The Signs of Food Addiction

Food addiction sounds strange but science now proves that it actually occurs. There are some experiments that result in the evidence of the addiction caused by foods. From the experiments, it is found that the similar effects that drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol cause to the pleasure centre of the brain. The foods, especially some of the palatable foods, can really activate the pleasure centre of the brain. The palatable foods are the foods that have rich content of fat, salt, and sugar. The foods can improve the chemicals in the brain like dopamine that produce the feel-good effect. The fact that the foods increase the feel-good effect and the pleasure centre of the brain influences people to keep eating the foods. This is the condition when even the signal of feeling full is malfunctioned. As a result, people keep eating the foods although they actually do not feel hungry or are full enough.

Food Addiction and Obesity

The condition of losing the control to stop eating for the sake of enjoying the feel-good effects causes people to eat the foods again and again. This is the chance for obesity to occur. The failure of the brain to produce the full-signal will result in weight gain. However, Food addiction does not always cause obesity. Even people that have normal weight can suffer from the food addiction. Their physical activity may help them stay in their shape though they keep eating many foods. In other words, foods addiction can really cause obesity, but not all the food addiction cases lead to obesity.

Food Addiction Signs

Whatever the type of addiction, it is bad because it can cause both health and psychological problem. Thus, we need to recognize the signs and symptoms as soon as possible in order to give the most helpful treatments for the addicted people. Though food addiction is still new in science, but some researchers from Yale University have concluded several signs of it through the questionnaires given to some respondents. Some signs that prove people are suffering from food addiction are as follows. They love certain foods and keep eating them though they do not feel hungry. Also, they will feel worry whenever they do not eat the foods. Then, they will do many things to get the foods especially when they do not have the stock of foods anymore. Of course, whenever we find these signs we should be sure that the person suffers from Food addiction.