ABSTRACT
The basic theory of food addiction is that sugar and other foods activate the release of dopamine. People eat sugar, get a dopamine rush and feel good, and then have to eat increasing amounts to get the same experience they previously felt with less. Food addiction theory points to these changes in the brain, specifically higher levels of dopamine, as evidence of addiction. Most self-reported food addicts believe they lack willpower and are biochemically addicted to food. In reality they are often struggling with a diagnosable condition known as “binge-eating disorder.” “Binge-eating disorder” is the most common type of eating disorder, impacting an estimated eight million people in the United States alone, and more worldwide. Many binge-eating disorder patients describe a feeling of emptiness within their bodies, a chasm of nothingness, a hunger that no amount of food can fill.
