Food Addiction

It has been proposed that food addiction can result from the consumption of highly palatable foods, and even that the food industry intentionally designs foods to be addictive. The brain mechanisms underlying biological addiction are described, and it is concluded that food and drugs of abuse act in different ways. The possibility of sugar addiction is discussed, and it is concluded that sugar does not display the characteristics of addiction. For example, there are no signs of withdrawal effects. The liking of sweetness declines with age, rather than increasing as the development of tolerance would predict. Those who are obese do not have a greater liking for sweetness.