Three more donuts can't hurt...

Everyone eats food. Everyone needs food to get the nutrients that our body requires. Most of us (aka me) plan our entire day around when we are going to eat and when can we get a snack in. But how do we know when our simple routine turns into dangerous habits? Is it possible to become addicted to food? Yes, it is. There is a good similar to AA for food addiction that has its own

How does this happen exactly?

As WebMD says about food addiction, “Experiments in animals and humans show that, for some people, the same reward and pleasure centers of the brain that are triggered by addictive drugs like cocaine and heroin are also activated by food, especially highly palatable foods.” When they say palatable foods, they mean foods that are pleasurable and satisfactory to eat. For many people who are addicted to food, these are mostly foods filled with sugar and fat and salt.

There is a system in our brain called the reward system. The brain knows that when we eat, we're doing something "right," and releases a bunch of feel-good chemicals in the reward system, such as the neurotransmitter dopamine - interpreted by our brains as pleasure. This is how the addiction works. We want to “feel good” so we “need” that food we are craving which will lead to the release of dopamine’s. Research that has been done on this is about the craving that people feel and how this can lead to binge eating. These can lead to what is “addict like” behaviors.

This type of addiction does not get much action in social media however. And why would it? We love food. We don’t want to know that we might be addicted. The culture in society revolves around food. How many time do you pass a restaurant or fast food joint while on the road? TONS!! FOOD IS EVERYWHERE! The advertising of foods and products also makes us want food more. I have included an add below for a food product which says “Crave those crazy squares”. For some people, the craving might be very real and they may not be able to stop themselves from have an entire box of this cereal. The other add says “Do not deny your dark side”. Likewise, some of us may not be able to stop from eating 10 peanut butter cups. So not only are we not hearing about food addiction, but we are being almost taunted by advertising, making us want to eat their delicious products. Its quite disturbing. Even while looking at the ads while writing this, I almost seem to be craving a Reese’s!

Instead, we hear more about obesity and overeating, which could be very well a direct result to a food addiction, its just not presented in that fashion.  When you think more about obesity and overeating however, many examples can be seen in forms of advertisement and art. The film Supersize Me is one example of an unhealthy eating lifestyle. Lately, due to the growing size of obese people, obesity has been getting a much better focus in the media and by groups. It is never approached from a food addiction stance though. Aside from actually google searching about food addiction, there is a slim chance that you will find something about it. This can also lead to self-image issues and other psychological disorders.

I decided to look at this by originally looking at caffeine addiction, which had lead me to food addiction as a whole. I think that this sort of an addiction is very hard because you have to eat food normally which would add a whole other layer of temptation. With a heroin addiction, you won’t normally take it normally or be around it other than to fuel the addiction, making it completely different. I wanted to bring it up because its not an addiction talked about, but its side effects like binge eating and obesity are. It would bring up an interesting point with our debate from this week too. Could food addiction become an epidemic? Would we even realize that it is one? Most likely not.

My takeaway from doing all this research about food addiction is how persuasive advertisements can be in fueling this addiction. The media revolving food addiction awareness is almost none while the media trying to get us to eat or drink a certain product is so large. Adults in the US are exposed to 7,212 food ads per year on average. Its scary to think how those have influenced your eating habits, and perhaps fueling some addictions.

Here is an interesting blog post about the bad effects of food advertising. It really opened by eyes to the way I will be viewing advertisings from this point forward. The two ads I showed came directly from this blog.

http://darksidesubliminal.blogspot.com/p/food-advertising_26.html#.Wo402KinFPY