Food Addiction Spectrum: A Theoretical Model from Normality to Eating and Overeating Disorders

The authors comment on the recently proposed food addiction spectrum that represents a theoretical model to understand the continuum between several conditions ranging from normality to pathological states, including eating disorders and obesity, as well as why some individuals show a peculiar attachment to food that can become an addiction. Further, they review the possible neurobiological underpinnings of these conditions that include dopaminergic neurotransmission and circuits that have long been implicated in drug addiction. The aim of this article is also that at stimulating a debate regarding the possible model of a food (or eating) addiction spectrum that may be helpful towards the search of novel therapeutic approaches to different pathological states related to disturbed feeding or overeating.