A Narrative Review of Potential Treatment Strategies for Food Addiction

Overview

Journal Eat Weight Disord

Publisher Springer

Date 2017 Jun 8

PMID 28589470

Citations 13

Authors

Shae-Leigh C Vella

Nagesh B Pai

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The concept of food addiction (FA) remains controversial with research being in the nascent stages; FA like any addiction can have a devastating impact on the lives of those afflicted. There exists a clinical need for treatment strategies for those affected. This article reviews potential treatment strategies for FA. The treatment strategies target four core behaviours of the addiction phenotype specifically craving through the opioid system, impulsivity as a personality trait, compulsivity through the serotonergic system and lastly motivation through the dopaminergic system. A range of pharmacological and psychological interventions are reviewed. Future research should seek to test and validate the proposed clinical treatment strategies.

Citing Articles

Food Addiction Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment: A Protocol for Residential Treatment of Eating Disorders, Substance Use Disorders and Trauma-Related Psychiatric Comorbidity.

Dennis K, Barrera S, Bishop N, Nguyen C, Brewerton T Nutrients. 2024; 16(13).

PMID: 38999766 PMC: 11243105. DOI: 10.3390/nu16132019.

Low carbohydrate and psychoeducational programs show promise for the treatment of ultra-processed food addiction.

Unwin J, Delon C, Giaever H, Kennedy C, Painschab M, Sandin F Front Psychiatry. 2022; 13:1005523.

PMID: 36245868 PMC: 9554504. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1005523.

The Modified Yale Food Addiction Scale May Be Simplified and Diagnostically Improved: The Same Prevalence but Different Severity and Risk Factors of Food Addiction among Female and Male Students.

Charzynska E, Brytek-Matera A, Atroszko P Nutrients. 2022; 14(19).

PMID: 36235693 PMC: 9573175. DOI: 10.3390/nu14194041.

Off-label Uses of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs).

Jannini T, Lorenzo G, Bianciardi E, Niolu C, Toscano M, Ciocca G Curr Neuropharmacol. 2021; 20(4):693-712.

PMID: 33998993 PMC: 9878961. DOI: 10.2174/1570159X19666210517150418.

Process Evaluation of a Personality Targeted Intervention for Addictive Eating in Australian Adults.

Yang Y, Chai L, Collins R, Leary M, Whatnall M, Burrows T Behav Sci (Basel). 2020; 10(12).

PMID: 33287346 PMC: 7761794. DOI: 10.3390/bs10120186.

References

Gearhardt A, Corbin W, Brownell K . Development of the Yale Food Addiction Scale Version 2.0. Psychol Addict Behav. 2016; 30(1):113-21. DOI: 10.1037/adb0000136. View

Grant J, Chamberlain S . Impulsive action and impulsive choice across substance and behavioral addictions: cause or consequence?. Addict Behav. 2014; 39(11):1632-1639. DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2014.04.022. View

Albayrak O, Wolfle S, Hebebrand J . Does food addiction exist? A phenomenological discussion based on the psychiatric classification of substance-related disorders and addiction. Obes Facts. 2012; 5(2):165-79. DOI: 10.1159/000338310. View

Schulte E, Avena N, Gearhardt A . Which foods may be addictive? The roles of processing, fat content, and glycemic load. PLoS One. 2015; 10(2):e0117959. PMC: 4334652. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0117959. View

Long C, Blundell J, Finlayson G . A Systematic Review of the Application And Correlates of YFAS-Diagnosed 'Food Addiction' in Humans: Are Eating-Related 'Addictions' a Cause for Concern or Empty Concepts?. Obes Facts. 2015; 8(6):386-401. PMC: 5644849. DOI: 10.1159/000442403. View

Davis C . An introduction to the Special Issue on 'food addiction'. Appetite. 2017; 115:1-2. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2017.03.043. View

Robbins T, Clark L . Behavioral addictions. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2014; 30:66-72. DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2014.09.005. View

Dietz W . The response of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the obesity epidemic. Annu Rev Public Health. 2015; 36:575-96. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122415. View

McElroy S, Guerdjikova A, Mori N, Munoz M, Keck P . Overview of the treatment of binge eating disorder. CNS Spectr. 2015; 20(6):546-56. DOI: 10.1017/S1092852915000759. View

10.

Dean O, Giorlando F, Berk M . N-acetylcysteine in psychiatry: current therapeutic evidence and potential mechanisms of action. J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2010; 36(2):78-86. PMC: 3044191. DOI: 10.1503/jpn.100057. View

11.

Belin-Rauscent A, Fouyssac M, Bonci A, Belin D . How Preclinical Models Evolved to Resemble the Diagnostic Criteria of Drug Addiction. Biol Psychiatry. 2015; 79(1):39-46. PMC: 4702261. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.01.004. View

12.

Giuliano C, Cottone P . The role of the opioid system in binge eating disorder. CNS Spectr. 2015; 20(6):537-45. PMC: 4831059. DOI: 10.1017/S1092852915000668. View

13.

Martin C, Langenbucher J, Chung T, Sher K . Truth or consequences in the diagnosis of substance use disorders. Addiction. 2014; 109(11):1773-8. PMC: 4441015. DOI: 10.1111/add.12615. View

14.

Lerma-Cabrera J, Carvajal F, Lopez-Legarrea P . Food addiction as a new piece of the obesity framework. Nutr J. 2016; 15:5. PMC: 4711027. DOI: 10.1186/s12937-016-0124-6. View

15.

Meule A, Gearhardt A . Food addiction in the light of DSM-5. Nutrients. 2014; 6(9):3653-71. PMC: 4179181. DOI: 10.3390/nu6093653. View

16.

McElroy S, Guerdjikova A, Mori N, Keck Jr P . Psychopharmacologic treatment of eating disorders: emerging findings. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2015; 17(5):35. DOI: 10.1007/s11920-015-0573-1. View

17.

Stevens L, Verdejo-Garcia A, Goudriaan A, Roeyers H, Dom G, Vanderplasschen W . Impulsivity as a vulnerability factor for poor addiction treatment outcomes: a review of neurocognitive findings among individuals with substance use disorders. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2014; 47(1):58-72. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsat.2014.01.008. View

18.

Potenza M . To do or not to do? The complexities of addiction, motivation, self-control, and impulsivity. Am J Psychiatry. 2007; 164(1):4-6. DOI: 10.1176/ajp.2007.164.1.4. View

19.

Verdejo-Garcia A, Lawrence A, Clark L . Impulsivity as a vulnerability marker for substance-use disorders: review of findings from high-risk research, problem gamblers and genetic association studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2008; 32(4):777-810. DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2007.11.003. View

20.

Ahmed S, Guillem K, Vandaele Y . Sugar addiction: pushing the drug-sugar analogy to the limit. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2013; 16(4):434-9. DOI: 10.1097/MCO.0b013e328361c8b8. View