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Your Turn: Are you addicted to food?

Posted on Oct 7th 2008 12:00PM by Martha Edwards

Filed Under: Your Turn

Here at That's Fit, we're constantly telling you what we think about things, but sometimes it's nice to know what you think. So from time to time, we'll ask you a question. Don't be afraid to speak up -- we love feedback.

There are addictions groups for compulsive gamblers, drug addicts, and smokers. But there's one compulsive addiction that you can't live without: The addiction to food.

Yes, food is an addiction, according to our friends over at AOL Health. And the bad news is, when you're addicted to food, you're usually not addicted to healthy stuff like veggies and whole grains; you're hooked on the bad stuff -- the sugar, the fat, the calories. Ugh. Even our own Karla Carrington admits she has food addictions.

Do you have a food addiction? If so, we're wondering ...

What food(s) are you addicted to?
Fast food -- I can't stay away	14 (5.7%)
Salty snack foods like chips	29 (11.9%)
Sugar -- I have a crazy sweet tooth	101 (41.4%)
Rich, creamy stuff like cheese	26 (10.7%)
Carbs -- I'm a pasta addict	38 (15.6%)
Beverages -- high calorie drinks like soda or beer are my downfall	6 (2.5%)
None -- I don't have any food addictions	12 (4.9%)
Other -- tell us in the comments	18 (7.4%)

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5 Comment

Tags: food addiction, FoodAddiction, your-turn

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Kay 10-16-2008 @ 3:24PM

I'm addicted to everything - just hungry all the time.

... 10-07-2008 @ 2:49PM

My addiction is raw unsalted almonds. When I see them for $10/bag at Costco, I get a whole flat of them, and I finish them off rather quickly too. If I'm not paying attention, I tend to find that my large tub of almonds somehow made its way into my hands and is mostly empty yet again. I even keep a bag of almonds in my purse so I can have them no matter where I go.

If you don't think people get addicted to whole grains, I guess you haven't met enough people.

My dad is addicted to rice. He goes nuts if he doesn't have at least one bowl of steamed brown rice twice per day. Every day. When we go out to eat at restaurants that don't serve rice, he'll eat more than the rest of the family combined and still get "hungry" later and have a bowl of rice. He has a high metabolism, though, so he still doesn't gain weight.

My mom is constantly munching on some whole grain cracker thing that Oprah Winfrey apparently recommended. The crackers might've been healthy at moderate levels, but no matter how healthy a food might otherwise be, eating so much of it to the exclusion of other foods has got to be a health hazard.

Linda 10-07-2008 @ 3:27PM

You're darn tootin', food addictions are everywhere. I certainly have them. If I'm craving taste of some sort, my brain takes over my will and I head towards the store/refrigerator/fast food place/etc. I was up to a BMI of >33 last October, and feeling hopeless. I found an clinical trial for obesity that I qualified for, and have been in for the past year. It's pretty certain that I haven't been taking placebo...I've lost 63 pounds and my BMI is down to 21.8. I've tried for almost 2 decades to lose this weight..and now it's finally happened. The medication works totally with the brain chemistry. It's a combination of 2 commonly given meds: buproprion (for the emotional side) and naltrexone (given to addicts and alcoholics to block cravings) to allow ME to be in control of my food. If this combination works as well with others as it has with me, it will probably be approved by the FDA by the end of 2009.

I'm living proof that food is addictive and it is possible to recover from that addiction.