Who doesn’t know one? We all have heard people laughingly refer to themselves as “junk-food junkies” as they dip into a plate of brownies for the third time at a party. But for many, it is no joke. To the serious food addict, those brownies can be more compelling than gold bullion. If a desired food item is in the house, whether it be fried cheese curls, chocolate kisses, or sugar-laden soda pop, the food addict knows exactly how much is left and where it is located, and cannot stop thinking about it until it is gone—eaten, that is.
Food addicts are in a strange predicament. They are generally not perceived as real addicts. Often they don’t understand that they have a real addiction that causes changes in the brain—but they are as isolated, driven, and controlled by their addiction as a drug abuser. And so the food addict is left in some never-land of dysfunction, obsessively preoccupied with certain foods, and not understanding it as an addiction.
Notice licensed therapist Anne Katherine’s compelling personal description of her struggle with food in her book Anatomy of a Food Addiction: “I knew from my own internal experience just how compelling a food craving can be, how powerful and irresistible. … My food addiction seemed like a curse, preventing me from feeling like a normal person. But when I understood that my experience was proof that food could be addictive, it helped me stand firm when I came under attack by some psychologists that said this was absolutely not possible. I knew that my relationship with certain foods was not normal. I knew that my thinking and obsessing, planning and hoarding, sneaking and hiding resembled the behavior of an addict. I also knew that only when I stopped eating the foods and quantities that kept me in a hazy prison could I develop a normal relationship with food. Till then, drug foods acted just as addictive drugs do; they stimulated the desire for more. Finally, I knew that if I was food addicted, then others probably were, too.”1
Because of the powerful short-term sedative and mood-elevating effects of certain foods—especially calorie-dense sweet or fatty foods—some people fall into the trap of using them to avoid experiencing the pain and challenges of everyday life. For others, food becomes a substitute for unmet needs for love, security, acceptance, or happiness. Snack cakes become the antidote for loneliness, rejection, abuse, and anger.
Not all people who have emotional problems become addicts, and not all addicts have emotional problems. But addictions more readily occur in individuals who have unmet needs that they have not learned to deal with in constructive ways. And once those addictions occur, for whatever reason, emotional problems are on the way, because addictions are isolating, disabling, and destructive by their very nature. There is also a physical side to the addiction.
Although research is still in its infancy, there is some indication that binging on foods high in fat and sugar can not only hijack hormones that govern appetite, but also cause changes in the brain associated with addiction to drugs, promoting addiction in susceptible individuals.2 Evidence of sugar addiction has been documented in rats.3 Fortunately, as with any other habit, the brain is highly plastic, and these changes are largely reversible over time.
Is it possible for a junk-food junkie to change bad eating habits—for good?
The answer is, yes. If you are hooked on fast foods, sweets, and high-fat snacks, the place to begin is by eating more fiber foods and choosing healthful plant fats.
• Fiber foods are satisfying and reduce hunger between meals.4
• Fiber foods help raise serotonin. If your serotonin level drops, you may feel down, which may cause a craving for sweets.
• Fiber foods may help reduce emotional distress.5
• Fiber foods are rich in complex carbohydrates that provide energy.6
• Fiber foods are rich in antioxidants which protect cells from excessive free radical damage, which is a real problem with the popular high-fat and protein diets today.
• Fiber foods may improve brain function.7
Be on the offense; choose fiber foods at each meal: fruits, vegetables, beans, whole-grain breads and cereals. High-fiber foods provide a powerful package of healthful benefits like vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and antioxidants to keep your appetite satisfied and enhance your physical and mental health.
Eat more plant fats. Choose nuts, seeds, olives, and avocados. Plant fats help cell membranes to maintain more flexibility and better permeability, so that the cells are more responsive to hormone signaling. Fats that are brain healthy are also heart healthy! Plant fats also add satiety to your meals.
• Put nuts or seeds on your cereal or salad.
• Eat olives and avocado on your salad or sandwich.
• Choose a breakfast with whole-grain cereal and fresh fruit.
• Add fruit and/or vegetables with your lunch and supper.
• Choose whole grains and beans often.
Soon you will prefer healthful and tasty high-fiber choices. Once they become a part of your regular eating habits, you will find that eating healthfully is easy and enjoyable.
Physical addictions can be beat in a short period of time, but God provides staying power so you can stay free. God promises us, “I have seen his ways, and will heal him. I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him … I will heal him” (Isaiah 57:18, 19).
1. Katherine A. Anatomy of a Food Addiction. (Calsbad, Calif.: Gurze Books, 1996), p. iii. Used by permission.
2. Martindale D. Burgers on the brain. The New Scientist 2003:177 (2380), 26–32.
3. Colantuoni C., et al. Excessive sugar intake alters binding to dopamine and mu-opioid receptors in the brain. NeuroReport 2001:12 (35), 49–52.
4. Sabate, Joan and Glen Blix. Vegetarian Nutrition. (New York, NY: CRC Press, 2001) p. 103.
5. Smith A., et al. High-fiber breakfast cereals reduce fatigue. Appetite 2001:37 (3), 249–250.
6. Smith.
7. Smith.
Vicki Griffin, Ph.D., is the Michigan Conference health ministries director, and Evelyn Cole Kissinger, R.D., M.S., is an assistant professor of nutrition and wellness at Andrews University.
For more information on food addiction and treatment options, come to the 14th annual Summer School of Addictions at Andrews University. Sex and food addictions and exploration of treatments: May 3–6, 2004. Food addiction treatment options will be covered Tuesday, May 4. CEUs available. For more information, contact Derri Hanson at (269) 471-3558.
