Can certain foods hijack the brain in ways similar to drugs and alcohol, and is this effect sufficiently strong to contribute to major diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, and hence constitute a public health menace? Terms like "chocoholic" and "food addict" are part of popular lore, some popular diet books discuss the concept of addiction, and there are food addiction programs with names like Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous. Clinicians who work with patients often hear the language of addiction when individuals speak of irresistible cravings, withdrawal symptoms when starting a diet, and increasing intake of palatable foods over time. But what does science show, and how strong is the evidence that food and addiction is a real and important phenomenon?

Food and Addiction: A Comprehensive Handbook brings scientific order to the issue of food and addiction, spanning multiple disciplines to create the foundation for what is a rapidly advancing field and to highlight needed advances in science and public policy. The book assembles leading scientists and policy makers from fields such as nutrition, addiction, psychology, epidemiology, and public health to explore and analyze the scientific evidence for the addictive properties of food. It provides complete and comprehensive coverage of all subjects pertinent to food and addiction, from basic background information on topics such as food intake, metabolism, and environmental risk factors for obesity, to diagnostic criteria for food addiction, the evolutionary and developmental bases of eating addictions, and behavioral and pharmacologic interventions, to the clinical, public health, and legal and policy implications of recognizing the validity of food addiction. Each chapter reviews the available science and notes needed scientific advances in the field.

Kelly D. Brownell, PhD, is Dean and Professor of Public Policy, Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University.

Mark S. Gold, MD, is the Donald Dizney Eminent Scholar, Distinguished Professor, and Chair of Psychiatry at the University of Florida, College of Medicine.

Introduction
Food and Addiction: Why and Why Now?
Kelly D. Brownell and Mark S. Gold

Part 1: The Neurobiology and Psychology of Addiction

1. Animal Models of Drug Addiction
George F. Koob

2. Human Laboratory Models of Addiction
Barbara J. Mason and Amanda E. Higley

3. Neuroanatomy of Addiction
George F. Koob

4. Genetics of Addiction
Ernest P. Noble

5. Epigenetic Changes in Addiction and Eating Disorders
Firas H. Kobeissy, Mahdi Razafsha, Zhiqun Zhang and Mark S. Gold

6. Feeding Systems and Drugs of Abuse
Brittany L. Mason, Eric J. Nestler and Michael Lutter

7. Co-occurring Addiction and Psychiatric Disorders
Shelly F. Greenfield and Michele A. Crisafulli

8. The Study of Craving and its Role in Addiction
Peter M. Monti and Lara A.Ray

9. Stress and Addiction: A Brief Overview
Rajita Sinha

Part 2: Regulation of Eating and Body Weight

10. The Changing Face of Global Diet and Nutrition
Barry M. Popkin

11. Weight and Diet among Children and Adolescents in the United States, 2005-2008
Cynthia L. Ogden, Molly M. Lamb, Brian K. Kit and Jacqueline D. Wright

12. Genetics of Body Weight Regulation
Wendy K. Chung and Rudolph L. Leibel

13. Central Regulation of Hunger, Satiety, and Body Weight
Hans-Rudolf Berthoud

14. Peripheral Regulation of Hunger and Satiety
Gary J. Schwartz

15. Food Intake and Metabolism
Douglas S. Ramsay and Stephen C. Woods

16. Neuroendocrine Regulation of Energy Balance
Marcelo O. Dietrich and Tamas Horvath

17. Prenatal Programming of Obesity: Role of Macronutrient-Specific Peptide Systems
Irene Morganstern, Jessica R. Barson and Sarah F. Leibowitz

