“Eating addiction,” rather than “food addiction,” better captures addictive-like eating behavior, according to a recent report published in the journal Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.
The report concurs with researchers who say it is premature to conclude validity of the food addiction phenotype in humans from the current behavioral and neurobiological evidence gained in rodent models.
The report said: “Humans who overeat usually do not restrict their diets to specific nutrients; instead the availability of a wider range of palatable foods appears to render prone subjects vulnerable to overeating ... undoubtedly, the food industry needs to act responsibly given that easy access to highly palatable and calorie dense foods promotes overeating and potentially the development of an ‘eating addiction’ in predisposed individuals."
It added: "At the same time, the medical field, and in particular psychiatry and clinical psychology, should continue to research ‘eating addiction’.”
