Problems with obesity could be caused by food addictions

Latoya Young
Staff Writer

Many persons stuggling with weight issues should know that their love of food may actually be a food addiction according to www.foodaddictionsummit.org.

The summit, held in 2009 defined  food addiction as the uncontrollable craving for excess food. Due to those uncontrollable cravings, a food addict’s quality of life deteriorates when he or she eats sugar, flour or wheat. Many food addicts are obese and have tried numerous methods for weight control including diets, drugs, surgery, etc., yet no permanent solution has been developed.

However, some food addicts do not become obese. Their physical weight is controlled by extreme measures such as excessive exercise, purging through vomiting or laxatives (bulimia), or the severe and unhealthy limiting of food substances(anorexia). No matter which version of food addiction fits you, all of these symptoms become more severe with time and eventually lead to physical problems that can create an early and sometimes painful death.

A food addict’s social life is also affected by intense obsessive thinking about food. Making eye contact with people and taking an interest in developing friendships or intimate relationships become secondary to locating and eating addictive foods. Food addicts often hide or steal foods and eat in secret.

According to WebMD.com, people who are addicted to food tend to display many of the characteristics of drug addicts and alcoholics. Food addicts develop a physical, mental, emotional craving and chemical addiction to food. The characteristics of food addicts can include:
• Being obsessed and/or preoccupied with food.
• Having a lack of self-control when it comes to food.
• Having a compulsion about food in which eating results in a cycle of bingeing despite negative consequences.
• Remembering a sense of pleasure and/or comfort with food and being unable to stop using food to create a sense of pleasure and comfort.
• Having a need to eat which results in a physical craving.
Several options are available in the treatment of food addiction. These include consulting a nutritionist, doctor, psychologist, counselor, or eating disorder specialist. In addition, 12-step groups such Overeaters Anonymous (OA) have meetings in many regions or online.
Some tips for avoiding bouts of compulsive eating include:
• Knowing which situations trigger your cravings, and avoiding them if possible
• Drinking at least 64 ounces of water per day
• Exercising
• Relaxing with deep breathing exercises or meditation
• Trying to distract yourself until the compulsion to eat passes

Chelsey Turner, a freshman mass communications major from Jackson, Miss. said, “I think people can be addicted to food. Some people like to overindulge. Most of the time it’s not just the taste of food but the sight of food.”

Ebony Lazare, a freshman psychology major from Opelousas, La., said, “I think that people can be addicted to anything. The same thing that leads to addiction to alcohol and drugs can be the same for food.”