18. The Biology and Psychology of Taste
Linda M. Bartoshuk and Derek J. Snyder

19. Leptin Gene Therapy for Hyperphagia, Obesity, Metabolic Diseases and Addiction: A New Opportunity
Satya P. Kalra

20. Lessons from Prader-Willi Syndrome and Pathological Brain Reinforcement
Yijun Liu and Yi Zhang

21. Environmental Toxins as Triggers for Obesity
Angelo Tremblay and Marina Sánchez

22. The Special Case of Sugar Sweetened Beverages
Cara B. Ebbeling, Walter C. Willett and David S. Ludwig

23. The Impact of Portion Size and Energy Density on Eating
Barbara J. Rolls

24. Specific Environmental Drivers of Eating
Brian Wansink

Part 3: Research on Food and Addiction

25. Food Addiction and Diagnostic Criteria for Dependence
Ashley N. Gearhardt and William R. Corbin

26. Phylogenetic and Ontogenetic Contributions to Today's Obesity Quagmire
Elliott M. Blass

27. Food Reward
Dana M. Small

28. Dopamine Deficiency, Eating and Body Weight
Gene-Jack Wang, Nora D. Volkow and Joanna S. Folwer

29. Genes and Reward Circuitry as Predictors of Eating and Weight Gain
Sonja Yokum and Eric Stice

30. Hormones, Hunger and Food Addiction
Alain Dagher

31. Bingeing, Withdrawal, and Craving: An Animal Model of Sugar Addiction
Nicole M. Avena and Bartley G. Hoebel

32. Incubation of Sucrose Craving in Animal Models
Jeffrey W. Grimm

33. "Liking" vs. "Wanting" Food in Human Appetite: Relation to Craving, Overconsumption and "Food Addiction"
Graham Finlayson, Michelle Dalton and John E. Blundell

34. The Psychology of Food Cravings
Andrew J. Hill

35. Is Sugar as Addictive as Cocaine?
Serge H. Ahmed

36. Caffeine, Addiction, and Food Consumption
Daniel P. Evatt and Roland R. Griffiths

37. Interactions between Smoking, Eating, and Body Weight
Marney A. White and Stephanie S. O'Malley

38. Interactions between Alcohol Consumption, Eating, and Weight
Ashley N. Gearhardt and William R. Corbin

39. Relationships Between Drugs of Abuse and Eating
Daniel M. Blumenthal and Mark S. Gold

40. Stress and Reward: Neural Networks, Eating, and Obesity
Elissa S. Epel, A. Janet Tomiyama and Mary F. Dallman

41. Public Attitudes About Addiction as a Cause of Obesity
Colleen L. Barry

Part 4: Clinical Approaches and Implications

42. Clinical Assessment of Food and Addiction
Ashley N. Gearhardt and William R. Corbin

43. Psychological Treatments for Substance Use Disorders
Lisa J. Merlo

44. Behavioral Treatments for Obesity
Caitlin A. LaGrotte and Gary D. Foster

45. Pharmacotherapy of addictive disorders
Ece Tek and Stephanie S. O'Malley

46. Pharmacotherapy for Obesity: Current and Future Treatments
Orli Rosen and Louis J. Aronne

47. Surgical Treatments for Obesity
Marion L. Vetter, Lucy F. Hemsley-Faulconbridge, Noel N. Williams and Thomas A. Wadden

48. Treatment of Alcohol and Drug Dependence in 2011 and Relevance to Food Addiction
Kimberly Blumenthal, Robert DuPont and Mark. S. Gold

49. Treatment of Binge Eating Disorder
Carlos M. Grilo

50. Exercise Addiction and Aversion: Implications for Eating and Obesity
David M. Williams and Bess H. Marcus

51. New Treatments for Obesity Based on Addiction Models
Richard L. Shriner

52. From the Front Lines: The Impact of Refined Food Addiction on Well-Being
Joan Ifland, Kay Sheppard and H. Theresa Wright

53. From the Front Lines: A Clinical Approach to Food and Addiction
Philip Werdell

54. From the Front Lines: Food and Addiction: A Personal Story
Anne Rosenberg

Part 5: Public Health Approaches and Implications

55. Taxes on Energy Dense Foods to Improve Nutrition and Prevent Obesity
John Cawley

56. Addressing Disparities Related to Food Intake and Obesity
Shiriki Kumanyika

57. Is Food Advertising Feeding Americans' Sugar Habit? An Analysis of Exposure to Television Advertising for High-Sugar Foods
Jennifer L Harris

58. Environmental Interventions to Reduce Overeating in Children
Thomas N. Robinson and Donna M. Matheson

59. Nutrition Practices in Schools
Marlene B. Schwartz and Nicole L. Novak

Part 6: Legal and Policy Implications

60. Legal and Policy Implications: Litigation
Stephen P. Teret and Lainie Rutkow

61. Legal Implications: Regulating Sales and Marketing
Jennifer L. Pomeranz

62. What Lessons for Food Policy Can Be Learned from Alcohol Control?
Ian Gilmore and Karishma Chandaria

63. Policy Lessons Learned from Tobacco
Kenneth E. Warner

64. Lessons from Drug Policy
Robert L. DuPont

65. Global Policies Affecting Diet and Obesity
Tim Lobstein

Part 7: Concluding Comments

66. Food and Addiction: Scientific, Social, Legal, and Legislative Implications
Kelly D. Brownell and Mark S. Gold