There is confusion about the origin and nature of abnormal eating behaviors. Most popular  ideas are probably wrong since eating is based on old primitive programs in the human brain and have little or nothing to do with the modern personality. People with eating disorders are often treated as freaks with an individual problems. The reality is that humans are naturally compulsive eaters. In every society that enjoys food abundance, increasing numbers of people eat compulsively, gain weight and develop food diseases.

Over many years of medical practice, I was impressed by the presence of compulsive eating in many food-related illnesses. If I asked well-motivated people, who did not believe that they had a food control problem, to change their diet to regain their health, many did so and reported surprising success. However, a short time after recovery they reported a relapse with loss of control of their food choices and eating behaviors. They would say: "I can't believe it! I was doing so well; then I ate some cookies and I couldn't stop. I ate everything in sight and now I am desperately ill again!"

If I asked a bulimic about childhood medical problems, I often discovered that she had symptoms of food allergy since infancy. She might report typical food problems such as early colic, eczema, migraines, bloating, diarrhea and other symptoms. She might know  that she had cow's milk allergy as an infant and still avoided drinking milk, but she binged on ice cream and cheese.

I noted similarities of experiences in different groups of people with problems that looked, at first glance, to be un-related. What linked these diverse groups is difficulty controlling eating and drinking behaviors with adverse health consequences. I view eating disorders and illness disorders as different aspects of the same prevalent food problems. Your version of the story will depend on which part of the complex you are most concerned about.

The word "addiction" is used to often to describe recursive behaviors that are the the "normal" way for human behaviors to be organized. Using the careless definition of "addiction" we could claim that everyone is addicted to breathing and everyone is addicted to eating. The issue is not repeating behaviors, it is repeating behaviors that are unnecessary and harmful. When you look closely at drug addicts and alcoholics, you see that they have become specialists, ingesting and injecting only special chemicals that are un-necessary and obviously harmful; you see people who have no control over their behaviors and who sacrifice all other human relationships to obtain the addictive substances.

The term "addictive food allergy" was suggested to describe the connection between compulsive eating and illness. You can compare the problem to drug addiction and look for trigger foods that cause symptoms and, at the same time, trigger cravings and compulsive eating or drinking. The addictive model suggests that you have to stop eating these foods to regain control and to recover from any illness they cause. In the worse case, you eat the trigger foods, your cravings are back and you lose control. If we apply these insights, we can arrive at some effective strategies to cope with cravings and compulsive eating and drinking.

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This discussion of  eating disorders is continued in
Eating and  Weight Management. You can order the book separately or as part of a Nutritional Rescue Starter Pack