Highly Processed Foods Dominate Binge Eating Episodes

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A new University of Michigan study analyzing over 50 years of research on binge eating reveals that highly processed foods like cake, cookies, ice cream, and chocolate are overwhelmingly present in binge episodes, making up about 70% of reported binge foods. In contrast, minimally processed foods account for only around 15% of binge foods. The researchers say this pattern highlights a major blind spot in eating disorder research, which has traditionally focused more on the psychological and behavioral aspects of binge eating rather than the role of the foods themselves.

Why it matters

The findings suggest the ubiquity of highly processed foods in the modern food environment may be an important contributing factor to the rise of binge eating as a clinical problem, which emerged around the same time that processed foods became dominant. Understanding this connection could reshape how clinicians, families, and policymakers approach prevention and treatment of binge eating disorders.

The details

The study, published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, reviewed 41 studies on binge eating spanning 1973 to 2023. It found that the most common binge foods are highly processed products engineered to be especially rewarding, such as cake, ice cream, cookies, chocolate, pastries, pizza, and chips. These foods are typically highly processed and designed with combinations of refined carbohydrates and fats that make them easy to overconsume. The researchers say eating disorder research has rarely examined how the properties of the foods themselves might contribute to binge eating, with the focus instead being on the psychological and behavioral aspects.

• Binge eating did not begin appearing in the scientific literature until the 1970s, around the same time highly processed foods became increasingly dominant in the food environment.