What is Food Addiction: UPFA, Volume Addiction, and Trauma-Informed Recovery

Vanessa Kredler Author

Read this for an overview of food addiction, now often referred to ultra-processed food, sugar, or carbohydrate addiction.

Key Summary

Food Addiction, often called Ultra-Processed Food Addiction (UPFA), or, more recently Ultra-Processed Food Use Disorder (UPFUD), is a brain adaptation where high-sugar and ultra-processed substances trigger dopamine responses similar to addictive drugs resulting in eating behaviours that continue despite negative consequences. Research also identifies Volume Addiction as a distinct phenotype where the compulsion lies in the reaching the physical sensation of over-fullness. Recovery may require a multi-modal approach including abstinence or harm reduction strategies, education, ways to manage and reduce food noise, emotional and nervous system regulation, coping skills, finding meaning, purpose and identity and community support. Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a trauma-informed therapy modality to support deeper healing of often underlying attachment wounding and trauma. From a compassionate angle, addiction is best described as a highly adaptive, protective purpose in service of survival. It helps with nervous system state regulation and protection from pain, overwhelm, and dysregulation.

Key Terms & Acronyms

• FA: Food Addiction

• UPFA: Ultra-Processed Food Addiction

• UPFUD: Ultra-Processed Food Use Disorder

• UPFs: Ultra-Processed Foods

• IFS: Internal Family Systems

• DSM-5 / ICD-11: Diagnostic Manuals (for unrecognised diagnosis context)

Is Food Addiction a Formally Recognised Diagnosis?

No, food addiction is not yet a formal diagnosis. Food addiction is not yet formally recognised in the DSM-5 or ICD-11; the two most commonly used diagnostic manuals used by mental health professionals globally. Despite the fact that in our culture, we use terms like "chocaholic", “carboholic” or "sweet fix" lightly and often, if you went to your GP, you might not be taken seriously if you suggested this being a serious issue for you. 

But the evidence base is undeniable. In May 2024, the first International Food Addiction Consensus Conference in London advocated for the inclusion of Ultra-Processed Food Addiction (UPFA) in the ICD. A 2025 article using the Delphi method showed consensus among 37 global experts regarding this diagnosis. Research suggests over 20% of participants show signs of addiction, with a global prevalence of 14% in adults and 15% in young people.

Peer support programs for food addiction recovery have existed since the 1960s, and the phenomenon is not new. But it's only in recent years that the concept of food addiction is gaining increased interest, especially with growing awareness of the negative health effects of consuming ultra-processed food. Even mainstream sources such as the National Geographic are looking at the addictive nature of ultra-processed foods. 

What Makes Certain Foods Addictive?

According to Gearhardt et al. (2023), the most addictive substances are Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs). These are industrially produced items containing ingredients not found in home kitchens.

While natural foods usually contain either carbohydrates or fats, UPFs combine both in equal proportions. As highlighted in this 2024 National Geographic article, this makes them highly bioavailable, triggering a dopamine response similar to nicotine. This intersection of biology and industry also raises significant social justice issues regarding our food environment. However, my lived experience and what I see in my counselling clinic here in Australia is that many of us are addicted to any type of food, and want to continue eating no matter what we're eating. If this is your experience, you are not alone. 

What is "Volume Addiction" and Why do I Eat Until I feel Physically Uncomfortable?

A critical development in our understanding of food addiction is Volume Addiction. As Dr. Vera Tarman highlights in her 2025 research, "Volume addiction: introducing a novel phenotype within compulsive high-volume eating," some individuals are addicted not just to a substance, but to the sensation of physical fullness.

Tarman suggests there are different stages of food addiction, and treatment depends on your stage. While GLP-1 medications and bariatric surgery are becoming common for late-stage cases, Kessler, in his 2025 book Diet Drugs and Dopamine, notes that they are best used as adjunct tools alongside dietary modification and peer support. In my clinical practice, it's humbling to see the breadth of what people present with. For some, volume and portion size is not a concern; they are seeking freedom from dependency on specific food items. For many, volume is a big part of the recovery puzzle, and requires just as much support as looking at the effects of specific substances.

Is Food Addiction a Substance or Process Addiction?

My view is that food addiction is a substance and process addiction. It is my experience that compulsive eating and binge eating patterns often accompanying this addiction is not only due to wanting to feel full, but also has dissociative qualities where trance-like eating states bring a sense of numbness and regulation. My personal experience is that I'm able to tell when I'm full but my brain simply wants me to stop eating. This 2026 paper in Appetite, Devaluation insensitivity of event related potentials associated with food cues by Sambrook et al explains this highly relatable paradox, answering the question of why we keep eating when we are full. Even though the study participants' behaviour showed they were full and no longer valued food, their brains still lit up with the exact same reward-prediction responses when shown pictures of the food. Eating in itself is a highly rewarding activity for our brains. 

