Category: Food Addiction

The food addiction paradigm is a primary cause of the childhood and adult obesity epidemic. Highly pleasurable foods, such as junk food and fast food, can be addictive. Posts in this section explore food addiction and its impact on obesity.

Goodbye to Addiction?

November 27, 2023
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Some experts lean into the idea that some people’s brains just have “different wiring” which is responsible for various brain disorders, including addiction.

How to Help an Addict

November 10, 2023
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Nobody chooses to become an addict, although once that happens, the disease will convince them that the condition was always inevitable.

In Search of Addiction’s Roots, Part 8

November 9, 2023
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One of the murkier areas of addiction theory is how it relates to the basic biological drives inherent in an organism. Let’s take a look.

In Search of Addiction’s Roots, Part 7

November 8, 2023
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Often, success depends on the person being prepared to jump in there with a positive displacement behavior to take the heat off.

New Drugs — Does Lifestyle Intervention Still Count? Part 3

October 23, 2023
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Tirzepatide, a medication combining semaglutide with another GLP-1 agonist, known as Mounjaro, is approved for type 2 diabetes but widely used for weight loss.

New Drugs — Does Lifestyle Intervention Still Count? Part 2

October 20, 2023
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Do the new, remarkably effective GLP-1 obesity medications eliminate the need for obesity interventions?

New Drugs — Does Lifestyle Intervention Still Count? Part 1

October 19, 2023
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Today’s question is: Do the new, remarkably effective GLP-1 obesity medications eliminate the need for obesity interventions such as BrainWeighve?

In Search of Addiction’s Roots, Part 6

October 18, 2023
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Random, reactive displacement behaviors usually only make things worse, while conscious displacement can create a space for positive change.

In Search of Addiction’s Roots, Part 5

October 17, 2023
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A perplexing aspect of the displacement mechanism is why it becomes excessive and destructive in some individuals.

In Search of Addiction’s Roots, Part 5

October 17, 2023
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It’s possible the destructive displacement behavior may become the sole coping avenue, may be self-reinforcing, and may reach a “point of no return.”

In Search of Addiction’s Roots, Part 4

October 16, 2023
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The advantage of an interactive app is that you can hear it from peers who will attest to the fact that this works, and they want you to know it.

In Search of Addiction’s Roots, Part 3

October 13, 2023
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Displacing thoughtlessly can lead to undesirable results, ranging from useless to addictive. Displacing consciously can give a person a chance to reset.

In Search of Addiction’s Roots, Part 2

October 12, 2023
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If reverting to a displacement behavior can prevent some violence in the animal world, maybe that is all part of the Big Scheme of Things.

In Search Addiction’s Roots, Part 1

October 11, 2023
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Dr. Pretlow has published “A Unified Theory of Addiction,” a paper presenting evidence that the universal source of addiction is the displacement mechanism.

Areas of Confusion

October 10, 2023
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Aside from feeding food obsession and encouraging such disorders as anorexia, electronic socializing can spill over into other potentially problematic areas.

The Mystery of Tarrare

October 6, 2023
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Tarrare was a real historical character who looked like an addict and behaved like an addict — but probably was not.

Goodbye to Pleasure?

October 5, 2023
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A lot is being said about the recent success of the new weight loss drugs with stifling food noise. But some aren’t OK with consuming food without the pleasure.

Some Things About Food and Addiction

October 4, 2023
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Is food addiction a disease? Is there enough evidence to justify calling it that? If ever there was a multifactorial problem, addiction is it.

More on the Consensus Building Event

July 25, 2023
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Here is more information about the virtual event on food addiction which will take place in August and which Dr. Pretlow is participating in.

The Circus and the Sideshow, Continued

June 16, 2023
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Yesterday, we considered the words of some newsworthy figures in the culture who have used controversial weight-control drugs — or not. Here are more.

The Circus and the Sideshow

June 15, 2023
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A spectacular number of celebrities have had their say about Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro. Here are some examples.

A Book That Doesn’t Do Much, Continued

June 14, 2023
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Getting back to “Why Not Stay Fat?” — the title is a philosophical question of impossible scope. Why do anything? It is an existential conundrum.

A Book That Doesn’t Do Much

June 13, 2023
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To change one’s habits is, for most humans, an excruciatingly painful effort, and one not undertaken lightly.

A Book That Explains a Lot

June 12, 2023
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In the course of exorcising personal demons, a terribly difficult and challenging writing experience became a personal case study and a philosophy textbook.

Weight-Loss Drugs — Bait and Switch?

May 22, 2023
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People have all kinds of reasons to pursue weight loss, but then they might discover they have been sold a life-long chemical dependency.

Till Death Us Do Part, Continued

May 19, 2023
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In a large number of cases the new weight-loss medications only work while the person is taking them.

Till Death Us Do Part

May 18, 2023
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Here is more about the same weight-loss drugs, the ones based on synthetic GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1), that have been referenced in several recent posts.

On the Rebound, Continued

May 17, 2023
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With weight-loss drugs, the rebound effect is to be expected, and no one should be shocked by the body’s tendency to pile the weight back on again.

On the Rebound

May 16, 2023
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The “rebound effect” is brutal. Here are only a few of the many available opinions about that, from diverse sources.

Weight-Loss Drugs, Exercise, and General Functionality

May 15, 2023
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While taking obesity management drugs it is essential to maintain a high level of exercise to not only lose fat but build muscle mass.

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Profiles: Kids Struggling with Weight

Profiles: Kids Struggling with Obesity top bottom

The Book

OVERWEIGHT: What Kids Say explores the obesity problem from the often-overlooked perspective of children struggling with being overweight.

About Dr. Robert A. Pretlow

Dr. Robert A. Pretlow is a pediatrician and childhood obesity specialist. He has been researching and spreading awareness on the childhood obesity epidemic in the US for more than a decade.
You can contact Dr. Pretlow at:

Presentations

Dr. Pretlow’s invited presentation at the American Society of Animal Science 2020 Conference
What’s Causing Obesity in Companion Animals and What Can We Do About It

Dr. Pretlow’s invited presentation at the World Obesity Federation 2019 Conference:
Food/Eating Addiction and the Displacement Mechanism

Dr. Pretlow’s Multi-Center Clinical Trial Kick-off Speech 2018:
Obesity: Tackling the Root Cause

Dr. Pretlow’s 2017 Workshop on
Treatment of Obesity Using the Addiction Model

Dr. Pretlow’s invited presentation for
TEC and UNC 2016

Dr. Pretlow’s invited presentation at the 2015 Obesity Summit in London, UK.

Dr. Pretlow’s invited keynote at the 2014 European Childhood Obesity Group Congress in Salzburg, Austria.

Dr. Pretlow’s presentation at the 2013 European Congress on Obesity in Liverpool, UK.

Dr. Pretlow’s presentation at the 2011 International Conference on Childhood Obesity in Lisbon, Portugal.

Dr. Pretlow’s presentation at the 2010 Uniting Against Childhood Obesity Conference in Houston, TX.

Food & Health Resources