Food Addiction Works Like Drug Addiction In The Brain

Seeing a milkshake can activate the same areas of the brain that light up when an addict sees cocaine, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

The study helps explain why it can be so hard for some people to maintain a healthy weight, and why it has been so difficult for drugmakers and health experts to find obesity treatments that work.

"If certain foods are addictive, this may partially explain the difficulty people experience in achieving sustainable weight loss," Ashley Gearhardt of Yale University in Connecticut and colleagues wrote in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Gearhardt's team wanted to see what happens in the brain when young women are tempted by a tasty treat.

They used a type of brain imaging known as functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to study brain activity in 48 young women who were offered a chocolate milkshake or a tasteless solution. Women in the study ranged from lean to obese.

The team found that seeing the milkshake triggered brain activity in the anterior cingulate cortex and the medial orbitofrontal cortex -- brain areas that have been implicated in an addict's urge to use drugs.

And this activity was higher among women in the study who had high scores on a scale that assessed their eating habits for signs of addictive behavior.

"These findings support the theory that compulsive food consumption may be driven in part by an enhanced anticipation of the rewarding properties of food," Gearhardt and colleagues wrote.

People who are addicted to a substance are more likely to react with physical, psychological and behavioral changes when exposed to that substance. Altering visual "cues" -- billboards of tempting treats, for example -- might help curb the urge to indulge, they said.

"Ubiquitous food advertising and the availability of inexpensive palatable foods may make it extremely difficult to adhere to healthier food choices because the omnipresent food cues trigger the reward system," they wrote.

The study suggests that advertising might also play a role in the nation's obesity problem, and future studies should look at whether food ads trigger this same kind of brain activity.

Obesity is one of the biggest health challenges facing the United States, and health officials already added a requirement to President Barack Obama's new healthcare law requiring that restaurants add calorie counts to their menus.

(Editing by Laura MacInnis)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[LovingFit]

04:59 AM on 04/16/2011

That was no big secret, that's why I decided to give up milkshakes and cake. It makes me feel like I need it, and I sure as hell don't. So now, the only thing I want to activate my brain is health food. Follow my health and fitness blog
http://www.lovingfit.com

[DownHomeFoodie]

04:00 PM on 04/10/2011

If food can cause addiction, then what about food porn addiction: http://downhomefoodie.blogspot.com/2011/04/food-porn.html

[thetina]

11:09 AM on 04/08/2011

To many of us this article is extremely obvious, but it is very important to spread the word to those not in the know. As a recovering alcoholic and somebody who suffered from eating disorders (ED-NOS) growing up, I can say food addiction is SURELY comparable to any other kind of addiction. For example, bulimia is more closely related to drug addiction than an eating disorder, due to the chemicals being released during purging.

That being said, I think we have a current issue in society where nothing is average. Either you're eating large or your barely eating. Focus needs to be on moderation and health instead of over-consumption or under-1,000 calorie diets. I feel that people who have compulsive eating issues need to work and condition themselves on becoming apathetic towards food. Just like you might have a connection to a childhood toy, people with food issues tend to have sentimental value on food. Once this behavior is broken down, it's much more simpler to deal with whats (literally) on your plate.
And advertising? Its always been around, so to point fingers at a 35' billboard on food addiction is a cheap cop-out.

[William Anderson LMHC]

08:51 AM on 04/09/2011

You are right on target with many things you say here. I am the psychother­apist and addictiono­logist who lost 140 lbs. 25 years ago when I discovered Therapeuti­c Psychogeni­cs, and I have been at my ideal weight ever since. You have a lot of knowledge about some disorders; however, some of our disorders are systemic and cultural. They do need to be changed systemically for us to recover as a community, so identifying what needs to be changed in the media and culture, whether it is food advertising or promotion of violence and hate, is a valid point I think, not a cop-out. For more info about food addiction, read my book, "The Anderson Method" and go to my website for informatio­n about my work: www.TheAndersonMethod.com .

[VelveteenLady]

03:53 AM on 04/16/2011

Shameful self-promotion.

[redbud9]

01:39 PM on 05/21/2011

This site is for comments, not about trying to make money off people.

[Gale Glassner Twersky]

02:21 AM on 04/08/2011

There are also possible situations in which a woman who has been sexually molested will subconsciously put on, and keep on, excess weight. This is because her subconscious, in attempting to protect her from ever re-experiencing such horrible trauma again, is seeking to make her less vulnerable to being, once more, a sexual abuse victim

Your subconscious does not always make the best choices for you and yet, once the "subconscious program" is downloaded, you are basically stuck with it until you learn how to reprogram your subconscious.It is possible to lose the weight, yet,in the case I have previously described, the woman's subconscious typically resists allowing the weight to stay off permanently.

