A Food Addiction Discussion with Dr. David A. Wiss, MS, RDN.
TW: names illicit drugs in the context of food addiction and the brain
Am I addicted to food?
I have often wondered if I needed food addiction help. While looking at food addiction research on PubMed, I also found David Wiss RD, MS, on Instagram. This was shorty after I discovered his peer reviewed article, Sugar Addiction: From Evolution to Revolution.
When I contacted David, I offered up my story and struggle with food addiction, as a Case Study Podcast Episode. I was PUMPED when he said YES. His knowledge is PROFOUND, and you can hang out with him on Instagram, every Friday, at 4 pm PST!
I do wonder if I am disrespectful to people suffering with substance use addiction, including my late partner, by using the term “addiction” in relation to food. I also wondered if I was an addict, when it comes to food.
David Wiss RD, MS is fascinating.
HE UNIFIES CONCEPTS: David ties together research that links the gut, mental health, eating disorders, addiction and recovery. Listening to him talk, is like ballet, where it seems so easy, but you know the man put in some sweat equity in his research.
HE EXPLORES DISCIPLINE BIAS: We all operate on a personal and professional level of bias, and this influences approach and outcome. David works to merge disciplines into one.
HE TALKS EMBODIMENT: Lived experience integrates into our physical reality. This resonates so deeply with my own story of food addiction. Here is one of David’s lectures, The Biological Embedding of Adversity.
HE IS REAL: David has lived the importance of nutrition, as it applies to recovery, from his own personal addiction experience. He is a warm, welcoming, authentic person, who has so much to give us, in the world of Nutrition and Recovery.
DAVID pulls research together seamlessly, to form frameworks that apply to populations and individuals.
What you will learn:
How research shows that stigma towards those with larger bodies, decreases once people understand the NEUROBIOLOGY of addiction.
How early life adversity and our life becomes embodied. This applies to my “Case Study”: gut health, mother’s health, stress response.
What I learned
I may be biologically predisposed to the addiction process.
This one fact put many struggles with food into place for me!My mesolimbic/dopaminergic system (the reward pathway) may be primed for addictive like behaviour. This may predict impulsivity. FASCINATING, as I also describe myself as having symptoms of ADHD.
What about my dieting behaviour? How does that fit in? One strike against the Food Addiction Model, is that it doesn’t adjust for dieting behaviours.
David Wiss MS RDN is the founder of Nutrition in Recovery, which is a group practice in Los Angeles specializing in: substance use disorders, eating disorders, body image, mental health, as well as general wellness. Mr. Wiss has contributed scientific literature to peer-reviewed journals on his various topics of expertise; is currently working on his PhD in Public Health from the University of California, Los Angeles. David loves working one-on-one with people who are making important transitions in their lives. Learn more about Nutrition in Recovery and the various ways that nutrition can be used to support mental and behavioral health.