Food Addiction Does Exist, Confirms Study

Food addicts lack will power to control their cravings to binge, confirms a study.

Uncontrolled eating and unhealthy food choices are linked to the development of chronic health conditions and diseases. But so far, the habit of overindulging in mouthwatering sweets and food was not particularly defined as an addiction. Experts from the University of Luxembourg discovered food addiction does exist and overweight women are mentally wired to have heightened responses to images of food.

Researchers conducted a food-related psychology test by randomly displaying on computer screens the pictures of fatty food, desserts and junk snacks and non-food items like shoes, socks and mugs. The study involved normal weight and obese women who were instructed to immediately click on either of the images flashed on the screen. The experiment took place right after the subjects ate their lunch and three hours later.

 It was observed that overweight women exhibited impulsive reactions after seeing the food images and gave poor performance in the test compared to normal weight participants.  The food images triggered hunger and longing to consume more food in overweight participants even though they had eaten a while ago.

"This suggests that some people may have an instinctive, psychological predisposition to binge eating," said Claus Voegele, study author and professor of Clinical and Health Psychology at the University of Luxembourg, in a news release.

The authors added all forms of addiction encourage the sufferers to take more drugs, alcohol, gamble, eat or take mind-altering substances that stimulate ecstatic responses in the brain from chemical neurotransmitters. Food addicts have less grit to suppress their appetite and try to fulfill their cravings . The researchers believe both nature and nurture can put one at the risk of food addiction or eating disorders by exercising too much control over food intake.

"People may over-eat to comfort themselves, because they are bored or just out of habit," said Professor Voegele.

More information is available online in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.