Food Addiction vs. Eating Disorders: How to Tell the Difference

Many individuals develop "disordered" ways of eating, such as restricting, fasting, purging, or over-exercising, to control an underlying food addiction. Research by Dr Claire Wilcox shows a high correlation between food addiction, eating disorders, and obesity.

Whether the addiction or the eating disorder came first determines the treatment pathway. This nuance is explored in the 2025 research on Abstinence-based treatment of Co-Morbid Eating Disorders and UPFA which advocates for an individually designed, person-centred approach to supporting individuals with food addiction. 

Taking this further, a 2026 study by Wiss & Logan published in the Journal of Eating Disorders has finally mapped these overlaps into a single framework: the Unified Theory of Restrictive and Addictive Eating. Their research holds that restrictive eating and food addiction aren't always separate disorders, but rather divergent biological trajectories rooted in the exact same soil of developmental trauma and heritable neurodiversity (such as OCD or ADHD phenotypes). As a food addiction specialist in Australia, this unified model is exactly what I see in clinical practice. It validates why individuals so often shift between restrictive cycles, severe binge eating, and cross-addictions over their lifespan.

Food Addiction and Metabolic Health

Food addiction can lead to ill metabolic health, and there is a strong correlation between food addiction and type 2 diabetes. Often, poor metabolic health and the ongoing questions around "how to stop eating and lose weight for good" is a route for people to enter recovery. The correlation between food addiction and metabolic health is now becoming more widely discussed, for example in Dr Rangan Chatterjee's podcast interview with food addiction expert Dr Jen Unwin The Food Addiction Crisis: Why Millions Can’t Stop Eating Sugar.

How to Stop Food Noise: Healing the "Parts" of Addiction with IFS

In my practice, I utilise Internal Family Systems (IFS) to address the inner turmoil that people so often experience with addiction. IFS views addictive behaviours as a polarisation between two sets of "Protector" parts helping the person survive overwhelming emotional, nervous system and pain states. Examples of typical parts are:

• The Firefighter (Bingeing Part): An impulsive part that uses food to "put out the fire" of emotional pain and brings nervous system regulation.

• The Manager (The Inner Critic): The voice that scolds you after a binge.

• The Exile: The wounded part holding the original pain, overwhelm or strong emotions.

Instead of fighting with willpower, we use Self-Leadership to understand the positive intentions of these parts. This helps reduce inner conflict, and the "food noise" and shame that often prevents people from seeking help.

What is the Relationship between Food Addiction and Trauma?

Alongside the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s definition of addiction as a “chronic medical disease" (ASAM 2019), it’s important to offer perspectives of addiction that compassionately recognise the purpose of addictive behaviours. Dr Gabor Mate has noted the need to focus on the pain and dysregulation underneath the addiction, and the strong correlation between addiction and trauma. Similarly, Dr Steven Porges and psychotherapist Jan Winhall view addiction as a highly adaptive survival strategy to support a person in nervous system state regulation in the name of survival with recovery focusing on supporting the person to become more familiar with their own internal states, re-establishing internal safety and regulation in recovery. In my practice, I've found that clients sometimes are not aware of any trauma influencing the onset of their addiction. That's because the way that we as therapists define trauma is much broader than what many people consider trauma. Trauma can also mean attachment injury; the common experience of ruptured connection and misatunement between child and caregiver. Complex trauma is another type of relational trauma, which contributes to addiction. According to Australia's leading complex trauma organisations, the Blue Knot Foundation, 1 in 4 Australian is affected by complex trauma. 

Can Food Addiction Be Fully Healed?

In her early book Food Addiction – The Body Knows (1993), Kay Sheppard describes addiction as a metabolic imbalance which requires lifelong recovery maintenance. My lived experience echoes this; while I consider myself healed in that the addiction is dormant, the biology of addiction remains and I’m unable to eat processed foods in moderation. I maintain peace through abstinence from specific trigger foods and food behaviour, and a strong commitment to a recovery lifestyle and self-care.

As Dr. Claire Wilcox notes in Rewire your Food-Addicted Brain (2025), every person is different. Whether your experience of addiction is that of an innate and long-standing brain adaptation or a behaviour acquired later in life, a ground-breaking study points to treatment pathways for food addiction which include education, community support, skills building and whole food eating: There is a solution!

References & Further Reading

Delve into a Full List of Food Addiction References to learn more about the topic. 

Getting Help

Are you looking for a trauma-informed food addiction therapist in Australia? Reach out for online 1:1 psychotherapy sessions or local support groups here. If you are ready to explore your relationship with food through the lens of IFS alongside education, community support and skill building, reach out for 1:1 sessions or group support here. The most important thing: Don't struggle in silence. You will be amazed how many people struggle with food addiction. You are not alone. 

Categories: : Eating Disorders, Food Addiction