Ultra-Processed and Ultra-Addictions to Foods

Ultra-Processed and Ultra-Addictions to Foods

The word “addiction” brings up images of crack pipes, alcohol bottles, lottery tickets and other sickly fascinations, but the bigger issue may be the number of people addicted to ultra-processed foods. Consider: while drugs, gambling, and other unsavory addictions definitely harm those trapped in them, this study estimates 21% of Generation X women have a food addiction. Given the connection between such processed foods and various chronic illnesses whose rates have skyrocketed, the impact is staggering.

In surveying 2000 adults as part of their Healthy Aging project, the University of Michigan sounded a startling wake up call.  Using a standardized tool to evaluate a person’s level of addiction to a food, they looked at cravings, attempts to cut down, changes in social behavior based on avoidance of the foods, and symptoms of withdrawal.

The group who grew up between Generation X and the tail end of the Boomers grew up in a time when such processed foods were marketed heavily, without an awareness of their impacts on long term health. Based on the rates of addiction to these foods in this group, the researchers hypothesized that their intense exposure to these foods during the early parts of their lives could have increased their chance of these addictions.

Further evaluation indicated that those with diagnoses of obesity had much higher levels of ultra-processed food addiction.  Also notable was the fact that women had about a twice as high a rate as men.  However, men who reported poor mental health also had higher rates of such food addictions.

We have a lot of work to undo the damage that has already been done.  We also need to pull back another generation from this trap.  Helping patients live healthier, more abundant lives requires not only the fancy side of medicine, but also (and more importantly) the daily habits of a healthy lifestyle.  We emphasize both at Sanctuary.

Original Article:

Lucy K. Loch, Matthias Kirch, Dianne C. Singer, Erica Solway, J. Scott Roberts, Jeffrey T. Kullgren, Ashley N. Gearhardt. Ultra‐processed food addiction in a nationally representative sample of older adults in the USA. Addiction, 2025; DOI: 10.1111/add.70186

 

Thanks to Science Daily:

Michigan Medicine – University of Michigan. “Why Gen X women can’t stop eating ultra-processed foods.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 29 September 2025.

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/09/250929054915.htm

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Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.