commentaries

We all love food. Calling it an addiction is a convenient way to absolve us of responsibility. Lack of responibility is a concept that, for some reason an increasing number of folks in our society embrace rather than distain. Its apparent when in comes to food, drugs, alcohol, education, hard work, etc. its sad, quite honestly that as a people we are "slouching towards Gommorah".

probsolver: Two rabbis from the first century addressed the issue of "slouching toward Gommorah" by saying "judge not, lest you be judged." Matthew 7.1 and "The day is short, the work is much, the laborers are lazy, the reward is great, the master of house is insistent, and it is not your part to finish the task, yet you are not free to desist from it." Tarfon, Pirke Avot. IMHO,this addiction to the idea that our world/culture/whatever is worse, less moral, less disciplined than some Utopian past is a way people "absolve" themselves from their responsibility to work to make the world better.

I tried ow but it just seemed weird and do twelve step programs really work? Lapband for me.

I once went to an OA meeting that was advertised in my local newspaper and I was the only one there and not even a representative of OA showed up. I was disappointed. I had lost 35 points on Weight Watchers and when they switched to Points Plus I was rapidly losing control and wanted another support group and wanted to try what OA had to offer. In the end I have gained the 35 pounds back and added a lot more back. I feel like I am going to die from overeating if I can't control my food intake at this point. I do feel like an addict and after I quit smoking 5 years ago the overeating has really gotten out of control. A switched addiction is what I think it is. I would love to try OA but don't want to drive somewhere and not have anybody there.

To be consistant with the logic I'm hearing on the news shows this morning, we need only ban the spoon to help solve this problem.

"Food Addiction" seems overly broad. My personal expierience is that the metabolic disorders that cause irresistible, intense hormonal cravings for foods tend to come from alleged 'foods' that contain lots of sweeteners, sugar/fructose, high glycemic index carbs, or alcohol (see the information published by Gary Taubes or Robert Lustig for more details). The author's description of binge meals consisting of spaghetti, sugary tomato sauce, bread, and bourbon make him look like a classic carb addict, not simply a food addict. The good news: It is much easier to drastically reduce bad carb consumption (and get rid of the carb induced hormonal food cravings) than to reduce food consumption in general.

I appreciate this timely article which explains so well the nature of the illness we call compulsive overeating. I suffered for decades myself until I found this particular format of O.A. In this program, I have maintained a doctor prescribed weight for ten years for the first time in my life, and making up for some, not all, of the lost opportunities while I was in my addiction. Our meetings are open and all are welcome.

I have been a member of OA since 2008 -- I had lap band in 2001 -- lost 80 lbs and because of my addiction (and yes, you can be addicted to food) I gained 40lbs back. Since joining OA I am down 116lbs and have kept it off for over a year. I am 18lbs from my goal weight. I am 47years old have struggled with my weight all my life. Look around at how many people gain weight after the lap band, weight watchers, jenny craig... and look to see how much recovery we have in OA before you voice your opinion on 'if' a person can be addicted to food. I encourage anyone that has a problem with food, regardless if you binge,purge, restrict or overeat you will find a fellowship that will welcome you with open arms and you find people that really 'get it' --

Yes, 12-step programs do work, if you do the work. I have been in the OA fellowship since 2007 and it has been a lifesaver in so many areas of my life. I believe people who don't have addictive personalities can't understand how the addiction....whether it be food, alcohol, drugs, etc...affects your life and the life of those around you. There are many OA meetings in the Cities with many different formats. Please don't give up after just one meeting if it doesn't suit your needs or personality. Please try at least two or three. This addiction will kill you unless you can recover. We are here to help you.

There are no ifs ands or buts on the subject of food addiction: it is as real as cocaine or alcohol addiction and, in fact, affects exactly the same pleasure/impulse control centers of the brain as recognized drugs. This is especially true of what David Kessler calls hyperpalatable foods -- foods dense in calories from sugar/fat/salt. American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders will be listing it (under the monker Binge Eating Disorder) as an addiction in its next edition and Oxford University Press has just published the medical textbook on the subject: Food and Addiction: A Comprehensive Handbook, edited by Kelly D. Brownwell & Mark S. Gold. And I've just published the first holistic approach to food addiction, The Hunger Fix, which is based on that cutting edge science. Substance abuse researchers say that the brain adaptions that result from regularly eating so-called hyperpalatable foods – foods that layer salt, fat, and sweet flavors, proven to increase consumption – are likely to be more difficult to change than those from cocaine or alcohol because they involve many more neural pathways. Almost 90 percent of the dopamine receptors in the vental tegmental area (VTA) of the brain are activated in response to food cues. Brand-new research also shows direct evidence of lasting and fundamental injuries to a part of the brain that helps us regulate our food intake, the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus. Within three days of being placed on a high-fat diet, a rat’s hypothalamus (the area of the brain that responds to the hormones that signal hunger and satiety, pair and maternal bonding and certain social behavior) shows increased inflammation; within a week, researchers see evidence of permanent scarring and neuron injury in an area of the brain crucial for weight control. Brain scans of obese men and women show this exact pattern as well. Further, overeating hyperpalatable foods changes our genes’ expressions within as little time as 2 weeks – which serves only to reinforce the entire cycle over and over again. I congratulate you for the courage it took and takes to go into the Rooms and grapple with this disease in one of the sanest ways possible. Stick with it!