Which foods may be addictive?

To identify potentially addictive foods, one study utilized the YFAS questionnaire, asking participants to select the most addictive or challenging-to-control foods from a list of 35 options. The foods included in the list varied in fat content, glycemic load (GL; the GL reflects both the amount of refined carbohydrates in a food and their absorption rate), and level of processing. The extent of processing seemed to predominantly influence a food’s link to addictive-like eating behaviors. Foods at the top of the list were highly processed and palatable, with added amounts of fat and/or refined carbohydrates or sugar; the top of the list included chocolate, ice cream, french fries, pizza, cookies, chips, cake, buttered popcorn, cheeseburgers, and muffins. Additionally, the fat percentage and GL also emerged as good predictors of a food’s addictive potential.^[1] This study presents several limitations. The list of foods was not exhaustive, no food was reported as extremely addictive, and not all participants presented YFAS-measured food addiction symptoms. Furthermore, this study didn’t explore the impact of these foods on specific regions of the brain involved in the reward system, and results were based on self-reporting.

It’s worth noting that the addictive properties of certain foods are also reported by people not formally “diagnosed” with YFAS-defined food addiction. Quite often people declare that they have an addiction to specific foods despite not fulfilling the YFAS criteria for food addiction. One study revealed that self-perceived food addicts were more inclined to consume high-fat foods (e.g., chocolate, crisps) than low-fat foods (e.g., grapes), and consumed more calories overall. Furthermore, despite self-perceived food addicts and non-addicts displaying similar hunger levels across that study, self-perceived food addicts consumed significantly more chocolate.^[2]