Is food addiction real?

 Food addiction remains a controversial topic in the scientific community. The concept is driven in part by concerns surrounding the increasing rates of obesity in the United States and elsewhere in the world. In this Honest Nutrition feature, we explain what the science says and address the question: Is food addiction real?

Food addictionTrusted Source is a concept that researchers use to describe compulsive eating habits in humans, which may resemble addiction-like behaviors.

Research indicatesTrusted Source that some individuals may be more likely than others to experience addiction to palatable foods — meaning foods that are high in fat and sugar.

Other studiesTrusted Source suggest that those who may experience food addiction exhibit “seeking” behaviors, as well as other symptoms and cravings similar to those that people typically experience as part of a substance use disorder.

There is no universally accepted clinical definitionTrusted Source of “food addiction,” and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) does not list it as a condition. However, researchers have identified some behaviors associated with this concept. These include:

• compulsive overeating, even in the absenceTrusted Source of hunger
• cravingsTrusted Source for high fat and sugary foods
• difficulty in controlling food intake
• binge eatingTrusted Source and disordered eating patterns

What do we know about food addiction?

Publications from 2009Trusted Source, 2011Trusted Source, 2016, 2018Trusted Source, and 2019Trusted Source, among others, have highlighted that palatable foods — or even foods in general — stimulate the same parts of the brain and share the same neuronal activities as illicit substances.

The hippocampus, caudate, and insula are three brain regions that researchers have pinpointed as being implicated in this relationship.

For instance, foods and illicit substances both result in the release of the hormones, such as dopamine, and endogenous opioidsTrusted Source that the body naturally produces.

These hormones are a part of the “reward systemTrusted Source” — or the mesolimbic circuit — in the brain, which is responsible for motivation, want, desire, and cravings.

Some studies even suggest that it is the anticipationTrusted Source of food rather than the consumption itself that may trigger food addiction — a “seeking” behavior that people with substance use disorder often display.

In theory, it is possible to explain this behavior by the phenomenon of incentive sensitizationTrusted Source, which posits that it is possible for a person to want something even if they do not like it, as long as it stimulates the pleasure centers in their brain.

For example, people may crave a sugary beverage because it makes them feel good due to the release of dopamine rather than because they genuinely enjoy drinking that beverage.

Even though the DSM-5 does not list food addiction as a condition, researchers have referred to both the DSM-4 and DSM-5, as well as the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS)Trusted Source, when studying this phenomenon.

In fact, researchers developed the YFAS based on information in the DSM-4 about the symptoms and associated behaviors of substance use disorders. The YFAS contains 25 self-reported questions that may help identifyTrusted Source food addiction.

The concept of food addiction has drawn a lot of interest in the scientific community, with some proposing it as a potential underlying contributorTrusted Source to obesity and others seeing it as a symptom of having excess body weight.

Whichever way this association may lie, a 2017 reviewTrusted Source cites evidence that behaviors linked with food addiction occur at notably higher levels in people seeking bariatric or weight loss surgeries.

Why is this concept controversial?

Despite the existing research, food addiction remains a controversial topic in the scientific community due to inconclusiveTrusted Source evidence from numerous studies.

Here are some of the related controversies:

1. The brain on food vs. drugs: A crucial distinction

Many studies that argue that food addiction is a real phenomenon focus on the similaritiesTrusted Source between food cravings and cravings for illicit drugs.

However, the concept of food addiction raises the important question: If foods can become addictive, are they bad for us?

Although both foods and drugs stimulate the reward system and pleasure center in the brain, foods do not exertTrusted Source the same pharmacological effect as drugs.

Also, people consume foods very regularly and in complex combinations. This makes quantification difficult and blurs the line between use and misuse.

2. Which nutrient is the drug?

Not only is it difficult to classify the misuse of foods, but researchers have not yet determined which nutrient or combination of nutrients causes food addiction.

StudiesTrusted Source in rats have identified that a diet high in fat and sugar — as many processed foods are — can induce addiction-like behaviors.

Some believe that the presence of sugar in the gut may beTrusted Source the causative nutrient, but this remains unproven.

More rigorous, long-term studies in humans are necessary to pinpoint any problematic nutrients.

3. Obesity, palatable foods, and food addiction

Some studies suggest that food addiction is a plausible cause of obesity, and the food addiction model even emphasizes being overweight or having obesity as one of the clinical criteria.

Some researchers have also associated food addiction with certain eating disorders, particularly binge eating disorder (BED)Trusted Source.

However, one reviewTrusted Source highlighted that a substantial number of individuals with BED do not have obesity and that most people with obesity do not experience disordered eating or food addiction symptoms.

This brings the ability of YFAS to diagnose food addiction into question, and some researchers suggestTrusted Source that this scale simply identifies eating disorders and not an addiction.

Furthermore, palatability is not necessarily a factor in overconsumption and obesity, as one reviewTrusted Source reported that even a nonpalatable food — meaning one that is not high in fat or sugar — can become the subject of food cravings.

4. Yo-yo dieting as the cause of food addiction?

Many weight loss strategies have low success ratesTrusted Source, and popular weight loss diets can be quite restrictive.

Although nutrition deprivation is not necessaryTrusted Source to cause food cravings and overconsumption, switching between various diets and regularly restricting food potentially causes food addiction behaviors.

Source: Medical News Today