Food and Eating are essential to our survival and an important and vital part of our health and wellness.   Sharing meals with family and friends supports intimacy and connection with others.  Individuals struggling with food “addiction” experience uncontrollable cravings for food, especially refined carbohydrates, marked by recurrent episodes of binge eating.

 

Individuals may consume large amounts of food, quickly, and to the point of discomfort.   The foods high in sugar and starch quickly break down and trigger chemical reactions in the brain that induce short-lived feelings of pleasure marked by feelings of shame, guilt, disgust, or depression after overeating. Depending on the severity, individuals may meet the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSMV) criteria for Binge Eating Disorder (BED)