More Addictive: Food or Heroin? :

Waking up in the morning, it’s the first thing I think about. I sneak off at work to get a fix and satisfy my need for that euphoric feeling. I wake up in the middle of the night and go tearing through the cabinets for my secret stash to quiet the cravings.

When I run out -- I get desperate. I find the paraphernalia from last night’s fix and scrape the leftover residue from the bowl, but it’s not enough. It does nothing to stop the torment. My friends don’t realize I have a problem -- I’ve become very proficient at hiding it.

My name is Shawn, and I'm addicted to food.

Sound absurd?

According to a recently published scientific report, compulsive overeating and drug abuse share similar neurobiological mechanisms – meaning food addiction and drug addiction aren’t all that different in your brain.

Whether it's Cracker Jacks or cocaine, amphetamines or alcohol, the cravings that plague the addict come from many sources – both internal and external — but the hormones responsible for regulating eating also regulate neuron activity in a key site in the brain that is responsible for drug addiction. While the drug addict is shunned, prowling back alleys and seedy clubs to find his fix, the food addict is subjected to a constant barrage of ads for all-you-can-eat buffets, triple-stacked cheeseburgers and candy-topped ice cream. The purveyors of food addiction fixes are able to advertise their goods openly – leading to more demand from food fanatics who didn’t even realize they were hungry.

Defining this addiction is not always easy to do. Dr. Sam Sugar of The Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa, a board certified specialist in internal medicine with over 30 years experience, defines addiction in this way:

"Repetitive behavior beyond your control that leads to adverse consequences."

It's easier to realize the negative consequences of a drug addiction – everyone has seen the disheveled drug addict – who can't keep a job, is unreliable and unkempt. But how can you spot food addiction, when the consequences aren’t immediately apparent?

"With food addiction, the problem may take years to show up -- long term weight gain, hyper tension, elevated blood lipids and diabetes," explains Dr. Sugar, “are all part of the short-term pleasure versus the long-term health risk associated with food addiction."

Addiction is culturally defined and -- in America -- food addiction is acceptable. This was never more evident than with the staggering rise of obesity rates in this country, points out Dr. Sugar. People don’t admit addiction because of the stigma attached to the word, but with a third of Americans now obese, it’s an epidemic that affects more people than alcoholism and drug abuse combined.

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