The good news is that it is possible to reprogram your subconscious through hypnosis and other means also. It is worth taking the time to research this. One needs to understand good nutritional choices and also delete Faulty Subconscious Programs for permanent weight reduction.

[Gale Glassner Twersky]

01:57 AM on 04/08/2011

Addictions are the result of your subconscious noticing what gives you pleasure and thus directing you by creating computer-like "subconscious programs" that continue to drive you to the same place for more pleasure. With each time you receive that pleasurable response, the behavior and the pleasure are reinforced. Even when the "addiction" causes negative consequences, the old subconscious program is still running and directing you to repeat that same addictive behavior even though it is against your "conscious" desire. When it comes to a battle between your conscious mind and your subconscious mind, your subconscious wins...until you learn how to consciously be the Director of your subconscious mind and communicate with it through a modality it understands...like hypnosis. This is what I have discovered and teach for attitudinal and behavioral modification.

[Tom Walsh]

07:00 PM on 04/07/2011

This is ridiculous.......of course Billboards may entice you, they are Advertisements. Last time I checked I haven't seen anyone commit murder to get a fix of ice cream. Comparing Ice cream to a drug that has killed millions (not from it's effects, but drug violence) is repulsive.

[Chris Fort]

02:13 PM on 04/13/2011

Maybe that's because you can't buy crack from your local Walgreens or Safeway...

... Just throwin' it out there.

[VelveteenLady]

04:02 AM on 04/16/2011

You should check your facts. Folks with food addictions are, many times, obese. Obesity kills many millions of people from things such as heart disease, liver disease, diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, etc. And if those conditions don't kill a person, chances are that person is being treated for those medical conditions, which put a horrific strain on employers (who pay the lion's share of employee's health insurance premiums), in addition to lost work days per year. It costs billions in medication costs per year to treat these diseases. I would venture a guess that those obesity and food-addiction related conditions kill more people than any illegal drug kills. So, when one contrasts the morbidity and the mortality of illegal drugs (crack cocaine, meth, abused prescription drugs, etc.) with the morbidity and the mortality of food addiction-caused health conditions . . . well, it can't be done.

[WinniethePuuuh]

01:44 PM on 04/07/2011

Wow I Didn't want to read this article... From now on I'll know of my illnes.. I'm addicted...:P

[Jokergirl]

04:33 AM on 04/07/2011

It has to do with addictive personality I think. People who once smoked but now don't can get addicted to food (snack food and sweets in particular) because it has to do with doing something with your hands, the same with former alcoholics, they can just eat an entire bag of something and not even realize it. I've seen this first hand with family members. When you remind them of it, sometimes they don't even realize they're eating that much. Moderation is not a word people with former addictions tend to like very much, in my experience. Plus if it's food they're not supposed to have and it's in the house, they will eat it because it's there. If it's not there, they forget about it.

[RaySalomone]

03:51 AM on 04/07/2011

This tip toes around the subject. Weight loss is about discipline. Eat less, Exercise more. Get your hand out of the cookie jar and your ass off the couch!

Ray Salomone Personal Trainer to The Masters of The Universe

Blunt Force Advice on Diet and Exercise wwwRedZoneWarriors.blog.com

[Chris Fort]

02:18 PM on 04/13/2011

That's strange. I'd say it takes a level of dicipline to raise a family, to get up and go to work every morning for 8 hours, to remember to pay your taxes... Everyone seems able to do this, but a rising many are unable to stay in shape. Huh. Maybe it's not so simple then.

[VelveteenLady]

04:03 AM on 04/16/2011

Shameless self-promotion.

[JHKH]

10:11 PM on 04/06/2011

It still boils down to simple arithmetic. Eat fewer calories than you burn in a day (on average) and you will lose weight. Perhaps if their bodies were truly nourished by what they consumed, people wouldn't crave milkshakes and other cr@P. Eating to feed an emotional need may be difficult to address, but certainly it is a day-to-day behavior that can be changed with support and understanding -- and maybe professional psychological counseling.

[VJSleight]

03:45 AM on 04/07/2011

If it was really that easy, we wouldn't have an obesity problem in the US. This is the same advice that has been around for years, yet the problem is getting bigger each year!

