The longstanding argument against food addiction is that food cannot be addictive because its regular consumption is necessary to sustain life. Some nutritionists have tried to get around this inconvenient fact by claiming one can get addicted to ultra-processed foods. But this also fails to capture what is really going on. No one sits down in front of the TV with a five pound sack of sugar, even if they’re hooked on junk food.

There might be no such thing as food addiction, but there is most certainly something called eating addiction. Eating addiction is a behavioral addiction that meets all the criteria of a substance use disorder. It occurs when a person crosses the line between substance use and substance abuse. It is compulsive eating of even non-highly-ultra-processed foods for emotional reasons. Rather than sustaining health, food consumed in such quantities damages the health and the quality of life.

Eating addiction is a brain disease, like other substance use disorders, and results in a diminished reward response due to worn out dopamine receptors. Eating feels good, it’s soothing, sending a little happy dopamine surge. When a person is stressed, getting a little dopamine surge takes their mind off the problem. The stress is displaced to eating or drinking alcohol or getting high or exercising — or any of a zillion activities that can all become compulsive dopamine factories.

In our previous article at AddictionNews, we learned how even walking can become addictive, albeit the addiction with the lowest number of adverse impacts. Yoga postures and breathing exercises — reliable dopamine generators — can also become addictive, with negative health impacts for extreme practitioners. The fact that walking and yoga postures and breathing exercises can become addictive makes them excellent substitute activities for people looking to get unhooked.

The brain’s reward system can suffer a fair amount of abuse before tipping over into addiction territory. Eating can be enjoyed regularly without becoming addictive. A study from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that, “Most excessive drinkers (90%) did not meet the criteria for alcohol dependence.” The health risks from moderate alcohol consumption are minimal.

A similar pattern is found across the board with substances of abuse. Cigarettes and nicotine vapes are like little dopamine tubes that people use repeatedly throughout the day in response to stressful triggers. Unfortunately, the stress is soon caused by time away from the substance. The success that so many have had at quitting smoking and vaping have provided medicines and techniques used in recovering from other substance use disorders.

Even heroin — considered to be one of the most addictive substances ever cultivated — can be readily detached from. A study following Vietnam veterans who were addicted to heroin upon returning to the United States after the war found that almost all had stopped using within two years. Addictive behavior is very often the response to extreme stress. When that stress is mitigated, the need to displace it also subsides.

The majority of substance abusers are able to keep their addictions within socially acceptable bounds that allow them to hold a job, sustain a family, and indulge their habits without resorting to criminal activity. The literature suggests many will age out of their addictions and that the majority will recover without treatment:

By age 35, half of all people who qualified for active alcoholism or addiction diagnoses during their teens and 20s no longer do, according to a study of over 42,000 Americans.

Recovery always involves more than just limiting use of the substance. Ultimately, it involves removing the sources of stress that result in dopamine-seeking behavior. Medicines such as methadone, buprenorphine and Ozempic can break addictions but relapse is common unless behavior is changed. Finding healthier ways of displacing stress is the key to curing addictions and avoiding them in the first place.

Written by Steve O’Keefe. First published May 5, 2025.

Sources:

“Passion and risk of addiction in experienced female yoga practitioners,” Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, November 2022.

“Prevalence of Alcohol Dependence Among US Adult Drinkers, 2009-2011,” Preventing Chronic Disease, November 20, 2014.

“Balancing the risks, benefits of alcohol,” Speaking of Health, Mayo Clinic, October 12, 2021.

“Vietnam veterans’ rapid recovery from heroin addiction: a fluke or normal expectation?,” Addiction, August 1993.

“Aging Out of Addiction,” EconLog, October 3, 2014.

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