Conquer Compulsive Eating Through Nutrition

Nutritious foods / Photo by Maddi Bazzocco / Unsplash

No shortage of advice exists for those who are compulsive eaters. Even food manufacturers are getting into the business of helping people lose weight because of the “obesity crisis” in the United States, according to a recent newspaper article. Anyone who has struggled with addictive eating knows that these suggested “diet” menus are never going to work. And, as a nutritionist, I have to ask if these food companies are motivated by a desire to help people or by the desire to increase the bottom line.

I know that starting my day with a bowl of cereal leads to hunger, increased sugar cravings and out of control eating the rest of the day. A low-fat yogurt lunch perpetuates the hunger/bingeing cycle. My hunger is never satisfied when I eat processed convenience foods because these foods do not give me the nutrients I need. That tells me that culturally the quick and easy solutions we are using are just not working.

Another popular approach to compulsive eating is telling people to manage their feelings, that they have an emotional problem that is all in their heads and therefore in their control. When I hear Dr. Phil ridicule compulsive overeaters, it reminds me of Nancy Reagan’s unsuccessful “just say no” campaign to stop drug abuse. Young and chemically addicted people laughed at this overly simplistic approach. These people had the internal knowledge that drug addiction was a complex biochemical, genetic problem.

Too much misinformation

Everyone seems to be a nutrition expert these days. The gentleman who bagged my groceries recently told me he knew all about nutrition. When he said that he ate margarine to control his cholesterol, it was clear to me that he knew little about nutrition. I also realized that if I explained that research shows that margarine, a trans-fatty acid, increases LDL (bad) cholesterol, it would go right over his head because he is stuck in old misinformation.

I see client after client struggling with addictive eating, convinced that they know a lot about nutrition, but who cannot eat right. Their nutrition information has often come from misinformed friends, Weight Watchers, or other “diet” programs or books. I believe this misinformation has been instrumental in their food compulsions.

The lack of understanding about the biochemical impact food has on the body creates a casual and misinformed approach to eating that undermines the health and well-being of even those who try to make good food choices.

If you haven’t succeeded in overcoming compulsive eating before, let me explain why these approaches don’t work and present another option for you to consider: See if you have bought into the myths about compulsive eating, and then learn a better way.

Myth #1: Eating processed, fast or convenience food is not related to my cravings and compulsive eating. It doesn’t matter what kind of foods I eat.

Busy lifestyles and long hours have resulted in homemade meals, even dinners at home, as the exception rather than the norm. Culturally, we have shifted away from cooking and real foods to eating processed, fake foods as the mainstays of our diets. These foods leave us hungry and unsatisfied. We delude ourselves into believing that a calorie is a calorie and that pre-pack aged or frozen foods, especially “diet” foods, such as Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine and Smart Ones, are healthy alternatives. These foods are loaded with trans fats, the most damaging types of fats you can consume. Trans fats interfere with cell function, which affects mental processing, leading to an addictive eating response. Simply put, people have addictions to foods with trans fats.

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No matter how strong your biochemistry, eating trans fats increases hunger and cravings. If you have one serving, you will want more during the day. This reminds me of the old “bet you can’t eat just one” ad that was true on many levels.

Nutritional solution: Eat real fats.

The best way to begin addressing hunger and cravings at the most basic level is to eat real foods that provide the body the nutrients it needs to function well and feel great. Manufactured trans fats are the single greatest contributor to this problem. Healthy real fats provide satiety (feelings of fullness and satisfaction) and are essential to overall health.

You can avoid trans fats by becoming a label reader — look for words hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated — and avoid processed foods that contain them. Replace these manufactured fats with real fats such as butter, olives, nuts or avocados. Our bodies need these fats for all of our cells, especially for our brains. A bonus in eating real fats is that the body recognizes when you have eating enough fats and signals you that you are full, so that you don’t overeat them.

Myth #2: Compulsive eating is all in your head: it’s emotional eating.

Balanced eating breaks this cycle and allows people to make better choices because their bodies are biochemically stable.Self-help books often equate compulsive eating with emotional eating and give people permission to reward themselves or cover up any emotion with food, whether it be anger, loss, low moods, anxiety or even happiness or joy.

Celebrities, such as Oprah or Dr. Phil, who suggest therapy or self-control as they key to ending compulsive eating, do not understand the biochemical basis for these eating patterns. Oprah often speaks about the importance of therapy for overcoming eating problems, but it was not until she began eating good food and exercising that she experienced success. Therapy can be beneficial, but has minimal benefit in conquering food addictions because those addictions have their roots in biochemistry.

If you look at the biochemistry of emotions, they come from small chemicals called neurotransmitters that are made in our bodies when we eat animal protein. To say that you should control your feelings to stop compulsive eating is “upside down” thinking. Bingeing and cravings are not simply a result of our emotions; rather, eating insufficient animal protein results in deficient production of neurotransmitters, which then creates emotional fluctuations, cravings and bingeing.

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Nutritional solution: Include animal protein every time you eat.

The nutritional approach to emotions and addictive eating is to teach people to support production of neurotransmitters to balance moods. Include animal protein with every snack and meal to naturally support moods and control eating.

Myth #3: I know all about nutrition and have a healthful diet.

The plethora of diet books, so-called nutrition experts and conflicting sound bites of research on the news raise more questions than they answer. No wonder people think they already have all the information that they need.

What these books don’t explain is how different foods affect our bodies. When I see clients who are compulsive eaters, I find that certain foods trigger those impulses more than others. Having cereal for a bedtime snack often begins a cycle of cravings that carries over to the next morning.

Most people don’t realize that cereal is a high-sugar food. One serving of cereal (approximately one cup) has the equivalent of 10-14 teaspoons of sugar. Eating a high-sugar food before bed raises blood sugar levels initially then causes a sharp drop in blood sugar. Fluctuating blood sugar levels cause cravings and mood swings that do not stop until you balance the carbohydrates you are eating with protein and healthy fats.

Nutritional solution: Include protein, healthy fats and carbohydrates each time you eat.

Balanced eating breaks this cycle and allows people to make better choices because their bodies are biochemically stable.

Eating to support health in today’s world requires not just effort, commitment and support, but more importantly knowledge. Who would have thought that the key to conquering compulsive eating would lie in nutrition?

As I have worked with hundreds of clients over the past five years who had serious food addictions, I have found a two-part approach provides the greatest success. The two-part program combines a Twelve Step program for psychological and spiritual support, and nutritional therapy for dietary and biochemical support. For compulsive eating, food addictions, eating disorders or bulimia, nutritional therapy provides the information, tools and strategies that empower people to restore a healthy relationship with food.

I often find that working one-on-one with clients is the best way to address their specific biochemical needs for recovery.


Darlene Kvist, M.S., C.N.S., L.N. is co-founder of Nutritional Weight and Wellness. For more information, contact Nutritional Weight and Wellness. This article first appeared in the January 2005 issue of The Phoenix Spirit.

Last Updated on February 2, 2025

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