Symptoms of food addiction
Food addiction:
Food addiction means
a person’s inability to stop eating in large quantities which leads to unhealthy
weight gain, and psychological factors such as sadness or underestimation may
play a role in this condition, and obesity that results from food addiction is
one of the most important reasons that increase The risk of developing type 2
diabetes in addition to cardiovascular diseases caused by increased cholesterol
and other problems that the addicted person may face. The article reviews the
most important symptoms of food addiction, its causes, and methods of treatment.
Foods related to food addiction
Some foods are more associated with food addiction than
others, because they give a person the feeling of euphoria caused by the
hormones released by the brain when eating them, which increases addiction to
them, and the most prominent of these foods are the following:
- Potato Chips.
- Fried potato.
- Sweets.
- Chocolates of all kinds.
- Biscuits;
- white bread.
- The pasta. Ice cream.
Symptoms of food addiction
The symptoms of food
addiction are similar among sufferers and are summarized by the inability to
stop or refrain from eating foods over time, and may be followed by failed
attempts to get away from addiction, and symptoms can be physical, emotional or
social, and one of the most prominent symptoms of food addiction What follows:
- Mania and food cravings.
- Wasting time and preoccupation with obtaining and consuming food.
- Continuous binge eating or compulsive eating.
- Constant attempts to stop overeating fail.
- Lack of control over the amount of food and where eating occurs. Reflection of the negative impact on family life, social communication and financial matters.
- Get rid of emotional stress by eating food.
- The person eats alone to avoid paying attention.
- Eating to the point of physical discomfort or pain.
A person may also experience negative feelings after eating
large amounts of food, including the following:
- Feeling ashamed.
- Feeling of making a mistake.
- Feeling uncomfortable.
- Having low self-worth.
Food addiction can also lead to physical responses,
including the following:
- A severe cessation of food by the person as a form of punishment.
- Compulsive exercise.
- Deliberate vomiting of a person.
Diagnosing eating disorders
Doctors rely on the symptoms of food addiction
in addition to other tests, which mainly include mental illnesses or
psychological disorders that may be a cause of infection, and the following are
ways to diagnose eating disorders:
- Physical exams: These tests help the doctor rule out medical causes that may be related to an eating disorder, as well as order lab tests.
- Psychological tests: The doctor or mental health specialist asks about the patient's psychological state and its impact on his diet. The doctor may also request a psychological self-assessment questionnaire.
- Other studies: The doctor may perform additional tests to check for any complications associated with the patient's eating disorder.
- A mental health professional may also rely on the criteria of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Treatment of food addiction
Doctors rely mainly
on the symptoms of food addiction to assess the situation and in many cases, the
treatment is based on the change that a person makes in his life, and among the
most prominent methods of treating food addiction are the following:
- Know what foods you are addicted to Write a list of foods that a person tends to crave to help avoid them completely.
- Places that serve healthy meals: Make a list of restaurants that serve healthy foods, and this may help prevent relapses when someone finds themselves hungry and not in the mood to cook.
- What the person eats: Think about the healthy foods that the person will eat and love while eating them regularly.
- Write the pros and cons: Write a paper outlining the pros and cons of living a healthy life without addiction to help decide the best option.
Also, you should not look at weight for a period of one to
three months, and only get rid of addiction and live a healthy life in the
beginning, and starving the body may lead to failure at the beginning of the
treatment stages.
Factors leading to eating disorders
Some different factors play an important role in the
incidence of eating disorders, and the category of adolescent girls and young
women is more susceptible than boys and young men to these disorders, but this
does not mean that the disorders are limited to a certain age group, but rather
includes all groups and an increase in the incidence of it is noted in
adolescence In the early twenties, the most important causes of injury are the
following:
- Family history: People who have parents or siblings with eating disorders are more likely to develop an eating disorder.
- Presence of other mental disorders: People with a history of anxiety and depression disorders often suffer from eating disorders.
- Starving the body: A strict diet to lose weight is one of the most important factors that may lead to eating disorders at the long level, due to the effect of hunger on the brain and mood, and therefore following these methods of starvation can lead to the difficulty of returning to normal eating habits.
- Stress: Eating disorders can occur as a result of stress, whether it is heading to a new college, getting a new job, family problems, and other things that lead to anxiety and tension.