Food Addiction: An Alternate State of Consciousness?

1
Food Addiction An Alternate State of
Consciousness?

• Megan Curran, Stephanie Solso
• Kevin Nazario, Matt Sugihara

2
Summary

• Food Addiction vs. Overeating (Stephanie)
• What is food addiction?
• What is the difference between desires to overeat
  and literal addiction to food?
• Food Addiction in comparison to other
  neurological addictions (Megan and Kevin)
• Psychological Factors (Matt)
• Is food addiction actually an alternate state of
  consciousness ? (All of us)

3
Food Addiction Vs. Overeating What is Food
Addiction?

• Compulsive overeating with episodes of
  uncontrolled eating or binging.
• Eating more quickly than normal
• Eating past the point of being uncomfortably full
  
• Eating when you are not hungry
• Spending excessive amounts of time and thought
  focused on food
• Secretly planning or fantasize about eating alone
• Normally begins in childhood

4
Food Addiction Vs. Overeating Effects of Food
Addiction

• High Cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Heart Disease
• Hypertension
• Clinical Depression
• Kidney Disease
• Arthritis
• Bone Deterioration
• Stoke

Food Addiction can also lead to obesity, but
obesity does not necessarily mean food addiction!
5
Food Addiction Vs. Overeating Difference
between Desire to overeat and Food Addiction

• Desire to overeat is often based upon cravings
  for specific types of food, not insatiable want
  to eat
• Food addiction is a constant desire, not only
  when you are hungry
• Based upon community surveys, it is estimated
  that 2-5 of Americans suffer from food addiction

6
Comparison to Drug Addiction
7
Dopamine

• Many of these studies involve the dopamine
  system, one of the two main reward systems of the
  brain
• Dopamine provides a stronger, more immediate
  pleasure, whereas serotonin provides a general
  feeling of happiness

8
STUDY Food Effects On the Dopamine System

• Sight, smell, and taste of food (mainly
  sight/smell)
• Food stimulation produces increase in
  extracellular dopamine in dorsal striatum
• Dopamine system in dorsal striatum plays a role
  in food motivation
• Based on subjects self reported favorite foods
• Correlation between the increase in dopamine from
  food stimulation and the changes in self reports
  of hunger and desire for food

9
Dopamine D2 Receptors in Drug Users And Food
Addicts

• Drug Addiction

• Obese

DA D2 (Dopamine Receptors) In the brains of
controls, drug abusers, and obese subjects

• Note
• We realize that this image is of obese subjects,
  not someone necessarily addicted to food. The
  study glazes over this fact and there needs to be
  more studies on this

Control Addicted
10
Enhanced activity in oral somatosensory cortex in
obese patients

• PET scans taken from lean and obese subjects at a
  rest state (no food present or expectation of
  food)
• Higher metabolic activity found in bilateral
  parietal somatosensory cortex. The specific areas
  matches the mapping of the mouth, lips and tongue
  involved for taste perception
• Higher activity thought to mean higher
  sensitivity to palatability (taste)
• Inference that this could lead to
  over-consumption due to reward sensitivity

11
I eat because Im unhappy,and Im unhappy
Because I eat psychological effects

• Withdrawal
• Cravings
• Depression
• Fantasizing about food
• Dependency

12
Discussion

• Is food addiction an alternate state of
  consciousness?
• Is addiction, in general, an alternate state of
  consciousness?
• Do you think that this is a serious form of
  addiction as compared to drugs considering we
  must eat to survive?

13
Are you a food addict?

• Do you think about your weight constantly ?
• Do you eat differently in private than with other
  people?
• Do you eat to escape from your feeling?
• Do you eat when you are not hungry?
• Have you ever stolen other peoples food?
• Have you ever hid food to make sure you have
  enough?
• Do you frequently feel shamed or guilty about
  what you have eaten?
• Do you feel hopeless about your relationship with
  food?

14
References

• "Enhanced resting activity of the oral
  somatosensory cortex in obese subjects"
  (Gene-Jack Wang, Nora D. Volkow, Christoph
  Felder, Joanna S. Fowler, Alejandro V. Levy,
  Naomi R. Pappas, Christopher T.Wong,Wei Zhu and
  Noelwah Netusil), Neuroreport (July 2, 2002) 13
  1151.
• Markus, A. (2005). Neurobiology of obesity.
  Nature neuroscience, 8(5), 551.
• Mc Cann, Scott. (2007). What is food addiction?
  Retrieved May 28, 2007 from, http//www.anonymityo
  ne.com/faq195.htm
• New food-addiction link found. (2002) Retrieved
  May 28, 2007 from, http//www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf
  /pr/2002/bnlpr052002.htm
• Scientists find link between dopamine and
  obesity. (2001) Retrieved May 28, 2007 from,
  http//www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/2001/bnlpr02010
  1.htm
• Sheppard, K. (1993). Food addiction The body
  knows Revised expanded edition HCI.
• Sugar addiction. (2003) Retrieved May 28, 2007
  from, http//www.sfn.org/index.cfm?pagenamebrainB
  riefings_sugarAddiction
• The neurobiology of drug addiction - section IV
  The action of cocaine. (n.d.) Retrieved May 28,
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  eaching2/Teaching5.html
• Volkow, N. D., Wise, R. A. (2005). How can drug
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  version. Nature neuroscience, 8(5), 555-560.
• Wang, Gene-Jack Volkow, Nora D Felder, Christoph
  Fowler, Joanna S Levy, Alejandro V Pappas, Naomi
  R Wong, Christopher T Zhu, Wei Netusil,Noelwah.
  (2002). Enhanced resting activity of the oral
  somatosensory cortex in obese subjects.
  Neuroreport, 13(9), 1151.