Everyone overeats at some point. It could be an extra helping at dinner or sampling every dessert at a wedding or eating for comfort after a tough day. Others set a New Year’s resolution to lose weight but they start, stop and never really let a new eating program take hold. All of these behaviors […]
Addiction is a complicated disease. We now know, for instance, that sugar is addictive. It seems like an innocent enough substance. It just sweetens our food, after all. But it turns out that sugar activates the same reward and pleasure centers in the brain that drugs like cocaine do. It can lead to binging sessions, […]
Women with a history of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are more likely to meet certain criteria for food addiction, according to a new study from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. The results of the study were published Sept. 17 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
More than 300 therapists and mental and behavioral health clinicians gathered in downtown Atlanta last week (Oct 9-12) for four days of training in process addictions and related issues as part of the sixth annual Summit for Clinical Excellence conference, a clinical education event organized by the Ben Franklin Institute (BFI) and co-hosted by Elements […]
The rates of obesity in adults and children in the U.S. have doubled since the 1970s, and it’s considered one of the leading public health problems in the country. We have a strange relationship with food: on one hand, we need it to survive; but, for some individuals, it can be the subject of one […]
Elements Behavioral Health is hosting a series of symposia exploring the relationship of early complex trauma to intimacy, eating disorders and addiction on July 18 in Philadelphia, Penn., on July 25 in Columbus, Ohio, and on Aug. 15 in San Mateo, Calif. The panel includes Dr. Pamela Peeke, a physician, nutrition scientist and New York […]
For some, certain foods like chocolate or chips have a strong attraction. So-called “chocoholics” talk about their affinity for chocolate in ways that incorporate terms usually reserved for addiction to drugs or alcohol. Those that believe that they really cannot eat just one potato chip may feel that this food has a particular hold on […]
Dr. Pamela Peeke makes confronting our unhealthy habits positively funny and inspiring, as attendees recently learned at TEDx Wall Street. We often cope with challenges propped up by “false fixes” that flicker out fast, Peeke told the audience. “You know what I’m talking about … when things get a little tough out there, it’s usually […]
Television ads don’t do the holidays justice when it comes to healthy eating at Thanksgiving – and Christmas and New Year’s. The image of a plump Thanksgiving turkey on a banquet table filled to overflowing may serve as a trigger to over-prepare high-fat, high-sugar foods and overeat at the table.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced steps that would ban trans fat, the unhealthy preservative in processed foods such as chips, crackers and microwave popcorn, effectively ridding it from the American food supply. Eliminating the ingredient, added to extend a product’s shelf life but packing the worst fat for heart health, is expected […]
Behavioral addictions, also called process addictions, are often no taken seriously. Many professionals in the addiction community do not consider them to be proper addictions. These are things like compulsive eating, gambling addiction, Internet addiction and compulsive shopping. In other words, a behavioral addiction is anything that is not a chemical dependency—an addiction to drugs […]
Oreo cookies are as addictive as morphine and cocaine? No surprise there, Dr. Pamela Peeke, senior science advisor to Elements Behavioral Health, tells ABC News on Nightline. Dr. Peeke, a physician, nutrition and fitness expert, scientist and “New York Times” best-selling author, says the new study by researchers at Connecticut College “adds yet another piece […]
Oct. 16, 2013 – Health expert, physician, scientist and “New York Times” best-selling author Dr. Pamela Peeke, MD, MPH, FACP, partners with Elements Behavioral Health as its senior science advisor. Elements Behavioral Health welcomes nutrition and fitness expert, physician, scientist and “New York Times” best-selling author Dr. Pamela Peeke, MD, MPH, FACP, as its senior science advisor. In this role, […]
Over the last 50 years, sugar has become a staple in the American diet. In a newly released interactive infographic called America’s Sugar Addiction: How Our Need for a Sweet Fix Has Expanded Our Waistlines, Elements Behavioral Health and Addiction Treatment Magazine capture the steady decade-by-decade climb of sugar in all its forms, including cane […]
Overconsumption of high-fat foods dampens the dopamine-induced reward sensation, leading to compensatory consumption of even more high-fat foods.
Food addiction is the term for an unofficial condition that occurs when certain foods in a person’s diet produce the same reactions as a mental/physical addiction to alcohol or some sort of drug or medication. Researchers continue to debate the reality of this condition, and food addiction does not have the recognition of the American […]
When someone suffers from compulsive eating disorder or binge eating disorder, it can be a nightmare that seemingly has no end in sight. Getting treatment in a professionally managed program to combat compulsive eating is just the first part of learning how to manage this process addiction.
It’s no accident that Americans are addicted to salty, crunchy chips and surgery soft drinks. Scientists and “crave experts” in the processed-food industry have been working for decades to make it so.
Obesity is a serious, ongoing problem in America. According to figures released in 2012 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 36 percent of all U.S. adults carry enough extra weight to qualify as clinically obese, and obesity plays a known role in preventable forms of serious illnesses that include strokes, heart disease, […]
Can a food binge have the same brain-level effects as smoking a cigarette or having an alcoholic drink for some people? Recent research suggests this is true, and brings to attention the possibility that widespread obesity may be better treated with strategies like those for drug and alcohol addiction, instead of assumptions that a person’s […]
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