Study Reviews
The Neurobiology of “Food Addiction” and Its Implications for Obesity Treatment and Policy
Carter, A., Hendrikse, J., Lee, N., Yücel, M., Verdejo-Garcia, A., Andrews, Z. B., & Hall, W. (2016). The Neurobiology of "Food Addiction" and Its Implications for Obesity Treatment and Policy. Annu Rev Nutr, 36, 105-128. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-nutr-071715-050909
Addictive-Like Eating, Body Mass Index, and Psychological Correlates in a Community Sample of Preadolescents
Laurent, J. S., & Sibold, J. (2016). Addictive-Like Eating, Body Mass Index, and Psychological Correlates in a Community Sample of Preadolescents. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 30(3), 216–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2015.06.010
Recent studies of the effects of sugars on brain systems involved in energy balance and reward: Relevance to low calorie sweeteners
Murray, S., Tulloch, A., Criscitelli, K., & Avena, N. M. (2016). Recent studies of the effects of sugars on brain systems involved in energy balance and reward: Relevance to low calorie sweeteners. Physiology & Behavior, 164(Pt B), 504–508. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.04.004
Food Addiction: definition, measurement and prevalence in healthy subjects and in patients with eating disorders
Imperatori, C., Fabbricatore, M., Vumbaca, V., Innamorati, M., Contardi, A., & Farina, B. (2016). Food Addiction: definition, measurement and prevalence in healthy subjects and in patients with eating disorders. Rivista di Psichiatria, 51(2), 60–65. https://doi.org/10.1708/2246.24196
A sad mood increases attention to unhealthy food images in women with food addiction
Frayn, M., Sears, C. R., & von Ranson, K. M. (2016). A sad mood increases attention to unhealthy food images in women with food addiction. Appetite, 100, 55-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2016.02.008
Central nervous system regulation of eating: insights from human brain imaging
Farr Olivia M., Li Chiang-shan R., Mantzoros Christos S., Central nervous system regulation of eating: insights from human brain imaging, Metabolism (2016), doi:10.1016/j.metabol.2016.02.00
Food addiction associations with psychological distress among people with type 2 diabetes
Raymond, K. L., & Lovell, G. P. (2016). Food addiction associations with psychological distress among people with type 2 diabetes. Journal of Diabetes and its Complications, 30(4), 651-656. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdiacomp.2016.01.020
“Food addiction” is associated with night eating severity
Nolan, L. J., & Geliebter, A. (2016). “Food addiction” is associated with night eating severity. Appetite, 98, 89–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2015.12.025
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?
Long, C. G., Blundell, J. E., & Finlayson, G. (2015). 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?. Obesity facts, 8(6), 386–401. https://doi.org/10.1159/000442403
Insights revealed by rodent models of sugar binge eating
Murray, S. M., Tulloch, A. J., Chen, E. Y., & Avena, N. M. (2015). Insights revealed by rodent models of sugar binge eating. CNS Spectrums, 20(6), 530–536. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1092852915000656
The stability of ‘food addiction’ as assessed by the Yale Food Addiction Scale in a non-clinical population over 18-months
Pursey, K. M., Collins, C. E., Stanwell, P., & Burrows, T. L. (2016). The stability of ‘food addiction’ as assessed by the Yale Food Addiction Scale in a non-clinical population over 18-months. Appetite, 96, 533-538. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2015.10.015
Prevalence of Food Addiction Among Low-Income Reproductive-Aged Women
Prevalence of Food Addiction Among Low-Income Reproductive-Aged Women
Back by Popular Demand: A Narrative Review on the History of Food Addiction Research
Meule, A. (2015). Back by Popular Demand: A Narrative Review on the History of Food Addiction Research. The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, 88(3), 295–302. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4553650/
Food addiction symptomology, impulsivity, mood, and body mass index in people with type two diabetes
Raymond, K. L., & Lovell, G. P. (2015). Food addiction symptomology, impulsivity, mood, and body mass index in people with type two diabetes. Appetite, 95, 383-389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2015.07.030
Why do liver transplant patients so often become obese? The addiction transfer hypothesis.
Brunault P, Salamé E, Jaafari N, Courtois R, Réveillère C, Silvain C, Benyamina A, Blecha L, Belin D, Ballon N.Why do liver transplant patients so often become obese? The addiction transfer hypothesis. Med Hypotheses. 2015 Jul;85(1):68-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2015.03.026Epub 2015 Apr 3. PMID: 25896392
Food Addiction: Clinical Reality or Mythology
Pressman, P., Clemens, R. A., & Rodriguez, H. A. (2015). Food Addiction: Clinical Reality or Mythology. The American Journal of Medicine, 128(11), 1165-1166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2015.05.046
The role of maternal obesity in the risk of neuropsychiatric disorders
Rivera HM, Christiansen KJ, Sullivan EL. The role of maternal obesity in the risk of neuropsychiatric disorders. Front Neurosci. 2015 Jun 18;9:194. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2015.00194 eCollection 2015. PMID: 26150767
The Chinese Version of the Yale Food Addiction Scale: Validation in Female Adolescents
Chen, G., Tang, Z., Guo, G., Liu, X., & Xiao, S. (2015). The Chinese version of the Yale Food Addiction Scale: An examination of its validation in a sample of female adolescents. Eat Behav, 18, 97-102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2015.05.002
Clearing the Confusion around Processed Food Addiction
Ifland, J., Preuss, H. G., Marcus, M. T., Rourke, K. M., Taylor, W., & Wright, H. T. (2015). Clearing the Confusion around Processed Food Addiction. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 34(3), 240–243. https://doi.org/10.1080/07315724.2015.1022466
Which Foods May Be Addictive? The Roles of Processing, Fat Content, and Glycemic Load
From the research article’s abstract: “Objectives: We propose that highly processed foods share pharmacokinetic properties (e.g. concentrated dose, rapid rate of absorption) with drugs of abuse, due to the addition of fat and/or refined carbohydrates and the rapid rate the refined carbohydrates are absorbed into the system, indicated by glycemic load (GL). The current study provides preliminary evidence for the foods and food attributes implicated in addictive-like eating. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: University (Study One) and community (Study Two). Participants: 120 undergraduates participated in Study One and 384 participants recruited through Amazon MTurk participated in Study Two. Measurements: In Study One, participants (n = 120) completed the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) followed by a forced-choice task to indicate which foods, out of 35 foods varying in nutritional composition, were most associated with addictive-like eating behaviors. Using the same 35 foods, Study Two utilized hierarchical linear modeling to investigate which food attributes (e.g., fat grams) were related to addictive-like eating behavior (at level one) and explored the influence of individual differences for this association (at level two). Results: In Study One, processed foods, higher in fat and GL, were most frequently associated with addictive-like eating behaviors. In Study Two, processing was a large, positive predictor for whether a food was associated with problematic, addictive-like eating behaviors. BMI and YFAS symptom count were small-to-moderate, positive predictors for this association. In a separate model, fat and GL were large, positive predictors of problematic food ratings. YFAS symptom count was a small, positive predictor of the relationship between GL and food ratings. Conclusion: The current study provides preliminary evidence that not all foods are equally implicated in addictive-like eating behavior, and highly processed foods, which may share characteristics with drugs of abuse (e.g. high dose, rapid rate of absorption) appear to be particularly associated with “food addiction.””