Food Addiction News and Research

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Researchers see benefit from behavioral weight loss program designed to curb food addiction

It may be possible to train the brain to prefer healthy low-calorie foods over unhealthy higher-calorie foods, according to new research by scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University and at Massachusetts General Hospital.

2 Sep 2014

Research finds food addicts lacking psychological inhibition

Women with weight problems were more impulsive than average in a food-related psychology test, a new research paper has shown.

13 Jun 2014

Helix Healthcare Group offers individualized treatment for substance abuse, addiction, mental health issues

Helix Healthcare Group is the first integrated facility in Canada to offer a highly individualized approach in the treatment of substance abuse, addiction and mental health issues.

11 Jun 2014

New textbook provides facts and dispels myths on sugar/fructose consumption

A new textbook, Fructose, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sucrose and Health, published this month by Springer Press, under their Humana Press imprint, provides one of the most comprehensive scientific analyses on the closely-watched issue of caloric sweetener consumption.

1 Apr 2014

GW SPHHS to hold public forum on prevalence and impact of eating disorders

The George Washington (GW) University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS) will hold a public forum on February 25 that will address the prevalence and impact of eating disorders, especially on college campuses.

20 Feb 2014

Study shows impulsive personalities more likely to report higher levels of food addiction

The same kinds of impulsive behavior that lead some people to abuse alcohol and other drugs may also be an important contributor to an unhealthy relationship with food, according to new research from the University of Georgia.

25 Jan 2014

Binge eating disorder is different from anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa

Food addiction is not yet recognised as a mental disorder but certain obese individuals clearly display addictive-like behaviour towards food.

9 Oct 2013

Study finds link between childhood abuse and addiction-like eating behaviors in women

Women who experienced severe physical or sexual abuse during childhood are much more likely to have a food addiction as adults than women who did not experience such abuse, according to a new study published in the journal Obesity.

30 May 2013

Unhealthy food choices: The cause of current global obesity epidemic

Research presented today shows that high-fructose corn syrup can cause behavioural reactions in rats similar to those produced by drugs of abuse such as cocaine. These results, presented by addiction expert Francesco Leri, Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Applied Cognitive Science at the University of Guelph, suggest food addiction could explain, at least partly, the current global obesity epidemic.

23 May 2013

Obesity directly tied to several cancers

"Obesity is a major risk factor for developing cancer, roughly the equivalent of tobacco use, and both are potentially reversible. Further, obese cancer patients do worse in surgery, with radiation or on chemotherapy - worse by any measure." Karen Basen-Engquist, Ph.D., Director of MD Anderson's new Center for Energy Balance in Cancer Prevention and Survivorship and professor of Behavioral Science.

22 May 2013

Biological Psychiatry special issue tackles the question on food addiction

Biological Psychiatry is proud to announce this week's publication of a special issue focusing on the question of food as an addiction.

23 Apr 2013

Foods high in sugar and fat could have addictive properties

Overweight and obese individuals can achieve a decade's worth of important health benefits by losing just 20 pounds, even if they regain the weight later that decade, according to research presented at the American Psychological Association's 120th Annual Convention. With a focus on psychology's role in overcoming the national obesity epidemic, the session also examined research that indicates foods high in sugar and fat could have addictive properties.

3 Aug 2012

Chicago psychological center serves as model for treatment of binge eating

As experts discuss major changes in binge eating, a Chicago psychological center serves as a model for treatment of the most common eating disorder.

5 Jun 2012

Lightlake intends to develop a treatment for premenstrual syndrome overeating

Lightlake Therapeutics Inc., an early stage biopharmaceutical company developing modern addiction treatments based on its expertise using opioid antagonists, announced today that it intends to develop a treatment for premenstrual syndrome (PMS) overeating using its patented technology involving opioid antagonists.

7 Jan 2012

Reducing variety in food choices may help lose weight

Variety is considered the "spice of life," but does today's unprecedented level of dietary variety help explain skyrocketing rates of obesity? Some researchers think it might.

21 Jul 2011

Clinical symptoms of food addiction are similar to symptoms of drug addiction

Research to be presented at the upcoming annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, suggests that people can become dependent on highly palatable foods and engage in a compulsive pattern of consumption, similar to the behaviors we observe in drug addicts and those with alcoholism.

13 Jul 2011

Food addicts appear to have high neural activity in brain

Persons with an addictive-like eating behavior appear to have greater neural activity in certain regions of the brain similar to substance dependence, including elevated activation in reward circuitry in response to food cues, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the August print issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

5 Apr 2011

Eating disorders tough to conquer

Young people and adolescents have been repeatedly warned regarding eating disorders. Lisa Harmon Mollicone, coordinator of the Manalapan-Englishtown Community Alliance for the Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, addressed the topic of eating disorders at a full house during the Dec. 14 meeting of the alliance, held at the Manalapan Senior Center.

29 Mar 2011

Food, drugs of abuse engage same brain systems, show studies

New animal research helps explain why some eat without hunger or to excess. The studies explore the biological effects of poor eating habits, showing that high-fat diets cause lasting brain changes that may impair healthy eating. Additional studies show that food and drugs of abuse engage many of the same brain systems. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health.

16 Nov 2010

WaterBrook Press releases third edition of Hope, Help and Healing for Eating Disorders

WaterBrook Press recently released the third edition of Hope, Help and Healing for Eating Disorders, A Whole-Person Approach to Treatment of Anorexia, Bulimia and Disorder Eating. The newest edition of this 1995 bestseller on overcoming anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders from Dr. Gregory L. Jantz, PhD, with Ann McMurray, features the most up-to-date information on body image, food addiction, nutrition and more.

15 Nov 2010