Food addiction
Food addiction is a disease characterized by obsession with weight and body image. Men and women of all ages force themselves to eat too much or too little, and suffer tremendous psychological pain when they do.
Food addiction is a disorder characterized by preoccupation with food, the availability of food and the anticipation of pleasure from the ingestion of food.
Like the drug addict, the food addict experiences withdrawal when attempting to cut down on foods that trigger cravings.
Food addict can experience both physical and emotional withdrawal such as tremors, cramps, depression, teary periods and self-hatred which leads to self abuse.
A recent research that studied the brain scan of some obese people reported that obese people might get addicted to food in the similar fashion as a drug addict to drugs.
Types of food addiction
- Compulsive overeating
- Bulimia Nervosa
- Anorexia Nervosa
Eating disorders are addictive, progressive and potentially fatal disease that require a comprehensive treatment approach. Food addiction can also come in the form of anorexia, where an individual attempts to starve oneself in order to achieve an unrealistic weight. Anorexics tend to be 15 percent below normal body weight and have a phobia about being fat. They have difficulty eating with other people and appear to be obsessed with weight.
Goals of treatment
Food addiction can be successfully treated. This treatment can come in a variety of forms. Main goals of food addiction treatment are:
- Restoring healthy eating patterns
- Restoring healthy body weight
- Identifying and treating emotional issues that trigger patient symptoms
- Developing coping strategies that will assist patients in dealing with day-to-day stressors
- Continuing support for long-term recovery
It is entirely possible that a food addiction can never be cured, that it can only be treated. In other words, the recovery period for the addiction can last a lifetime. However, one should never lose hope of beating a food addiction.
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