There have been great strides in treatment, and thousands of people have found recovery and gone on to lead healthy lives. Recovery is a reality.

How to treat food addiction

A prerequisite to treatment is the acknowledgement that a problem exists. While all addicts tend to deny their addictions initially, with food addictions, the family can be a stumbling block too.

The very nature of the disease makes it challenging to identify because there are no visible signs as there are with substance addiction, for example. Weight gain or loss can be present, but it’s easy to put that down to poor self-control or attention-seeking and dieting.

An addict needs the support and encouragement of family and friends more than ever during treatment and beyond. Reservations encourage relapse, whether they’re those of loved ones or the addict.

Diagnosis might be accidental due to an ER visit or a doctor’s consultation for something else. This can come as a shock for family and friends, especially if the addict is secretive about their behavior.

Despite the initial surprise, the problem mustn’t be dismissed. It’s doubtful to be a wrong diagnosis as it’s usually based on Body Mass Index (BMI).

Depending on the severity of the diagnosis, immediate hospitalization might be required to address and stabilize serious health complications. A BMI below 15 or over 40 is regarded as high risk.

Regardless, a complete medical examination, including blood analysis, will be done as a matter of urgency to establish if there are serious underlying conditions.

Mental health professionals can also recommend further treatment in a specific program.

Both inpatient, outpatient and residential treatment is available. It’s vital to understand that healing and recovery from eating and food addictions isn’t short-term; it’s an ongoing process that takes around six to twenty-four months of intensive treatment.

After the initial treatment, a detailed recovery plan and continuing treatment are necessary to maintain health and healing.

Inpatient care is 24-hours a day, and patients can’t leave the center for the duration of their stay. All medication, meals and medical treatments are included in the cost. Chronic health conditions get closely monitored, and specialist help called in if necessary. A stay is usually no more than 21-days, depending on diagnosis and progress made.

Treatment centers organize outpatient treatment, but patients must manage their own appointments. Regular health checks and weigh-ins form part of the program.

After discharge from inpatient care, residential treatment is recommended when treatment has been only partially successful or wholly ineffective. These centers are less clinical and aim to provide a safe, home-like environment for patients to relax into therapy and gradually adjust their lifestyle. Patients are admitted for up to 90-days.

Whether an addict is part of an inpatient, outpatient or residential program, treatment will invariably include –

• Medical treatment is the first line and will continue for as long as necessary
• Psychological therapy is crucial for all eating and food addictions, including –
  • Behavioral therapy
  • Cognitive analytic therapy
  • Cognitive-behavioral therapy
  • Focal psychodynamic therapy
  • Interpersonal psychotherapy
  • Family intervention
  • Family group therapy
  • Ego-orientated therapy
  • Occupational therapy
• Nutrition education to understand how food affects the body and why a healthy weight is essential to a healthy life
• Structured eating sessions to re-establish healthy eating patterns

Medication to treat anxiety and depression will be prescribed where necessary. Since anxiety and depression feature strongly in many cases, patients often benefit from alternative therapies such as –

• Acupuncture
• Art therapy
• Animal therapy
• Kinesiology
• Meditation
• Mindful movement therapy
• Yoga

Outside of medical treatment, all else focuses on teaching the addict to cultivate a new relationship with themselves and food. Including family makes the process easier and can help educate them, especially where poor attitudes towards food and eating and food addictions are hereditary.

How to help someone with a food addiction

If you suspect someone you love has a food addiction after comparing their behavior and signs to the list above, you’re likely correct. And if you’re concerned about yourself, it’s time to face reality.

All eating disorders are dangerous, triggering illness and chronic conditions and complicating mental health challenges.

Upfront, there are four facts you must accept –

1. Eating and food addictions are real irrespective of age, race or gender
2. You’re dealing with a psychiatric disorder, not over or undereating
3. It’s curable with treatment; without treatment, it’s life-threatening
4. Maintaining recovery is an ongoing process, so get ready for the long-haul

Prepare beforehand if you want to approach a loved one. They probably genuinely don’t understand what’s wrong with them or why they behave as they do. Adopting an accusing and direct approach will do more harm than good and erode trust.

Address the problem at the right time and with empathy. If you’re a parent, you might have prejudices or harbor feelings of guilt and even disappointment. Resolve your feelings and put them aside first because they’ll invariably interfere with your good intentions.

Avoid broaching the subject just before or after mealtimes because that’s already a stressful time. And decide carefully who else should be present. Too many, albeit caring, people can make an anxious person feel as though they’re ganged-up on.

Keep food itself out of the conversation and instead focus on behaviors, outcomes and how the person feels. Take time to hear their concerns, emotions and fears and don’t butt in with your opinions. Bear in mind that their experience will differ substantially from your observations.

Express heartfelt concern, explain what you see and what health complications have already manifested. If the conversation is flowing, you can discuss the potential consequences if they don’t get professional help.

