Food addiction is a chronic, compulsive overconsumption of certain types of highly palatable, low-micronutrient foods (usually high in sugar, flour, salt, and oil) despite the negative health consequences.

Food addiction often involves the uncontrollable pursuit of a mood change. The addictive foods excessively stimulate the reward centers of the brain, creating an almost irresistible craving for them.

People who suffer from food addiction find that they get a "high" when they eat their trigger foods, followed by a "low" when they are not digesting food. The condition is chronic, progressive and — given the unhealthy nature of the addictive foods — potentially fatal.

Food addiction is essentially no different than drug addiction. Certain foods, especially those whose calories are absorbed very rapidly, signal the reward centers of the brain, causing dopamine to be released as these foods are eaten.

Although dopamine is involved in many processes in the body, it also gives you a feeling of euphoria or a "high". Just as addictive drugs, that can give you a "high," the euphoria of dopamine is short-lived and can be followed by a "low" that causes depression, lack of pleasure, fatigue, and difficulty concentrating.