Search Results for "food addiction"
Junk Foods Trigger Food Addiction in Obesity?
Readers of these pages will be quite familiar with my previous posts on food addiction. A new paper by Paul Johnson and Paul Kenny from the Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, FL, just released online in Nature Neuroscience, demonstrates that in rats development of obesity is coupled with a progressively worsening deficit in neural reward responses (as seen in cocaine or heroin abuse). In drug users, this decreased neural reward response is considered crucial in triggering the transition from casual to compulsive drug-taking. In their experiments, the researchers found compulsive-like feeding behavior in obese but not lean rats, and showed that this compulsive overeating was even resistant to disruption by an aversive conditioned stimulus. The researchers also found down regulation of dopamine D2 receptors in the striatum (an area of the brain involved in reward behaviours) in a manner similar to what has been reported in humans addicted to drugs. Genetic knockdown of striatal D2 receptors also rapidly accelerated the development of addiction-like reward deficits and the onset of compulsive-like food seeking in rats with access to palatable high-fat food. Together these data clearly demonstrate that overconsumption of highly palatable foods can trigger addiction-like neuroadaptive responses in brain reward circuits that can drive the development of compulsive overeating. As I noted in several media interviews on this article yesterday, “while not all forms of obesity can be reduced to food addiction, anyone dealing with obesity needs to be aware of the possibility that they may be addicted to certain foods and must therefore approach their obesity in the same manner as they would approach any other addiction. Unfortunately, in contrast to substance abuse, food abstinence is not an option“. I can certainly now see why diet plans for treating food addiction are about as successful as drinking plans are for managing alcoholism. AMS Edmonton, Alberta
Does High-Glycemic Index Promote Food Addiction?
Yesterday, I was widely quoted in national media on the issue of food addiction. The background for this was an interview done by CanWest’s Sharon Kirkey regarding a recent paper by Simon Thronley and colleagues from Auckland, New Zealand, published in Medical Hypothesis. The basic tenor of their article is that food consumption shows many similarities to features of other addictive behaviours, such as automaticity and loss of control. They hypothesize that Glycemic Index (GI) is perhaps the key element of food that predicts its addictive potential. They quote reports of a withdrawal syndrome from high glycemic food abstinence and argue that both empirical and clinical studies support an addictive component of eating behaviour, with similar neurotransmitters and neural pathways triggered by food consumption, as with addictive drugs. Specifically, they argue that the short time to peak arterial concentration of glucose (similar to the short time to peak concentrations of nicotine in smokers) associated with high GI-foods, essentially ‘spikes’ the addictive potential of palatable foods – thereby making them more addictive than low-GI foods. The authors suggest that subtle changes in the preparation and manufacturing of commonly consumed food items and/or reducing glycemic index through regulatory channels, may help break a cycle of [food-] addiction and draw large public health benefits. While I much like their concept, and certainly buy into the fact that some folks demonstrate features akin to food addiction, this is certainly not a universal thruth that applies to all people with excess weight – in fact, I know a couple of normal weight people, who probably have “sweet addiction” as well. Nevertheless, I do think that this paper should once again remind us of the important mental health component to ingestive behaviour and certainly explains why for some people kicking doughnuts and chocolate is apparently as hard as kicking alochol or cocaine. AMS Edmonton, Alberta.
