A release on August 30th 2015 from the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology notes that obesity is one of the most difficult problems facing modern society. Treating obesity is a health priority, but most efforts aside from bariatric surgery have met with little success. In part, this is because the mechanisms associated with the desire to eat are poorly understood. Recently, studies are beginning to suggest that the brain mechanisms underlying obesity may be similar to those in substance addiction, and that treatment methodologies may be approached in the same way as other substance addictions, such as alcohol or drug addiction.

To test this, a group of researchers at the University of Granada, Spain, and Monash University in Australia looked for the functional connectivity differences in brain reward systems of normal-weight and obese individuals.

The researchers gave buffet-style food to 39 obese and 42 normal-weight people. Later, the participants were put into functional MRI brain scanners and shown photographs of the food to stimulate food craving. The functional MRI scans showed that food craving was associated with different brain connectivity, depending on whether the subject was normal-weight or overweight.

The scientists found that in obese people, the stimulus from food craving was associated with a greater connectivity between the dorsal caudate and the somatosensory cortex implicated in reward-based habits and the coding of the energetic value of foods, respectively. However, with normal weight people, food craving was associated with a greater connectivity between different parts of the brain – for example, between the ventral putamen and the orbitofrontal cortex.

The researchers then measured Body Mass Index (BMI) three months afterwards and found that 11% of the weight gain in the obese participants could be predicted by the presence of the increased connectivity between the dorsal caudate and the somatosensory cortex areas of the brain.

The release quotes lead researcher Oren Contreras-Rodríguez as saying,

“There is an ongoing controversy over whether obesity can be called a ‘food addiction’, but in fact there is very little research which shows whether or not this might be true. The findings in our study support the idea that the reward processing following food stimuli in obesity is associated with neural changes similar to those found in substance addiction. This still needs to be viewed as an association between food craving behavior and brain changes, rather than one necessarily causing the other. However, these findings provide potential brain biomarkers which we can use to help manage obesity, for example through pharmacotherapies and brain stimulation techniques that might help control food intake in clinical situations”.

So how can you better comment on a grandchild’s appearance, health or weight without causing potential harm?

Jones suggests the following:

DON’T SAY:  “You look like you’ve lost weight.”

DO SAY: “You look like you’re glowing.”

DON’T SAY: “I wish I could be as disciplined as you about exercise.”

DO SAY: “I admire how you¹re able to take time for yourself every day.”

DON’T SAY:  “You are such a healthy eater.”

DO SAY:  “I’m glad we got to see each other for lunch today.”

DON’T SAY:  “That shirt looks amazing on you.”

DO SAY: “The color of that shirt really brings out the blue in your eyes.”

DON’T SAY:  “You are so disciplined.”

DO SAY:  “I admire your commitment to the things that matter to you.”

Additionally, Jones recommends that grandparents avoid labeling foods “good” or “bad;” making rigid statements like “Don’t eat after 9 p.m.,” or comment on someone else’s appearance dismissively as “chubby” or “fat.”

There are many gateways into eating disordered thinking and behaving, and dieting is one of the most common and dangerous.  With the help of countless weight loss programs, millions of people set themselves up to half starve all day, avoiding “bad”foods. You might be someone who tries to severely restrict your intake of calories throughout the day.  You can easily skip breakfast, distract through lunch with a busy work schedule, and even white knuckle putting off dinner.  But by the evening hours your body is hungry and angry!  It needs sustenance to accomplish everything you want it to do.  When you push your body to produce without giving it the fuel it needs to make that happen, it’s like demanding your car go 100 miles on an empty tank of gas.

Since that can’t happen, you are now set up to binge.  In a tired and hungry state, your judgment is impaired and impulsivity increases.  In an attempt to rebalance the lack of food, you’re vulnerable to going overboard, compensating for the profound dip in blood sugar and depleted energy.  Bingeing is not the same thing as merely overeating.  Three extra cookies is overeating- the whole bag followed by other snacks is a binge.

When you binge you probably do it in a detached state.  Many people claim they don’t even taste what they’re eating, or experience standing outside of themselves watching the binge without the ability to stop.  Bingeing leads to a state of physical pain and fatigue, as well as intense feelings of guilt, shame, powerlessness, self-hatred, and a profound loss of control.  These thoughts and experiences set you up to “make-up” for the binge by starving again.  This is the beginning of the restrict-binge-restrict cycle that creates medical complications, emotional and psychological pain, and can lead to serious impairment.

It‘s not easy to consciously choose to ignore the images and messages that tell you what you should and should not eat or how much you should weigh.  But there are important steps you can take to help break the starve-binge cycle, re-claim your body, and begin to focus, instead, on more meaningful ways to achieve a true sense of self-worth. Here are some good strategies:

Honor and respect the uniqueness of your body and how it was meant to look.

Make the conscious choice to listen to your body so you eat when you’re hungry, and become more aware of when you’re full.

Give yourself permission to enjoy what you eat!  Take your time to taste and appreciate it.  Your brain can only register fullness if it is “present” for the experience of eating.

Stop dieting!  Focus instead on portion size and eating balanced meals and snacks.

Don’t skip meals. They set you up for bingeing at the end of the day.

Think about food as a positive source of energy and sustenance, rather than a source of comfort, reward, or a weapon.

Stop labeling foods as “good” or “bad.” That adds an unnecessary emotional component to eating and sets you up to diet.

Decide how much power you’re going to give to the number on the scale, and the extent to which you will allow it to define your worth.

Cultivate a practice of gratitude for all of the amazing things your body does for you everyday!

Choose to spend less energy thinking and worrying about food, calories, and the shape of your stomach.  Instead, re-channel that energy into hobbies, loving relationships, personal and professional growth, paying it forward, and making a meaningful difference in the world.

Lisa Ferentz is a nationally recognized Psychotherapist, Clinical Consultant, and Educator, specializing in the treatment of adolescent and adult trauma, abuse, and neglect. She is the founder and president of The Institute for Advanced Psychotherapy Training and Education, Inc. She was given “The Social Worker of the Year Award” by the Maryland Society for Clinical Social Work in 2009 and is the author of Treating Self-Destructive Behaviors in Trauma Survivors: A Clinician’s Guide, now in its second edition, as well as Letting Go of Self-Destructive Behaviors: A Workbook of Hope and Healing. For more information, visit www.lisaferentz.com.