Encourage them to open up and discuss how they feel and don’t interject if something comes across as blaming or even absurd. It’s not uncommon for people with food addictions to experience feelings like being unloved or thinking they’re an outcast. Whilst these notions might be untrue, you can provide love and reassurance later on during treatment.

Avoid telling them how you think they feel or what they should be doing, instead offer solutions of hope and encouragement. Have the names of doctors, therapists or treatment centers at hand, and ask what they think about making an appointment. Be sure to include them in all decisions.

If they agree to treatment, show support and go with them to their early appointments so you can know where they’re at and learn more about their condition. Family therapy works well for eating and food addictions, so be willing to become an active participant.

A vital part of treatment is learning to have a new relationship with food, plan meals, and prepare healthy dishes. If the addict lives with you, you must be involved, so you become part of the solution and not a trigger to compound the problem.

When there’s a food addict in the home, the whole family must be willing to make changes to help them recover.

Enabling

Are you an enabler?

Enablers are people or a person close to the addict who supports their behavior. It can be to protect the addict, avoid conflict, or because the enabler has similar unhealthy habits.

An enabler is aware of the problem but keeps supporting the addict by ignoring the consequences, feeding them or obliging when the addict doesn’t want to eat.

When the addict gets ill, enablers will lie with them to doctors or ER staff to downplay the real cause and divert attention elsewhere.

For example, when an enabler lives with an overeater who purges, they’ll give them food and ignore the purging. Or if an anorexic, say, lives with someone who’s constantly dieting, the enabler may disregard skipped meals and continued weight loss because they’re so focused on their own body weight.

In truth, the enabler needs help as much as the addict does to uncover why they choose to support someone they love with their self-destruction.

Treatment centers

Residential and treatment centers offer tailored treatment models for each patient. All facilities are aligned with medical and mental health professionals and registered dieticians who play a considerable role throughout treatment.

Diagnoses that fall within the DSM-5 framework are usually covered by medical insurance and state support.

Healing eating and food addictions relies primarily on various types of therapy, from psychotherapies through to occupational and alternative therapies. Group therapies are vital too and can include preparing food, eating meals, and even shopping trips to identify suitable food types.

On discharge from any inpatient care, patients are given a recovery plan and meal plans, recipes, and a list of foods to include and avoid. They’re also encouraged to join support groups.

Eating Disorders Anonymous, ANAD and Overeaters Anonymous run in-facility, face to face and online meetings offering a safe space to share struggles, challenges and achievements, and get peer support.

Helpful telephone numbers

In the case of an emergency or overdose, always call 911 immediately for help.

• ANAD: (312) 262-6897
• NYC eating disorders helpline: 888-692-9355
• National Eating Disorders Association helpline: 1-800-931-2237
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 (24 hours a day, 365 days a year)

Books worth reading

All books listed are available on amazon.com –

• The Food Addiction Workbook: How To Manage Cravings, Reduce Stress And Stop Hating Your Body – Carolyn Coker Ross
• Weight Loss Surgery Does NOT Treat Food Addiction – Connie Stapleton
• Food Addiction: The Body Knows – Kay Sheppard
• 8 Keys To Recovering From An Eating Disorder: Effective Strategies From Therapeutic Practice And Personal Experience – Carolyn Costin, Gwen Schubert Grabb
• The Eating Disorder Trap: A Guide For Clinicians And Loved Ones – Robyn L Goldberg
• Loving Someone With An Eating Disorder – Biella Blom

Conclusion

Food addiction is very complex and largely misunderstood, particularly by the public. Consequently, it’s frequently dismissed, and people don’t seek treatment.

The notion that if someone just starts eating correctly, their troubles will be over prevails, leaving sufferers feeling helpless and confused.

Many people don’t realize they have an eating and food addiction because it’s a condition that develops slowly, often taking root in childhood or adolescence. They may also be surrounded by people who have a similar problem.

Efforts early on to address the situation may or may not happen, but generally without results. And because eating and food are a mainstay of life, families start looking the other way to avoid continuous confrontations at mealtimes.

Tough conditions like this are draining because people don’t understand them. Also, when an issue exists for a long time, we learn to live with and accept it, even if it brings suffering. Those around us do the same, and so it creates a situation where we normalize what would usually be worrying or unacceptable.

This is the prime reason why eating disorders go unchecked and, in many cases, only get identified when other chronic mental and physical health conditions become apparent.

Incidents of suicide are high, but so is sudden death because eating disorders seriously affect the cardiovascular system.

Effectively, someone can die as a direct result of food addiction without the problem having been acknowledged or the gravity of the situation being appreciated.

Even where results aren’t fatal, the chronic nature of food addictions substantially reduces the quality of life and lowers lifespan.

If you think that you or a loved one has a food addiction, get help – even if your loved one is a minor. Research indicates that with treatment, over 60% of patients make a full recovery. Considering that stats vary and aren’t that reliable, the recovery rate can be much higher.