by Sophie Pelham-Burn NMEDSCI, ANUTR IS FOOD ADDICTIVE?
behavioural and chemical way. It also, at least partially, explains the ongoing obesity epidemic in the Western world despite unprecedented access to information about what a healthy diet looks like; if lack of education isn’t the issue, maybe addiction pathways are partly to blame? (And poverty, lack of access to good food etc. of course). Simply saying ‘stop eating sugar’ is like saying ‘just stop drinking’ or ‘stop smoking, it’s bad for you’. Easy in theory, but bloody hard in practice! Although if you’re reading this magazine, you already know that. And speaking (or writing) as an ex-smoker, I know how it feels to break an addictive habit. It’s uncomfortable inner itchiness you can’t quite manage to scratch, and the one thing you know will do the job isn’t an option. So what do we do? We find another way to get dopamine. For a lot of women who’ve put down the wine glass, that means finding it through food, specifically sugary foods or refined carbohydrates. Other behaviours can do it too, such as scrolling through social media (Instagram and TikTok are specifically designed to activate your dopamine pathways and therefore keep you scrolling). Having said all that though, a lot of people are totally exempt from any kind of behavioural or chemical addiction when it comes to food, even chocolate and doughnuts. They can enjoy them, but it never becomes a ‘need’ and there are countless scientific papers and research articles which prove the point. So where do I stand on the question as an evidence-based nutritionist? Frankly, in this (very rare) instance, I don’t give a shit what the science has to say. I’m only interested in how you feel about it, and how you feel around certain foods.
Do you often feel out of control? Do you feel as though you could be addicted? If the answer to either of those is yes, that’s good enough for me. So what to do about it? Well, the first thing I would say if you’re newly sober is to give yourself a break. There are worse things to be addicted to. Then when you’re a bit further along in your sober journey it might be something to address. When you do feel ready it can help to prepare in advance. Cutting out sugar or ultra-processed and hyper-palatable foods overnight will mean you have a sudden drop in dopamine levels which will inevitably give us the uncomfortable inner itch again, and drive us towards whatever will give us the quickest dopamine rise. Often that means bingeing on the very foods we just tried to cut out. Instead, before you cut out the foods you feel out of control around, try listing a few alternative behaviours that also release dopamine or have a pleasure effect. Exercise of any kind, meditation, yoga, or pilates has all been demonstrated to raise dopamine levels. Playing with pets also releases both dopamine and the love hormone oxytocin! Then when you start restricting your intake of those trigger foods and your willpower starts to fade, go for a little walk, do 5-minute mindfulness meditation, or play with the dog. Any of your pre-prepared activities will help replace that dopamine and make it all the easier for your willpower to prevail. Over time a diet rich in whole grains, avocado, nuts and seeds, salmon, and other regular protein sources including eggs and dairy will all help your body produce and regulate dopamine. But while you’re waiting for those longer-term effects to kick in, it’s good to have some healthy alternatives.
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