Meep
Active Member
Obesity has no one cause. I forget the statistics, but something like less than 9% of the obese have an eating disorder. Food addiction is real, though, and addiction, much like obesity, absolutely is a disease and not a matter of willpower, necessarily. Don't doubt that addiction is just as much due to biological factors as obesity, and has nothing to do with willpower. However, also don't doubt that it is quite possible to become addicted to food. It's actually considered a process addiction, and currently research (mostly unpublished) is being done to take it further. So far the evidence is interesting in that regard. I've been in the room watching fMRIs tracking the brain firing with addictive food prompts, just as it does with cocaine, in exactly the same pattern. It was fascinating, and terrifying, to watch. I've also talked to food scientists for major food and restaurant chains who say they specifically design food to be additive - with those words. High fat-sugar-salt together causes a very strong neurological response. High carbohydrate food also stimulates insulin production which stimulates appetite - fat and protein do not.
Having said that, I have worked with patients from all weight loss surgery demographics, and I have seen even DS patients that have regained. However, they are a minority, of course. Most actually have a lap band or serious histories of trauma. Again, everyone is different, and the reasons we are obese are diverse. As with all things, cookie-cutter reasons serve no one.
I have a severe eating disorder, and I acknowledge not all my clients do, either. I do think the Western diet predisposes one towards obesity, as we function better from a biochemical perspective on a high-fat and high-protein diet, and not highly processed carbohydrates which are bioavailable and obesogenic. What do they feed ducks for fois gras? Processed corn mash and alcohol, not fat and protein. However, that's a tangent.
It has been my experience from doing evals though, and the experience of many psychologists who work with other surgeons, that disordered eating is a common cause in WLS patients at any rate. Disorder eating is not an eating disorder or an addiction, either. There are many causes, again, and no one applies to everyone.
Having said that, I have worked with patients from all weight loss surgery demographics, and I have seen even DS patients that have regained. However, they are a minority, of course. Most actually have a lap band or serious histories of trauma. Again, everyone is different, and the reasons we are obese are diverse. As with all things, cookie-cutter reasons serve no one.
I have a severe eating disorder, and I acknowledge not all my clients do, either. I do think the Western diet predisposes one towards obesity, as we function better from a biochemical perspective on a high-fat and high-protein diet, and not highly processed carbohydrates which are bioavailable and obesogenic. What do they feed ducks for fois gras? Processed corn mash and alcohol, not fat and protein. However, that's a tangent.
It has been my experience from doing evals though, and the experience of many psychologists who work with other surgeons, that disordered eating is a common cause in WLS patients at any rate. Disorder eating is not an eating disorder or an addiction, either. There are many causes, again, and no one applies to everyone.