With an increase in the number of obese and overweight people from 857 million in 1980 to 2.1 billion in 2013, the growing epidemic of obesity, despite information overload, uprecendented interest in this area and increased body consciousness, is a paradox.
Sadly, the co-morbidities associated with obesity are increasing rapidly, even for those with lower body mass index and people who are not overweight. Non-alcoholic fatty liver, polycystic ovaries (irregular menstruation), and impaired glucose tolerance are some of the common problems one is seeing these days. Along with the rapid rise in auto-immune diseases and malignancies, it seems that the lifestyle disease burden is staring us in the face more than ever before.
Food addiction, although controversial, has recently gained attention in scientific literature and falls into the realm of atypical eating disorders. It has been implicated in craving, binging and obesity. Its recognition may be useful in management of complications like diabetes, obesity, heart disease and other chronic conditions.
Food addiction implies that there is a biochemical condition in the body that creates a physiological craving for specific foods. This craving, and its underlying biochemistry, is comparable to an alcoholic’s craving for alcohol (a refined carbohydrate).
It suggests that specific foods, especially those which are rich in fat and sugar and/or salt are capable of promoting addiction. More recently even gluten is being recognised as one among them. These foods seem to affect the same addictive brain pathways that are influenced by alcohol and drugs. Highly palatable foods are not addictive per se, but become addictive following prolonged restriction/ binging. These could be as diverse as refined carbohydrates, processed foods, cheese, chocolates, sugars and milk proteins
Relevance of food addiction may be path-breaking in the treatment of overeating and obesity, which so-far has been associated with eating disorders caused from emotional problems that could be treated by psychotherapy or counselling. While, this may be true for many individuals who have used food to manage their emotions or deal with stress, the problem is more complex for the true food addict.
The key feature of any addiction is loss of control. In food addiction, loss of control is manifested by either more frequent or larger meals.
Although anecdotal reports are abundant, few studies have been able to document addictive properties of foods meeting rigorous scientific criteria. While some may argue, that all foods are addictive, it is proposed that some foods are more addictive than others.
Tecent findings suggest that it may also be the way in which foods are consumed (eg alternating access and restriction) rather than their sensory properties that leads to addiction. In other words, palatable foods alone are not responsible, because even non-palatable foods can be addictive.
Ishi Khosla is a former senior nutritionist at Escorts. She heads the Centre of Dietary Counselling and also runs a health food store. She feels that for complete well-being, one should integrate physical, mental and spiritual health. According to her: “To be healthy should be the ultimate goal for all.”