In 2016, 1.9 billion people were overweight.

But have you noticed that sometimes people who are overweight also struggle with addiction? 

Surprisingly, weight issues and addiction go hand in hand, but make sure you keep reading to find out more!

Connections

When people gain a lot of weight, they can easily become depressed. However, depression can also cause weight gain. 

But depression can make people more likely to turn to addictive substances, which is where addiction can start. 

It’s all interconnected, and it can be hard to say which started first, the addiction or the weight gain. 

Drugs and Food

Some people even turn to food as their addiction. When you eat or smell food, your brain releases dopamine levels to reward you for eating and make you smell good. If you’re depressed, these chemicals can become addicting which can cause people to become overweight over time. 

However, many foods that are made today don’t give you a feeling of fullness after you eat them. Instead, they’re designed to make you crave more, even if you’re full. 

For a person who struggles with addiction or depression, it can be hard to stay away from those foods.

Risk Factors

There are some people who are more likely to suffer from weight gain and addiction. 

For example, sometimes your genes can play a part in it. If someone in your family struggled with addiction or was obese, your chances are higher for either one. 

Even if mental illness runs in your family, this could be a risk factor for getting depression and then having weight gain or addiction. 

If you used drugs or alcohol early on in your life while you were still developing, your brain may end up becoming addicted to it. As you get more addicted, you’ll have a less active lifestyle, and your hormones will change so your body makes it harder to lose weight. 

What to Do

To try treating weight loss and addiction, you should start by first treating addiction. In fact, one of the ways to treat addiction is through exercise and nutritious eating. 

A rehab center may be able to help you with that, but a therapist or nutrition coach could help as well. 

When you first get into working out, many people with addiction tend to want to overdo that as well, but this will just lead to problems later on in life. 

You could also try taking certain herbs to help, like hackfinnherbal.com.

Learn More About Weight Issues and Addiction

These are only a few things to keep in mind about weight issues and addiction, but there are many more things you can learn.

We know that dealing with either of these diseases can be stressful, but we’re here to help you out.

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