Food Addiction – It Really is an Addiction

• EBT
• food addiction
• neurocircuit

I went to visit friends this weekend.  We ate out in a restaurant for dinner on Friday and Saturday nights, Saturday lunch and Sunday brunch.  It was excellent and I very much enjoyed it.  However, I definitely ate way too much.  It got me thinking about food and the obesity epidemic…and of course, our brains.

 
 
 
Then, as I was sitting on my friend’s couch, I picked up a copy of her Eating Well magazine, and as serendipity would have it, I came across the perfect article.  A scientific article about food addiction, and how the brain acts in relation to food…or more importantly, how the brain reacts to our favorite food – sweets and salt.  Click here to be taken to the article.

Dr. Nora Volkow is the Director for the National Institute of Drug Abuse, which is a branch of the National Institutes of Health.  Besides researching drugs and alcohol, she researches food and the brain.  Her findings show that the brains of obese people, people who eat significantly more than normal, are different.  They work differently; they have different amounts of active dopamine receptors which are the reward pathways. 
 
Yes, genetics plays a part.  That is the part we cannot change.  Yes, the environment plays a part.  We now live in a world where food is readily available and the foods the reward the brain the most are the fastest and most easily accessible.  And, yes, our brains and neurocircuitry play a part.  It is not about will power, it is not about who a person is, it is about their brain state. 
 
For me, the most interesting part of this article was the following.  With reward, the number of dopamine receptor decreases indicating that more of something is needed to stimulate the positive reward feelings.  Yet at the same time, there appears to be less activity in the self-control parts of the brain.  Therefore, “will power” has to be even greater to overcome the invitation.
 
The article doesn’t offer a solution.  It just explains the science.  So, if part of the problem is the neurocircuitry, it seems to me that we should continue to focus on changing the brain.  It is not the person, just the state of his/her brain.  And we all know, EBT can change the brain state.  So, if you are struggling with food, I encourage you to check out the support that EBT has available for food addiction. 
 
More to come next week…