Cassin, S., Leung, S., Hawa, R., Wnuk, S., Jackson, T., & Sockalingam, S. (2020). Food Addiction Is Associated with Binge Eating and Psychiatric Distress among Post-Operative Bariatric Surgery Patients and May Improve in Response to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Nutrients, 12(10), 2905. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12102905 Conclusion: “The findings of this study contribute to the body of literature suggesting that bariatric surgery improves food addiction symptomatology. Patients who continue to experience food addiction after undergoing surgery likely have a more severe form of food addiction that is characterized by greater binge eating characteristics and psychosocial distress. The results of this preliminary study suggest that Tele-CBT may result in short-term improvements in food addiction symptomatology among the subgroup of patients who continue to experience food addiction following surgery.”
Prevalence of social, cognitive, and emotional impairment among individuals with food addiction
Lacroix, E., & von Ranson, K. M. (2020). Prevalence of social, cognitive, and emotional impairment among individuals with food addiction. Eating and Weight Disorders – Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity, 26, 1253–1258. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-020-01014-2 From the research article’s abstract: “The clinical utility of the construct of food addiction has been heavily debated. Though food addiction has been associated with psychosocial impairment in clinical samples, it is critical to examine these associations in non-clinical samples, to obtain unbiased evidence regarding this phenomenon’s clinical significance. It is also unknown which types of impairment are most common in food addiction. This observational study explored the association of self-reported food addiction with impairment in the domains of social, cognitive, and emotional functioning. Participants (356 university students and 544 adults recruited through Mechanical Turk) completed the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 and Clinical Impairment Assessment 3.0 questionnaire, as well as measures of emotional eating, reward-driven eating, binge eating, and general disordered eating
Measurement, prevalence, and psychological risk factors associated with addictive food consumption: Development of a new food addiction scale and evidence from a national largescale sample
Kircaburun, K., Unubol, H., Sayar, G. H., Stavropoulos, V., & Griffiths, M. D. (2020). Measurement, prevalence, and psychological risk factors associated with addictive food consumption: Development of a new food addiction scale and evidence from a national largescale sample. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 9(3), 836–852. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2020.00052 From the research article’s abstract: “To date, a number of studies have investigated the prevalence and correlates of addictive food consumption. However, these studies have mostly relied on models that comprised a narrow range of variables in often small and heterogenous samples. The purpose of the present study was to comprehensively examine the measurement aspects, the prevalence, and the psychological correlates of addictive eating among a largescale national sample of Turkish adults. Participants (N = 24,380, 50% men, Mage = 31.79 years, age range = 18–81 years) completed a battery of tests including the Food Addiction Risk Questionnaire (FARQ), the Brief Symptom Inventory, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised. According to analyses conducted, the FARQ had a uni-dimensional factor structure.
The Clinical Significance of Food Addiction
Wenzel, K. R., Weinstock, J., & McGrath, A. B. (2020). The Clinical Significance of Food Addiction. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 14(5), e153-e159. https://doi.org/10.1097/ADM.0000000000000626 From the research article’s abstract: “Objectives: The construct of food addiction has received increased attention and has been proposed as a mental disorder. There is some evidence that supports the inclusion of food addiction in the psychiatric nosology; however, the construct has not been sufficiently validated for inclusion. This study used the addiction syndrome model as a guiding theoretical framework to understand food addiction. The addiction syndrome model emphasizes the shared antecedents and consequences of addictions even though specific manifestations may differ. Methods: Participants were adult community members with food addiction (n = 26) or healthy controls (n = 26) as classified by the Yale Food Addiction Scale. Participants completed a battery of self-report questionnaires assessing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral domains often associated with addiction.
Brain–gut–microbiome interactions in obesity and food addiction
Gupta, A., Osadchiy, V., & Mayer, E. A. (2020). Brain–gut–microbiome interactions in obesity and food addiction. Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology, 17(11), 655–672. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-020-0341-5 From the literature review’s abstract: “Food addiction is a term that refers to hedonic eating behaviours that can be considered a form of addictive disorder and reflects alterations in brain–gut–microbiome (BGM) interactions and a shift of this balance towards hedonic mechanisms.”
