Table 2.

Future directions in food addiction research.

Identify the addictive agent(s) in food to determine which foods or ingredient(s) have an addictive potential Determine whether mechanisms unique to addictive disorders, such as withdrawal and tolerance, may contribute to addictive-like consumption of certain foods Utilize longitudinal research approaches to a) examine temporal relations between “food addiction,” obesity, binge eating, and BED, and b determine whether the mechanisms described in this review may be causal factors or contributors to the maintenance of eating-related problems Evaluate whether treatment approaches for addictive disorders, such as abstinence-based interventions or harm-reduction, may be appropriate and efficacious for the treatment of “food addiction” Explore whether addiction-specific mechanisms may contribute to eating-related problems more broadly (e.g., binge eating, bulimia nervosa) Examine whether certain mechanisms implicated in BED and “food addiction” are particularly relevant to individuals with both obesity and compulsive patterns of food consumption