Dr Jen Unwin: The six questions to ask yourself to see if you have a junk food addiction

How many times have you made a joke about it?

“Oh, I’m addicted to chocolate,” you laugh to the barista as you add your daily brownie to your morning coffee order.

“Once I start, I just can’t stop,” you say, rolling your eyes, as you crunch your way through a mountain of crisps at the pub.

And yet, that compulsion to eat things you know aren’t good for you isn’t really funny at all.

Deep down you know that scoffing a family sized chocolate bar in front of the TV or eating an entire takeout pizza by yourself makes you feel not just guilty, but sluggish and ill.

In the long-term, eating like this can lead to a raft of major health conditions, including fatty liver disease, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

And, in the short-term, it can cause low mood, anxiety, brain fog, concentration problems and sleep issues. It truly is no joke.

So why can’t we stop?

Why can’t we just put the cake down!

Behaviour like this used to be called greedy or simply lacking in willpower – but now experts like me think it’s something else altogether.

“Food addiction” is a compulsive relationship with food often shaped at our mother’s knee in our earliest years.

A recent research paper estimated that at least ten per cent of the UK adult population could have an addictive relationship with food.

The truth is, humans aren’t designed to cope with modern food.

There wasn’t a Tesco Metro outside our Stone Age cave, after all.

Our ancestors didn’t have constant access to carbs and our brains still haven’t evolved to cope.

The biology is complicated but one thing is certain: carbs can hijack our brain chemistry, playing fast and loose with the hormones and neurotransmitters that are linked to mood, reward and motivation.

A fix of sweet chocolate feels good because it triggers bits of the brain designed to feel pleasure.

And when supermarket shelves heave with hyper-palatable, ultra-processed foods (UPF) that are literally designed to be addictive, we’re simply ill-equipped to resist.

The most common “drug” foods – pizza, chocolate, crisps, biscuits, ice cream, cheeseburgers, fizzy drinks and cake – are all high in sugar or artificial sweeteners and often packed with a cocktail of chemicals.

And sugar is especially addictive – it stimulates a primitive part of the brain, which means your logical “thinking brain” is overridden.

It’s why we reach out for something sweet even as we think: “This is bad for me; I don’t want it.”

All their lives, food addicts are told they are weak for being unable to resist temptation – but they’re not.

One part of their brain is simply hijacking another, constantly seeking out the next “hit” of sugar and carbs.

Food addiction starts young, often very young.

Just Google “baby’s first ice cream” to see the initial steps in the re-wiring of our brains.

Video after video shows babies’ faces lighting up as they take their first taste of the gloopy, sugary, intensely sweet substance.

Cute, yes, but also terrifying.

That baby has just had its first “drug food”, and it is literally a mind- altering moment for her. If she is susceptible – and it’s believed that genetics has a large influence on addiction – then she could well end up hooked on sweet carbs.

This is exactly how it happened to me.

My mother was a sugar addict, always on a diet, always trying to lose weight – and I was the same.

Most of my memories of childhood involve food.

I’d sneak food from the kitchen; buy a family pack of Minstrels and eat them on the way home from school.

By the time I hit 12, I weighed almost 12 st (76kg).

So my mother enlisted me into her life of yo-yo dieting. I’d lose weight and then pile it back on, over and over.

And that cycle continued into adulthood, even after I became a clinical psychologist.

I was deeply ashamed that my eating was so out of control. I loved sweet treats such as cakes and biscuits and was always baking.

I could eat a whole family-sized lemon meringue pie.

My light-bulb moment came decades later, at the age of 48, when I stumbled upon a book explaining why high protein and low carb diets can work.

Essentially, by eliminating complex carbs like sugar and white flour, you stabilise blood sugar and start to burn more fat, while a protein-heavy diet keeps you fuller for longer.

I followed the regimen and felt amazing.

For the first time in my life, my mind was clear, I needed less sleep and was energetic all day.

Most importantly, I was no longer hungry all the time.

Still, I didn’t make the connection with addiction.

The final part of the equation fell into place eight years ago, when I heard a Swedish expert in food addiction called Bitten Jonsson speak about the condition and, for the first time, I admitted to myself and the world that “I am a food addict”.

One of the major problems is that UPF is both cheap and pushed at us from every direction.

It’s no longer a case of simply avoiding certain aisles in the supermarket or dodging the TV ads by making a cuppa.

Mention to a friend that you’re craving a particular chocolate bar and, hey presto, an ad will pop up on your smartphone.

Dare to order crisps just once on your online shop and you’ll be nudged to buy them again and again.

Obesity is costing the NHS in the region of £6.5 billion per year, yet it still doesn’t take food addiction seriously.

It’s the disorder that doesn’t exist. It’s a substance issue, a brain illness, and yet addiction services don’t treat people with it, so they’re left to cope alone, accused of being too weak-willed to get a grip on their health and weight.

How can we save ourselves – and our children and grandchildren?

I’m on a mission to get the condition recognised as a bona fide medical illness, so addicts can get support and find a way out of the misery of being in thrall to food.

But there are ways to help ourselves, too.

It takes effort but we can overcome it and stay in what I call “sugar recovery”.

Indeed, I’ve helped hundreds of women (and men, too) beat lifelong addictions and go on to live happier and far healthier lives.

This isn’t just another diet, it’s a lifestyle shift – and often an intensely emotional, as well as physical one.

Read on for my expert guide . . .

