This is by no means a new theory. How many books has Prof Robert Lustig alone sold explaining the mechanisim by which we can become addicted to food? (For a very brief run down on his theories see this report from a FAB Research conference a few years ago.) However, what has been lacking were medically accepted ways of classifying highly processed food as addictive (as addictive as tobacco) and thereby triggering treatment protocols.
In terms of criteria for addiction, highly processed foods (HPFs) meet the same criteria as tobacco a new US study suggests, and labeling them as such might benefit public health.
The authors of the study, led by Ashley N. Gearhardt, a psychologist from the University of Michigan, write that the ability of highly processed foods “to rapidly deliver high doses of refined carbohydrates and/or fat appear key to their addictive potential. HPFs can be associated with an eating phenotype that reflects the hallmarks of addiction: typically, loss of control over intake, intense cravings, inability to cut down, and continued use despite negative consequences”.
They consider certain foods according to the primary criteria that have stood the test of time after being proposed in 1988 by the US Surgeon General to establish the addictive potential of tobacco: (1) they trigger compulsive use, (2) they have psychoactive effects, and (3) they are reinforcing. But they have updated these criteria to include the ability to trigger urges and cravings. They add that “both these products [tobacco and HPFs] are legal, easily accessible, inexpensive, lack an intoxication syndrome, and are major causes of preventable death.”
The researchers suggest that the contribution to preventable deaths by a diet dominated by HPFs is comparable to that of tobacco products, and therefore they want clinical recognition of HPF addiction and a more formalized protocol to managing it.
“Food addiction explains so much of what we see in clinical practice” said clinical psychologist Jen Unwin from Southport, another researcher in the area who has just completed a 3-month online program of low carbohydrate diet together with psychoeducational support. “Intelligent people understand what we tell them about the physiology associated with a low-carb diet, and they follow it for a while, but then they relapse.”
For a much longer report and links to the original research see Medscape here.
More random snippets!