Known as food addiction, the condition isn’t limited to older adults — previous food addiction data had primarily centered around young- to middle-age adults up to around 50, said Ashley Gearhardt, lead author of the latest research by Michigan Medicine and a pioneer in the field of food addiction studies. But the type of treatment that would be offered for food addiction would be very different, because not everyone who reports having food addiction is binging, and the underlying neurology of food addiction and binge eating disorder aren’t the same. Food hijacking the brainThe criteria defining food addiction revolve specifically around highly processed food, instead of all food, because of how the brain responds to its consumption, experts said. Living with food addictionNot everyone who eats highly processed food develops an addictive relationship to it. “So, I don’t have science to say, ‘Here is the best treatment for this addiction,’ which is unfortunate.”Undergoing therapy can help with food addiction.

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Persons: Ashley Gearhardt, Gearhardt, Kristin Kirkpatrick, wasn’t, “, ’ ”, hasn’t, she’s, they’re, ” Kirkpatrick, “ It’s, ” Avena, It’s, ”, Nicole Avena, Kirkpatrick, we’ve, ” Gearhardt, they’ll, ‘, it’s, — you’re, we’re Organizations: CNN, Michigan Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, University of Michigan, Disorders Locations: New York, Michigan