Delicious food brings joy and makes us a little happier. But sometimes the need for it becomes unmanageable. Food addiction is a condition in which a person uses food not to satisfy hunger but to cope with various unpleasant emotions.
For example, people eat food to cope with anxiety, loneliness, or boredom. According to a study, food addiction can be just as bad and as dangerous as alcohol or drug addiction. Systematic overeating and night trips to the refrigerator not only spoil the appearance but also provoke various diseases.
Only a doctor can make an accurate diagnosis. In this article, we will present a few signs that tell that you have a food addiction.
Major Signs Of Food Addiction
1. Eating Until Nausea
For people with addiction, food is not exclusively a physiological need. Rather, it is a way to relax and relieve stress. Since our body quickly adapts to any changes. To continue to receive the same effect, a person may increase the food portions.
In this way, control over the state of satiety is lost. Even after a full meal, emotional hunger remains, not associated with the need for energy and nutrients. The person continues to consume food until they feel physical discomfort (indigestion, nausea).
At the same time, he/she does not enjoy the taste. Doctors advise leaving the table with a slight feeling of hunger. If you cannot stop and fill your stomach, this is an alarming signal.
2. Have Food Triggers
Food triggers are foods that cause addiction and binge eating. As a rule, we consume them without a sense of proportion and continue to eat, even when we are full. This is similar to a heroin relapse trigger. Different people have their own food triggers. But according to American researchers, most often these are foods with a high glycemic index.
The effect of these food triggers is similar to the use of a drug such as heroin. However, unlike heroin addiction treatment, there are no centers for food addiction treatment. As a result, a person keeps abusing food.
In this process, the brain increases the production of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Thus, unpleasant feelings and experiences get blocked, and with the – signals of satiety. As a result, a person becomes addicted to the emotions caused by trigger foods and regularly overeats.
3. Making Up Excuses Of Breakdowns
People with food addictions eat when they feel bad to support or comfort themselves. According to psychologists, this is due to their inability to cope with stress in other ways. A person gets used to seizing even the slightest stress, and to break loose and break promises.
But these are just some excuses. During such bargaining with oneself, one can come up with many arguments about the usefulness of food for the body. For example, you had a bad day, so you need to please yourself with something.
Or, conversely, the day turned out to be too good, and thus we decide to reward ourselves for a job well done. Such excuses always sound logical and reasonable, so a person sees no reason to resist the temptation.
4. Feel Guilty
Regular attempts to begin to control your diet and the subsequent breakdowns and frustrations form deep feelings of guilt. Despite this, the cycle repeats over and over. Due to bouts of overeating, food addicts often cancel planned activities because they feel not slim enough. For example, they may avoid romantic dates or meeting friends.
For the same reason, food addicts are more likely than others to suffer from depression, obsessive thoughts, and anxiety. This provokes repeated bouts of overeating. It turns out a vicious circle.
5. Hide Food From Your Family
With other people, food addicts behave differently than when they are alone. They try to hide from others the amount of food eaten and their unhealthy relationship with food. There are various ways to do this. For example, some eat only at night, while their loved ones sleep. Others always keep a stock of junk food in their car so they can enjoy it without prying eyes.
Still others in a hurry eat a chocolate bar or a packet of cookies on their way home from the store. At the same time, being in strangers’ company, they choose in favor of healthier meals. This is another sign of being a food additive.
6. Constantly Think About Food
In food addiction, the same changes occur in the brain as with alcoholism and drug addiction. For example, if a favorite food runs out at home, the patient begins to experience severe physical suffering. It is similar to the withdrawal of a drug addict. Besides, the thoughts of such people constantly revolve around food.
During the day, they often fantasize about treats and where and when their next meal will be. Food lovers love to anticipate what they will buy in the supermarket after work. All this makes it difficult to concentrate on more important matters.
7. Continue To Risk Your Health
Food addiction not only complicates life but also causes disease. These include; being overweight, fatigue, acne, diabetes, and cardiovascular disorders. However, even knowing about the possible unpleasant consequences, an addicted person cannot pull himself together and streamline food.
It is very difficult to give up unhealthy foods and start controlling r eating habits overnight. Ideally, under a specialist’s guidance, you can choose a balanced diet and learn to recognize body signals.
How To Deal With Food Addiction
- Choose a comfortable diet for yourself. Also, try not to skip meals and watch your portion sizes.
- Check the refrigerator. Get rid of junk food and trigger foods that cause breakdowns.
- Stop looking for emotional support in food. Find another way to deal with stress.
- Find like-minded people on a healthy lifestyle.
- Get enough sleep.
Summing Up
Like other diseases, if a person does not control food addiction, it can be devastating. We are hopeful that you can identify common signs of food addiction. And if you have, follow the preventive methods or visit a doctor.
