A Health Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight (Part 1 of 5)
One bright May morning, I found myself sitting by the enormous birdcage outside Kings Cross Station, waiting to meet a friend.
It wasn’t even 8 am and had been a very early start from the depths of Kent.
Coffee was definitely required!
Most people who know me know that I'm fascinated by nutrition, and particularly the gut-brain connection.
I really believe the saying 'Healthy Body, Healthy Mind'. This comes, not just from the various studies I've read but also, from my lived experience.
It is this fascination with 'how what we put in our mouths impacts our mental health' that got me out of bed that morning, because our final destination was the Royal College of GPs at Euston Square.
We were excitedly heading to the first-ever International Food Addiction Consensus Conference (IFACC).
I have noticed over recent years, when I explore eating habits with them, clients have increasingly told me that they comfort eat and are using food as a coping strategy.
Some even call it ‘eating their emotions away’, and they worry because they know this is having a detrimental impact upon their health.
And yet they can’t stop...
the struggle is real
Giving up the kinds of foods they're using as emotional crutches seems impossible for some - often they liken it to a person with dependence giving up alcohol.
This suggests to me that there might be something more going on than just the comforting of difficult emotions.
Could what starts out as being a seemingly innocuous coping strategy be turning into a distinct problem in and of itself?
Terms like ‘chocoholic’ are bandied about flippantly, and even used in advertising (more on that topic later).
But for some people could it really be a problem comparable to alcohol dependence?
It seems to me, from talking to many people over the years, that people recognise that it can be, and yet there is no official diagnosis in any of the manuals used by clinicians.
Does this mean that it’s not really ‘a thing’?
I was hoping I’d have some answers by the end of the day.
Collaborative Health Community: Striving for Change
Organised by the Collaborative Health Community (CHC), this conference had an impressive line-up of international speakers - so we knew that we were in for a real treat!
The CHC is a UK charity that houses projects for the improvement of the well-being of communities (including their food environments).
Food Addiction Solutions (FAS) is one of these projects, and it works towards the recognition of food addiction as an official diagnosis.
With the wealth of expertise being brought together into one room, I had high hopes of coming away with some concrete answers to my questions.
Consensus on Food Addiction: A Groundbreaking Achievement
Food addiction, it turns out, is a very contentious topic but, astonishingly, 37 out of the 40 experts involved in the project have reached a consensus.
This conference was to be a celebration of this achievement!
An opportunity for the experts to help the public understand what their consensus actually is, why it is so important, and what their future plans are.
It was also a fantastic opportunity for us to understand how they came to this consensus by learning about the science behind the problem.
Diverse Expertise: From Endocrinology to Journalism
The panel of speakers drew on many different areas of expertise, from Endocrinology and Psychiatry to Neuroscience and Data Science, with even a Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist in the mix.
Conference Overview: What to Expect from This Series of Posts
Originally I wrote this as a single post giving summaries of all 12 talks from the day.
However, that ended up being nearly 6,000 words long and my blog platform told me it would take about 30 minutes to read!
Few people have that kind of time these days to sit and read a blog post, so I have broken everything up into smaller, more digestible posts that I will drip-feed over the coming weeks.
This post is just to give you a flavour of what the day was about and (hopefully) pique your interest into reading the rest of the posts that will be coming.
Follow-up posts will summarise 2 or 3 of the talks at a time, to give you key insights of what each expert talked about.
I plan to later write some in-depth posts about some of the individual talks.
I’ll highlight the most important information that I think everyone can benefit from - whether or not you identify with having problems controlling food (or any other substance/behaviour for that matter).
It was a really ‘full-on’ day and we were exhausted by the end, but each and every one of the talks was worthwhile attending - even the one that was all about statistics and number crunching of study data (numbers have never been my thing).
Here’s the quick overview.
Key Takeaways: Ultra-Processed Food Addiction Conference Highlights
The conference brought together experts from a variety of fields to explore the latest research, debates, and potential solutions, paving the way for better understanding and management of food-related addictive behaviours.
The key outcome of the conference is that 37 out of the 40 experts reached a consensus on the definition of the problem, and that it should be called ‘Ultra-Processed Food Addiction’ (UPFA).
Food Addiction refers to a condition where individuals lose control of their food intake, particularly with highly palatable, Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs).
It shares many similarities with substance use disorders, including cravings, tolerance, and withdrawal.
Understanding addictive eating behaviours is vital due to rising rates of obesity and related health issues worldwide.
The condition not only impacts physical health but also mental well-being, social relationships, and overall quality of life.
Recognising Food Addiction as a legitimate condition could lead to more effective treatments, and inform public health policies aimed at improving the food environment.
This was the order of the day (links to the posts reviewing a particular talk will become active as I write them):
Dr Vera Tarman – Beyond Moderation into Abstinence: Why Food Addicts Need Zero Tolerance
Prof Adrian SotoMota – Lessons Learnt from Patients about Food Addiction
Dr Erica LaFata – The Research on Why Ultra-Processed Food Addiction is Best Conceptualized as a Substance-Use Disorder
Dr David Wiss – Ultra-Processed Foods and Mental Health: Where do Eating Disorders Fit into the Puzzle?
Dr Timothy Brewerton – A Psychiatric Perspective: The Significance of Food Addiction in the Evaluation and Treatment of Eating Disorders and Related Comorbidity
Dr Anna Lembke – From Dopamine Nation to Dopamine Planet
Dr Nicole Avena – Your Brain on Food: Neuroscience Perspectives of Food Addiction
Dr Susan Peirce Thompson – Ultra-Processed Food Addiction Solutions: What Next?
Dr Robert Lustig – Rallying Call – Where from Here?
Ultra-Processed Food Addiction: Conference Conclusions and Future Directions
In my next post, I’ll dive into the big picture of Ultra-Processed Food Addiction, exploring its impact on public health.
And importantly, the role of the food industry!
I’ll be summarising the talks by Dr van Tulleken, Dr Lustig, and Michael Moss.
All of the talks were recorded, and the CHC is making them available to be watched on-demand.
You can gain access here: https://the-chc.org/fas/conference
They are only asking for £25 to access all 12 talks, which is really good value for all those hours of content.
The proceeds will go towards next year’s event and funding the research - the experts give their time freely but it is still a huge financial undertaking to run this project.
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