Food and Eating Addictions May Not Be the Same
As my regular readers know, this week, I am attending a Scientific Symposium called “Recovery From Addiction“, organised as part of the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative of the Norlien Foundation. Anyone familiar with addictions is well aware of the discussions in this field about harm reduction (or controlled use) versus abstinence. In people where obesity is a consequence of an addiction, abstinence of course is not an option. Thus, the default in weight management is harm reduction. Obviously, this does not make obesity management any easier. In alcohol dependence, abstinence is an option – no one would try to manage their alcohol addiction with a “drinking plan”. But in “food-addiction”, clients are often presented with and are expected to follow “diet plans”. When they fail to stick with these “plans”, they are simply labelled as non-compliant and often discharged from these programs. In addition, it appear to me that “compulsive overeating” is perhaps as often a “process” addiction as it can be a “substance” addiction. Readers may be aware that a process addiction is an addiction to an activity or process, such as eating, spending money, gambling, or working too much rather than an identifiable agent or substance. Unfortunately, these addictive behaviors can be as debilitating as those associated with substance addictions. However, while with substance addictions, clients can be expected to simply give up or reduce use of the substance and can be monitored for compliance, process addictions provide much of their reward from the behaviour itself. Sometimes, these behavioural patterns of process addictions can be transferred to other seeminlyg unrelated activities. Thus, as one speaker presented at this conference, people with gambling addictions, can get the same “reward” from running a yellow light, people with shopping addictions, an get hooked on the simple act of trying to find bargains or comparing prices. Thus, “eating addicts” can get “addicted” to the process of fantasizing about, finding, buying, preparing, and eating food – it may not be one food that they are addicted to, because their addiction it to the processes around acquiring food and eating it and not to a particular food or food group. This adds a level of complexity to applying an addiction model to obesity, that may not be quite appreciated by the people who pass out the well-meant but useless “eat-less-move-more” (ELMM) mantra. Indeed, it appears that applying an addiction model to obesity requires a level of sophistication that… Read More »
Food Cravings, Mood, and Nicotine Addiction
Smoking cessation is one of the most common risk factors for weight gain and there is little doubt that in some people food activates exactly the same hedonic pathways as does nicotine and other drugs – this is why for some people, food is very much an addiction. In fact, previous studies have shown that people who abstain from smoking, not only tend to give in to food cravings more often, but as cravings for cigarettes become more intensified, so do cravings for starchy carbohydrates and fats. These food are also well know to improve dysphoric moods (anxiety, depression, and irritability) that typically accompany nicotine withdrawal. A new study published this month in OBESITY further illustrates these striking similiarities in food cravings and mood states between obese women and women who smoke tobacco. In this study, Yanina Pepino and colleagues form the Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA, assessed food cravings in 229 women who differed in smoking history (i.e., never smoker, former smoker, and current smoker) and body weight (i.e., normal weight, overweight, and obese). Each subject completed the Food Craving Inventory (FCI), which measures cravings for sweets, high fats, carbohydrates/starches, and fast-food fats, and the Profile of Mood States (POMS), which measures psychological distress. Both smoking and obesity were found to be independently associated with specific food cravings and mood states (particularly depression and anger). Current smokers clearly craved high fats more frequently than former and never smokers. They also craved starches more frequently and felt more depressed and angry than never smokers, but not former smokers. From these findings the authors conclude that while cravings for starchy foods and poor mood may be characteristic of women who are likely to smoke, more frequent cravings for fat among smokers is related to smoking per se. Similarly, obese women craved high fats more frequently than nonobese women and depression symptoms were intensified with increasing body weights. The overlapping neuroendocrine alterations associated with obesity and smoking and the remarkable similarities in food cravings and mood states between women who smoke and women who are obese suggest that common biological mechanisms modulate cravings for fat in these women. Unfortunately, while smoking can be addressed by “smoking cessation” programs it is highly unlikely that we will be able to address the obesity epidemic with “eating cessation” programs. Nevertheless, the recognition that smoking and food cravings interact with mood and involve the same… Read More »
Weight Gain With Methadone Treatment For Opioid Addiction
Weight gain is not an uncommon phenomenon with addiction treatment. This has been reported both in smokers and in those with alcohol addiction. Now a study by Jennifer Fenn and colleagues from the University of Vermont report significant weight gain with methadone treatment for opioid addiction in a paper published in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. The retrospective chart review included 96 patients enrolled in an outpatient methadone clinic for ≥ 6 months. Overall mean BMIs increased by about 3 units (from 27.2 to 30.1), which corresponds roughly to an 18 lb or 10% increase in body weight. Interestingly, the weight gain was predominantly seen in women, who gained about 28 lbs or 17.5% body weight compared to men, who only increased their weight by about 12 lbs or 6.4%. As the study did not have access to food records, one can only speculate as to the causes. While better nutrition may well play a role, one could also speculate that there may be some addiction transfer from opioids to calorie-dense foods. Whatever the cause, clinicians should probably be aware of this potential impact of methadone treatment on body weight, as prevention of excess weight gain may be easier than treating obesity once it is established. @DrSharma Edmonton, AB