There are different forms of addiction and while drug addiction tends to grab most of the news headlines another form of addiction can also carry serious health consequences – food addiction. Food addiction and problematic eating intertwines with patients’ physical and mental health. The most commonly reported symptom of an addiction to highly processed foods in older adults is intense cravings.
In the U.S., this form of addiction is acute. Data indicates that 13 percent of people aged 50 to 80 show signs of addiction to such foods and beverages. This finding comes from the U.S. National Poll on Healthy Aging.
According to Dr. Ashley Gearhardt of the University of Michigan: “The word addiction may seem strong when it comes to food, but research has shown that our brains respond as strongly to highly processed foods, especially those highest in sugar, simple starches, and fat, as they do to tobacco, alcohol and other addictive substances.”
According to the Georgia Addiction Treatment Center, this is manifest as: “A process addiction, also known as a behavioral addiction, is defined as a compulsion to engage consistently in an activity despite the negative consequences related to that behavior.”
Cravings and behaviours around food are rooted in psychological factors, brain chemistry and heredity.
Addiction can also cause other forms of psychological damage. While positive parenting and family factors can reduce the risk for disordered eating behaviours they do not lessen the influence of weight-stigmatizing experiences on disordered eating in young people. Weight stigmatizing experiences, including weight teasing and hurtful weight-related comments, are associated with higher prevalence of disordered eating behaviours.
As well as social factors there is a biological basis to addiction. This can sometimes resurface after successful period of dieting – the so-termed ‘yo-yo effect’ when after a diet, the pounds are quickly put back on (through an activation of the brain’s AgRP neurons). It appears that the nerve cells that mediate the feeling of hunger receive stronger signals following the cessation of a diet.
As well as psychological treatments, it may be possible to develop drugs to prevent this form of brain amplification and help to maintain a reduced body weight after dieting.
Food addiction can lead to obesity and this carries with it health risks. New research finds that overweight populations have a 22 percent higher mortality risk than those of healthy weight. After this, obese populations have as much as double the risk. These health risks come from the association with heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes (each of which are often associated with being overweight).
In terms of the benefits of weight loss, this is associated with decreased risk factors for cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes. When the psychological factors are considered, research shows that people who have lost weight through an intensive behavioural weight loss programme record lower systolic blood pressure levels, total cholesterol-to-good cholesterol ratio and HbA1c levels (a diabetes marker). This is when data is compared to those who did not participate in a program or participated in a lower-intensity behavioural programme.
