Ultra Processed Food, Food Addiction and Eating Disorders with Dr. David Wiss
David and I have a conversation no one is having in the eating disorder world.
David became a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) in 2013 and founded Nutrition in Recovery, a group practice of RDNs specializing in treating eating and substance use disorders. He earned his Ph.D. in Public Health with a minor in Health Psychology from UCLA by investigating links between adverse childhood experiences and mental health outcomes among socially disadvantaged men. Dr. Wiss can be your nutrition and health consultant, functional medicine practitioner, recovery coach, or provide psychoeducation related to his expertise.
To be clear, no one is having because of the protective feelings we have about the ED community and how we understand it to be most helpful to those who are struggling. Me included. I do know that for a lot of ED clinicians, concerns about backlash and fear of being canceled have prevented more open dialogue about the complicated nature of different types of foods.
*If you currently have an active eating disorder and have a lot of rules in your mind, this post may be best for you to read later until you have fewer rules in your mind*
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As an eating disorder clinician, this whole topic of ultra processed food (UPF) can be tricky. Eating disorder clinicians (like me!) are cautious about imposing restrictions on any type of food for fear of contradicting best practices and inadvertently supporting the eating disorder rules. That is never our intention!
However, it is important that I share this information with you because if you are going to consume (no pun intended 🤪) the information, especially if you are a clinician, it needs to be grounded in fact.
Controversy within the Eating Disorder Community
There will be controversy with this topic. The way UPFs are discussed, there may be some misconceptions, so let me clarify, I would never suggest restricting any food. I promote intuitive eating and welcome the all foods fit model.
The goal of eating disorder recovery is all about moving into a place of neutrality with eating and less emotional charge with food. The best way to do that is to normalize foods.
Ultra Processed Food (UPF) Definition
According to the NOVA classification, food can be put into four categories.
The first category is unprocessed, minimally processed foods, like bananas and almonds.
Processed culinary ingredients (foods derived from minimally processed foods through pressing, refining, grinding, or milling) is the second category. These are food like bread and mayonnaise.
The third category of food is labeled processed foods which are a combination of unprocessed food and processed culinary ingredients like a sandwich (bread, meat, vegetables, mayonnaise).
The fourth category is ultra processed foods. This is food that is completely comprised of processed culinary ingredients. Meaning that the food does not contain any non-processed foods or minimally processed foods. (think snack cakes and chips)
All ultra processed food has been made in an industrial fashion, meaning large-scale and for-profit settings.
Industrial Practice of UPFs
If you want to learn more about some ins and outs of the specific industrial process of wheat, check out minute marker 13:30. David shares an example of what the industrial process does to our food. He talks about the journey of a wheat plant.
From this industrial process, there have been laws enacted because of the stripping of nutrients. Now companies are required to put nutrients back into the product. However, the nutrients are put back into the food in supplemental forms.
Since the nutrients are in supplemental forms, it is becoming more prominent that people are becoming deficient in nutrients when eating (only) processed foods compared to non-processed foods.
The supplements are not the only cause of these deficiencies. There is data to support how the industrial oils, other harmful ingredients, how it is cooked, the temperatures, storage, plastics used, and the setting can all play a factor in nutrient deficiencies.
Biases Causing Research to be Unreliable
In the last few decades, there has been significant scrutiny of the food industry because it is becoming more evident how untrustworthy the industry can be.
One example would be the demonization of cholesterol and saturated fat that occurred in the 1980s. This incident has been found that this was PR work done by the sugar industry. (who wanted to exonerate itself from public health concerns)
We see how the food industry is looking more and more corrupt. We see food companies have research facilities just to test the neuro-chemical response to food. (aka– how to make this food more desirable) Companies are engineering food to maximize profit- not considering the well-being of the consumer.
David shares his personal experience of going through his master's program and dietetic internship, he went to national conferences and received ongoing education as part of his training. He explained how he felt it was very obvious to him that the training he was receiving was very much to support the financial interest of the food interest instead of supporting public health.
The food industry will want the consumers to believe there is nothing wrong with the food they are mass producing- the consumer needs to be the one to make decisions. NOT TRUE.
In reality, the problem is not with the consumer; the problem has been manufactured. (sounds super depressing, but true)
Confusion Among the Eating Disorder Community
There are many people who think they have a food addiction, but they actually have an eating disorder. That is another reason why this conversation is so difficult. There is SO MUCH information out there on the internet it is hard for the consumer to differentiate between the two.
I will link some of Dr. Wiss’s papers below to help navigate some of this information.
Reward-Based Eating and Food Addiction
Reward-based eating is when a person eats highly palatable (more palatable = more rewarding) food because when they do, they feel a sense of relief or reward. This stems from salience. Salience is when the brain assigns more value to an experience to make it more memorable. That person’s response has moved that food higher up because of the benefit the brain received, even if it was just temporary. When this happens, it creates the self-medication hypothesis.
In short:
Good experience + this food = brain will remember it more and crave it
Continuing on, research shows that refined sugars and fats are palatable, which could lead to food addication An addiction is more evident when a person continues to eat that food despite the negative consequences the person will face from it.
So the question: does the food cause the addiction, or does the restrictive eating?
For the most part, ED is at the heart of the addiction, but for some people, that may not be true.
As eating disorder clinicians, we have to come up with narratives to protect people with highly restrictive eating and have to honor that there are multiple truths going on at the same time when it comes to this topic as a whole.
Restriction drives food addiction, but food addiction can also drive the restriction.
Dietary restraint drives binge eating because of the associations with these foods. As you can tell, it’s getting more and more complicated.
What is someone meant to do with all this info? Are you saying that I can’t eat UPF?
(I hope you know me and that I’d never say that. Ever.)
The MOST important answer: a person should not stop doing what you are doing. This is a policy and industry-level issue that will not be solved by staying away from Oreos.
For most people, the BIGGEST issue is restriction, which means if you go and limit your cake now, you will be perpetuating the EXACT issue we’re talking about.
If you think you have a food addiction, talk to a RD.
In the end, the conversation around ultra processed foods and their relationship to eating disorders is a nuanced one. It is important to consider all the available information, engage in critical thinking and approach the topic with compassion and an open mind. By continuing these discussions, we can strive for a better understanding of the complexities surrounding eating disorders and work towards more effective treatment approaches.
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Tweetable Quotes
“The goal of eating disorder recovery is all about moving into a place of neutrality with eating and less emotional charge with food.” - Dr. David Wiss
“ To reiterate, I promote intuitive eating and all foods fit approach” - Rachelle Heinemann
“The food industry will want the consumers to believe there is nothing wrong with the food they are mass producing- the consumer needs to be the one to make decisions. NOT TRUE.” - Rachelle Heinemann
Resources
Learn more about the intersection of nutrition and mental health using Dr. David Wiss's new app called Wise Mind Nutrition
Find Dr. David Wiss:
Related Episodes:
78. Bone Density and Disordered Eating with Dr. Marci Goolsby
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Hey there! I’m Rachelle, the host of the Understanding Disordered Eating Podcast. As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, I work with clients to make sense of life’s messy emotional experiences.
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