[Tom Walsh]

07:02 PM on 04/07/2011

Survival of the fittest. If your're obese it's your own fault. Put down the fork and go for a walk. It's common sense.

[William Anderson LMHC]

09:04 AM on 04/09/2011

Don't pay any attention to this fellow Tom Walsh. He seems like another know-it-all who revels in his ignorance. If one is unaware of what the problem is, he will never look for the solution, the problem with know-it-alls. The problem of habitual and compulsive overeating is an addictive disorder, and solutions do exist. I am the psychother­apist and addictiono­logist who lost 140 lbs. 25 years ago when I discovered Therapeuti­c Psychogeni­cs, and I have been at my ideal weight ever since. For more info about food addiction and the obesity epidemic, read my book, "The Anderson Method" and go to my website for informatio­n about my work: www.TheAndersonMethod.com .

[Chris Fort]

02:19 PM on 04/13/2011

Our bodies aren't machines that calculate the number of calories we eat. This is just false.

[jacquelinenh]

09:33 PM on 04/06/2011

Well, the study was small, so can't to see more. It's important to know that physical conditions in the body can trigger food cravings, such as the hormonal imbalances women experience around menopause... http://www.womentowomen.com/understandyourbody/symptoms/cravings.aspx
Also, you just can't discount emotional eating, a problem for many that has nothing to do with addiction.

[Cory111]

08:13 PM on 04/06/2011

I'd suggest if you want to get a real insight into this problem attend one of your local "Open Overeaters Anonymous" meetings.

[William Anderson LMHC]

09:10 AM on 04/09/2011

Good advice Cory. I am the psychother­apist and addictiono­logist who lost 140 lbs. 25 years ago when I discovered Therapeuti­c Psychogeni­cs, and I have been at my ideal weight ever since. For more info about food addiction and the obesity epidemic, read my book, "The Anderson Method" and go to my website for informatio­n about my work: www.TheAndersonMethod.com . OA and the Twelve Steps offer many important pieces of the puzzle for recovery from food addiction. More Power to you!

[Cory111]

10:01 AM on 04/09/2011

Thanks for the reply William. I’ve been involved in the recovery field for years and have over thirty-two years of continuous sobriety. Many years ago I belonged to a tennis club in SoCal and a woman invited me over to her place for dinner. She asked me to get some ice and in her freezer were lots of diet dinners. She commented, “Yes, I’m constantly on a diet, it’s been that way all of my life.”
As the evening progressed I asked if she had ever heard of “OA” and she had not. I suggested she look into it. A couple of weeks later I was playing tennis at the club and she tells me, “Cory, there is an OA meeting at a High School by my place every Sunday evening.” “Great are you going to look into it”? She replied, “I’m a bit scared, what do they do in these meetings, will they ask me a lot of questions?” “How about I come over next Sunday we go to the meeting together?”
Long story short the last time I saw her she looked great and was still attending meetings. In fact she had started her own meeting. No, she was not looking like a slim trim Miss American but she was no longer fighting her food addiction.
I’m sure your method has also helped many to live a “Happy, Joyous and Free” life.
Thank you for the reply.

Cory

[LittleRedEngine]

07:07 PM on 04/06/2011

I think the bottom line is- we all want to feel good! We all want that burger, those fries, that cigarette, more vodka, pepperoni, etc... We all want to come home from the office, eat nachos with extra meat and cheese while we lay on the sofa! And in America, WE CAN have these things. But these things, while giving us momentary pleasure, ultimately make us unhappy because we become ill and "fat". We must look past immediate gratification, and look for long-term gratification. And have self control...say to yourself "i'm an adult and I should trust myself to have control". Moderation..

[Rebrebreb]

05:40 PM on 04/06/2011

Milk has casomorphine - an opiate resembling morphine actually. It is thought to be in cow's milk to help the calf return to the udder - - literally, to get addicted because it's survival depends on this early act. And not surprising that people would become addicted to it as well. No other mammals keep drinking milk into adulthood, or drink the milk of another species. Only mankind came up with this cleverness. Hope more people will move towards veganism. It is liberating.

[Cory111]

08:12 PM on 04/06/2011

Thanks to the dairy industry...

[Tom Walsh]

07:07 PM on 04/07/2011

No study has been completed and it is most likely broken down by enzymes to make it ineffective. Do research.......and stop eating Humus.

[Jonathan Robert]

04:58 PM on 04/06/2011

Food is this countries number one addiction. Look at all the cancer, heart disease and diabetes. All of this can be traced back in large part to bad food choices.