Food Addiction

Do You Have a Food Addiction?

You don’t often think about food being an addiction, but for some people, this is something that they live with every single day. What makes this an odd addiction is that we all need food to survive, so it’s not like you can just stop eating or even wean yourself from food. You have to have it.

Often, the addiction comes from the feeling that certain foods give when consumed, and those feelings fill something that a person cannot seem to get anywhere else. A food addiction is like any other though, in the way that it can be very harmful to the person who has the problem.

Some food addiction might be to one type of food. Some think they have a sugar addiction, which means they cannot get enough of anything sweetened with sugar. Some have a carb fixation, which means they go with high carbohydrate foods almost exclusively. This leaves them with high blood sugar and then the ensuing crash, along with never having the ability to feel full. That means they eat even more. Weight gain and diabetes are going to be common for those with that type of food addiction.

Food addiction is often something that is there to fill an emotional need that has not been filled. Someone who has been abused or comes from a home with very little affection may get comfort from eating food. This becomes something they have to have, and it turns into a food addiction. They may also equate any event in their life with a reason to eat, and that means they always have an excuse to feed their food addiction.

You may have a food addiction if you cannot seem to stop gaining weight and you know it is because you can’t stop eating. You may eat anything, or there may be one type of food that you cannot get enough of. A good therapist can find out why you have your food addiction, and can then help you clear up the underlying problem.

Once that problem has been filled and solved, your addiction to food may very well go away. This is something you can try on your own, but if you have little success, there is no harm in going out for some outside help. You may even find books on the subject, or special diets that can help wean you from the foods that cause you the most problems.