Today, we see that many issues are struggling with addiction. Compulsive binge eating is an example of behavioral addictions. It contains hedonic (hedonistic) features. Food addiction is defined as the intense and abnormal consumption of high-calorie and glucose-rich foods. Some studies report that individuals with food addiction have difficulty in controlling their eating behavior.
The fact that some foods affect the brain differently and are effective in reward pathways has led to the emergence of the issue of food addiction. When the eating behavior gets out of control, individuals start to consume more of the food that causes it, and as a result, binge eating disorder and obesity are seen. There is no clear decision about evaluating eating behavior as addiction, but it is shown among the causes of obesity in the literature.
Some symptoms suggest that the individual may have food addiction. These ; Feeling craving and craving for some foods despite feeling full, not being able to stop himself when he starts eating these foods and eating more than necessary, feeling very clogged after consuming these foods, feeling guilty all the time while consuming some foods, but despite this, he finds himself in this situation after a short while. These are situations such as finding foods while consuming, making frequent excuses about why they should eat cravings, unsuccessful attempts to reduce or stop eating, hiding unhealthy foods from people around them, not being able to control consuming these foods despite knowing that they cause physical harm. The fact that a few of them are experienced frequently in the individual shows that they have food addiction.
Using the act of eating as an emotional regulator leads to food addiction. In particular, consuming high-calorie foods seems to be effective in coping with emotional stress factors in some individuals. Many people state that they are happy when they eat. Based on this situation, studies have determined that people who think that eating causes positive emotions have a disorder in the reward system stimulated by eating.
In food addiction, unlike other addictions, it is not expected to completely get away from the addicted substance and never use it. It is known that individuals have to be fed in order to survive and it is not appropriate to define nutrients as substances with addictive effects. It was emphasized that not every food item causes addiction-like behaviors, and that these effects of foods containing salt, oil, sugar and additives are more pronounced. Different effects occur depending on the nutrient consumed, and the quality of the nutrient (rich in sugar and/or fat) reinforces the eating behavior. Food addiction, like other addictions, continues uncontrollably and uncontrollably as a result of the behavior that gives pleasure.
In the treatment of food addiction, what needs to be done is to determine the trigger of the behavior, to motivate the person for change, to take control of the impulse against the behavior and to develop alternative behaviors to this behavior, as in other addictions. In this case, it is beneficial for individuals to apply to psychotherapy. One of the main goals of psychotherapy is to control these impulses. In psychoeducation, information is given about conscious food consumption and how to deal with eating attacks. Especially if it is accompanied by obesity, it is a treatment that can be carried out by psychologist and dietitian working together.