Brain–gut–microbiome interactions in obesity and food addiction
Gupta, A., Osadchiy, V., & Mayer, E. A. (2020). Brain–gut–microbiome interactions in obesity and food addiction. Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 17(11), 655–672. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-020-0341-5 From the review article’s abstract: “By contrast, food addiction is a complex, maladaptive eating behaviour that reflects alterations in brain–gut–microbiome (BGM) interactions and a shift of this balance towards hedonic mechanisms.”
Systematically lower structural brain connectivity in individuals with elevated food addiction symptoms
Peng-Li, D., Sørensen, T. A., Li, Y., & He, Q. (2020). Systematically lower structural brain connectivity in individuals with elevated food addiction symptoms. Appetite, 155, 104850. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2020.104850 From the research article’s abstract: “Symptoms of food addiction have been observed in both obesity and eating disorders. The food addiction model may therefore posit a continuum of dysfunctional personality traits, including increased impulsivity and poor decision-making. The current study explored the neuroanatomy of addictive-like eating behavior from a novel triadic model of addiction. Specifically, we focused on three interacting neural systems; a sensitized impulsive, reward system associated with striatal structures, a desensitized reflective control system governed by prefrontal cortex, and a disrupted insula-mediated interoceptive system responsible for integrating and translating interoceptive, somatic signals into feelings of anticipation, desires, or cravings. Sixty-four healthy-weight Chinese university students were scanned for high-resolution structural and diffusion imaging. Data from the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS), Binge Eating Scale, Eating Attitude Test-26,
Sugar addiction: is it real? A narrative review
DiNicolantonio, J. J., et al. (2018). Sugar addiction: is it real? A narrative review. Br J Sports Med, 52(14), 910–913. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2017-097971 From the narrative review’s abstract: “Animal data has shown significant overlap between the consumption of added sugars and drug-like effects. Sugar addiction seems to be dependence to the natural endogenous opioids that get released upon sugar intake.”
An evaluation of food addiction as a distinct psychiatric disorder
Schulte, E. M., Wadden, T. A., & Allison, K. C. (2020). An evaluation of food addiction as a distinct psychiatric disorder. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 53(10), 1610-1622. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23350 From the research article’s abstract: “Objective: To evaluate the state of the literature for whether food addiction may warrant consideration as a distinct psychiatric disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) using Blashfield et al.’s (1990; Comprehensive Psychiatry, 31(1), 15–19) five criteria. This framework was utilized because it has recently been applied to examine the diagnostic utility of several eating disorder phenotypes. The criteria are: (a) at least 50 journal articles published on the proposed syndrome in the past 10 years; (b) proposal of diagnostic criteria and assessment measures; (c) clinician reliability in diagnosis; (d) cohesiveness of the proposed diagnostic criteria; and (e) differentiation from similar, existing diagnostic categories. Method: For each criterion, a literature review was conducted to examine if the minimum qualification had been met, and key findings were discussed.
Food addiction and psycho-physiological condition in patients with type 2 diabetes
Kawada, T. (2020). Food addiction and psycho-physiological condition in patients with type 2 diabetes. Acta Diabetologica, 57(10), 1271–1272. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-020-01583-9 From the research article: “Nicolau et al. [1] conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate the associations of food addiction (FA) with metabolic control, medical complications, and depression among 625 patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). The Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) was used to diagnose FA. The authors concluded that FA was positively associated with body mass index (BMI), depression, and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels. In addition, FA was also associated with the presence of macroangiopathy. I have some concerns about their study. First, Yang et al. [2] conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate the prevalence of FA in 578 patients with newly diagnosed T2D. The prevalence of FA was 5.4%, and FA was positively associated with BMI, visceral fat accumulation, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance. In addition, FA was also associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms.