When someone can't control a craving for alcohol or drugs, it's called "addiction". Could these same physiological forces be at work in someone who has uncontrollable food cravings? Some scientists are beginning to wonder.

"'Are there certain things in food that act on the brain and set up a classic addictive process, like tolerance, withdrawal and craving?', asks psychologist Kelly Brownell, who organized a recent scientific meeting on food addiction at Yale University. While the research is still scanty, the evidence that exists 'is extremely interesting and provocative, and suggests to me that something is there,' Brownell says."

Though there is still much research to be done, scientists are unsure what to do if they find evidence for food addictions. Someone who's addicted to drugs or alcohol simply stops consuming them, but someone who's addicted to food can't simply stop eating. Read more at WashingtonPost.com.

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Labels: addiction, brain_chemistry, research