Brenda, Jackie and Abby have more in common than a spiritual longing and something in their lives over which they lack control. Research published in April identifies a common thread in substance dependence and compulsive eating. Both have similar patterns of brain activity, according to a study from the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. Ashley Gearhardt, clinical psychology doctoral student at Yale and lead author, says the findings support the theory that compulsive eating may be driven in part by an enhanced anticipation of food. As a result, food addicts are more likely to react to triggers the same way alcoholics do.

Similarities between food addiction and alcoholic addiction were at the heart of the research. “We got interested because we saw behavioral similarities between the two,” Gearhardt says, “like not being able to cut down even though they wanted to, using despite problems, spending a lot of time using and recovering from the consequences.”
The research looked at individuals who were food addicts, as opposed to people with eating disorders. “When we showed food addicts a picture of a milk shake, we saw strong brain activity in areas such as craving and enhanced motivation,” she says. What happens with addicts, she explains, is that when exposed to their substance of choice, the brain region implicated in putting on the breaks–the lateral OFC (orbitofrontal cortex) involved in decision making–isn’t working so well.

“That’s why addicts will say they’ll only have one beer and then have 10, or that they’ll have one cookie and then eat the whole box,” Gearhardt says. “The substances they’re addicted to highjack their brain. And you can’t white knuckle it on a new diet. You need to seek professional help or 12-step groups.”

The research, she believes, can help us understand triggers, such as an alcoholic walking past a favorite bar, or a food addict seeing an advertisement for an ice cream sundae.

“These triggers may be a core feature of addiction,” she says. “It’s less about how much you like it and more about how much you want it.”