Authors
Martin Yeomans
Publication date
2001
Journal
Food Cravings and Addiction
Pages
419
Publisher
Leatherhead Food RA Publishing
Description
This section will examine concepts of addiction and craving that are used in understanding alcohol and drug dependence. During this examination, it will consider the extent to which these concepts are relevant to the understanding of food cravings and addictions. To begin with, it is worth pointing out that, for most of human history, alcohol was a food (1), which was considered as a valuable alternative to polluted water and a source of nutrients. Reading both estimated consumption figures and novels from the 19th century, one gets the impression that few were sober, ever, by modern standards (1). Even children drank'small beer'. The boundary between what is considered a food and what is a drug or medicine has varied over time and this variation will probably continue. For example, the preliminary programme of the 17th International Congress on Nutrition in 2001 offers symposia on'Functional Foods?'and'Nutrients as Drugs?''
Scholar articles