Food addiction describes being gravitated towards highly palatable foods (or foods loaded with excess amounts of sugar, sodium, fat or carbohydrates). As a credentialed psychologist, I can say highly palatable foods are like addictive drugs. These foods increase the production of a pleasure hormone called dopamine. As a result, you may feel you need to eat more. So, the question becomes, is food addiction an appropriate term? While food addiction is closely linked to obesity, no one knows whether it is real. And the debate over its validity in theclinical and neuroscientific space seems not to end any time soon.
What Makes Us Want to Eat More Processed Food?
Processed foods leave us with feelings of pleasure. This makes us want to eat more.
Overcoming Compulsive Eating
I advise you to embrace meal planning, keep highly palatable foods out of your sight, write down your triggers, set fitness goals and stick to them, prepare a food diary, discover other things that leave you with feelings of pleasure and ensure you balance protein, fiber, fat and carbohydrates in your diet.