First, find out if you have a problem. Answer these six questions honestly

1. Have you ever found yourself unable to resist the urge to eat certain foods?
2. Do you need to eat increasing amounts to get the same effect from when you started eating them?
3. Are you neglecting other activities or relationships because you are overeating?
4. Do you always eat more than you intended of your ‘drug’ foods?
5. If you cut out or cut down on these foods, would you experience at least two withdrawal symptoms: headache, vomiting, nausea, anxiety, depressed or low mood, irritation, sweats, palpitations; changes in breathing, sleep disturbances, shakes, diarrhoea or constipation?
6. Do you continue to eat these foods even though you or someone else believes they are damaging your health, either physically or mentally?
7. Answering yes to three or more of these questions is indicative of an addictive relationship to certain foods. Now, learn how you can overcome it and discover food freedom.

UNDERSTAND HOW FOOD BECAME YOUR FRIEND

Nearly every food addict has a trauma story – a point where food became their “friend”, their hiding place.

Unpicking that can be a slow, uncomfortable journey.

Part of the process is thinking back to childhood and the relationship you had with food, especially sweet things, as you grew up.

Did your parents use chocolate as a reward, meaning you associated it with their love?

Were sweets banned, and thereby made to seem more enticing?

Was your mother always on a diet?

Often there’s an ‘aha’ moment where you link something in your past with current behaviour, making it easier to change.

IDENTIFY YOUR DRUG FOODS

What is your personal kryptonite (bear in mind it can be different for everyone)?

Which are the foods and drinks that you simply can’t leave alone; the ones you feel you can’t live without?

Ultimately, these are the foods you will need to quit.

Just like someone with an alcohol problem can’t just have one drink, a food addict has to avoid their trigger foods.

And being aware of this means you can avoid buying them in the first place.

START MAKING SOME SWAPS

Most recovering addicts start by following the basic principle of cutting out all sugar and flour.

It’s a hardcore strategy, however, which eliminates staples like bread, pasta, any kind of cracker and biscuit, and so on.

If that’s too much at this stage, think of initial swaps.

Change your breakfast cereal for eggs in the morning.

Give up sugar in your coffee.

Quit fizzy drinks for water or herbal tea.

However, do recognise that eventually you may have to abstain altogether from the substances you find so addictive.

PREP, PREP... AND PREP SOME MORE

Remove all problematic foods from your house if possible.

Disable apps such as Siri on your devices and don’t allow microphone access to applications to avoid being bombarded by ads for addictive foods.

Delete or mute food delivery apps.

Make a shopping list for online shopping, prioritising real foods, like fresh veg, meat, eggs, fish and berries and pulses.

GET COOKING (FROM SCRATCH!)

Plan your meals and cook from scratch where possible.

Focus on protein (meat, fish, eggs, cheese), real fats (butter, ghee, olive oil) and vegetables (ideally those that grow above ground like courgette, green beans and cabbage, which have less carbohydrate content).

Avoid bread, pasta and rice, which are high carb foods.

BECOME A LABEL DETECTIVE

Always read the label. If there are more than about five ingredients and/or high levels of carbs, it shouldn’t go in your basket. Look out for added sugar and sweeteners.

Put the ready meals down – they are not your friend!

KNOW THAT YOU’LL STILL GET URGES

And be prepared for them.

If you’ve got healthy snacks in the cupboard, you’re far less likely to nip to the shop for a cake fix.

Keep a bag of nuts ready to sub for sweet things.

Hard boiled eggs, biltong and cheese are useful snacky items, too.

But make sure you wean yourself off the crackers or buttered toast you’d usually serve with them.

TRY TO AVOID ‘FRIENDLY FIRE’

Just like alcohol, food – frequently sweet, sugary food – is very often at the centre of social events.

Coffee with friends comes with a big slice of cake; quiz night means mountains of crisps and a family get-together often comes with rich desserts or carb-heavy canapes.

Tell people you’re cutting out certain foods for your health, and ask them not to push them on you.

If someone takes offence or seems put out, it might be they don’t want you to succeed or feel guilty because they’re food addicted too.

Don’t let them make you feel bad!

HAVE A CHEERLEADER ON SPEED DIAL

Instead, find that friend who really wants you to beat your drug foods – and call for moral support if the addicted part of your brain is telling you to give in.

CUDDLE UP WITH YOUR LOVER!

Working out how to manage our emotions without resorting to food is key.

That means finding activities other than eating that can trigger the ‘happy’ brain chemicals we crave.

This might be meditation, gentle exercise, yoga, swimming, or walks in nature.

Laugh with friends, cuddle a spouse or lover – spontaneous hugs are great for oxytocin, the ‘love hormone’ that may help to suppress appetite.

Massage and listening to music boost endorphins (our body’s natural morphine).

Being with other people evokes that primal tribe feeling which can help to reset our faulty brains: meet up with friends; join groups; think about volunteering.

IMAGINE THE LIFE YOU WANT TO LEAD

Give yourself a strong motivation to change.

How would you look and feel if you weren’t addicted to food?

Where would you be?

What would you be doing?

When I ask this question at the food addiction retreats I run at Combe Grove in Bath, people become very pensive.

“I’d be racing around, playing with my kids – fit, healthy, and happy,” one 30-something mum of two told me.

A woman in her late 60s quietly admitted that she’d dare to wear a swimsuit and might even start dating.

“Is it too late?” she asked shyly. I recall one 50-something beginning to weep.

“I’d be alive,” she said.

“I would be around for my children and I’d get to meet my future grandchildren; to hold them and play with them. I wouldn’t be killing myself with food.”

This is the bottom line.

Food addiction is real, it threatens our health and it’s hard to beat. But beating it is possible and the rewards are immense.