Food And Addiction

This book analyzes the scientific evidence for the addictive properties of food. It covers of all subjects pertinent to food and addiction, from basic background information on topics such as food intake, metabolism, and environmental risk factors for obesity, to diagnostic criteria for food addiction, the evolutionary and developmental bases of eating addictions, and behavioral and pharmacologic interventions, to the clinical, public health, and legal and policy implications of recognizing the validity of food addiction.

Featuring an honest account of the author's own struggles with food, "Anatomy of a Food Addiction" helps readers understand binge eating and plan a recovery through exercises, self-tests, and an examination of family issues. Illustrations.

Are you a food addict? Do you gain more weight than you lose after every diet? Can one cookie destroy all your good intentions? Do you eat when you are disappointed, tense or anxious? Since its publication, Food Addiction has become a primary resource for food addicts and compulsive eaters. Now it is updated and presented in a revised and expanded edition, with a new chapter on relapse. For a food addict, relapse is an ever present danger which begins in the mind before reaching for that cupcake or other trigger food. Here food addiction is defined, trigger foods are identified and consequences of food addiction are revealed. A lifetime eating plan demonstrating how to stick with a healthful food plan for the long term is also provided. "For some people, foods can be as addictive as alcohol," Kay Sheppard explains. "Gummy bears and marshmallow chicks can be vicious killers whose effects can lead to depression, irritability and even suicide. The terrible truth is that for certain individuals, refined carbohydrates can trigger the addictive process. This book is an effort to help you understand and solve the problems of compulsive eating."

Drawing on her experience in addictions treatment, and many personal stories of recovery, Dr. Vera Tarman offers practical advice for people struggling with problems of overeating, binge eating, anorexia, and bulimia. Food Junkies, now in its second edition, is a friendly and informative guide on the road to food serenity.

Obesity and eating disorders have stubbornly refused to respond to treatment since the 1990’s. This book organizes the evidence for a possible answer, i.e., that the problem could be one of addiction to processed foods. In a Processed Food Addiction (PFA) model, concepts of abstinence, cue-avoidance, acceptance of lapses, and consequences all play a role in long-term recovery. Application of these concepts could provide new tools to health professionals and significantly improve outcomes. This book describes PFA recovery concepts in detail. The material bridges the research into practical steps that health professionals can employ in their practices. It contains an evidence-based chapter on concepts of abstinence from processed foods. It rigorously describes PFA pathology according to the DSM 5 Addiction Diagnostic Criteria. It applies the Addiction Severity Index to PFA so that health practitioners can orient themselves to diagnosing and assessing PFA. It contains ground-breaking insight into how to approach PFA in children. Because the book is evidence-based, practitioners can gain the confidence to put the controversy about food addiction to rest. Practitioners can begin to identify and effectively help their clients who are addicted to processed foods. This is a breakthrough volume in a field that could benefit from new approaches.

A fact-filled guide to coping with compulsive overeating problems by an experienced addictions doctor who draws on many patients’ stories of recovery. Overeating, binge eating, obesity, anorexia, and bulimia: Food Junkies tackles the complex, poorly understood issue of food addiction from the perspectives of a medical researcher and dozens of survivors. What exactly is food addiction? Is it possible to draw a hard line between indulging cravings for “comfort food” and engaging in substance abuse? For people struggling with food addictions, recognizing their condition — to say nothing of gaining support and advice — remains a frustrating battle. Built around the experiences of people suffering and recovering from food addictions, Food Junkies offers practical information grounded in medical science, while putting a face to the problems of food addiction. It is meant to be a knowledgeable and friendly guide on the road to food serenity.

This book is written for providers of broad training backgrounds, and aims to help those who care for people with EDs, overweight and obesity provide evidence-based care. The goal of the book is to provide these providers with a straightforward resource summarizing the current standard of care. However, it goes further by also introducing the concept of food addiction (FA) as a model to understand some forms of overeating. This book discusses the pros and cons of embracing FA and reviews the evidence for and against the validity and utility of FA. By doing so, the chapters convey a “middle ground” approach to help people with obesity, BED, and bulimia nervosa plus FA symptomatology who also want to lose weight. The text discusses FA by reviewing several of the main ongoing controversies associated with the construct. It reviews both the clinical and neuroscientific evidence that some individuals’ eating behavior mirrors that seen in substance use disorders (SUD), such as how their relationship with food appears to be “addictive”. Chapters also discuss how many of the mechanisms known to underlie SUDs appear to drive overeating in animal models and humans. Finally, the text argues that the similarities between the brain mechanisms of addictive disorders and overeating behavior has the potential to open up new avenues for current treatment and treatment development. Food Addiction, Obesity and Disorders of Overeating: An Evidence-Based Assessment and Clinical Guide is suited for both medical and mental health practitioners, including physicians in primary care or psychiatry, nurses, psychologists, social workers, medical students and medical residents. It could also be utilized by researchers in obesity and ED fields, stimulating ideas for future research and study design.

Compulsive Eating Behavior and Food Addiction: Emerging Pathological Constructs is the first book of its kind to emphasize food addiction as an addictive disorder. This book focuses on the preclinical aspects of food addiction research, shifting the focus towards a more complex behavioral expression of pathological feeding and combining it with current research on neurobiological substrates. This book will become an invaluable reference for researchers in food addiction and compulsive eating constructs. Compulsive eating behavior is a pathological form of feeding that phenotypically and neurobiologically resembles the compulsive-like behaviors associated with both drug abuse and behavioral addictions. Compulsive eating behavior, including Binge Eating Disorder (BED), certain forms of obesity, and ‘food addiction’ affect an estimated 70 million individuals worldwide. Synthesizes clinical and preclinical perspectives on addictive eating behavior Identifies how food addiction is similar and/or different from other addictions Focuses on the underlying neurobiological mechanisms Provides information on therapeutic interventions for patients with food addiction