Metabolic, Affective and Neurocognitive Characterization of Metabolic Syndrome Patients with and without Food Addiction. Implications for Weight Progression.

Fernando Fernández-Aranda,Lucero Munguía,Lucía Camacho-Barcia,Carlos Gómez-Martínez,Rafael De La Torre,Indira Paz-Graniel,Aida Cuenca-Royo,Susana Jiménez-Murcia,Roser Granero,Jordi Salas-Salvadó,Virginia Esteve-Luque,Inmaculada González-Monje,Laura Forcano,Xavier Pintó,Dolores Corella,Ignacio Lucas

doi:10.3390/nu13082779

Abstract

According to the food addiction (FA) model, the consumption of certain types of food could be potentially addictive and can lead to changes in intake regulation. We aimed to describe metabolic parameters, dietary characteristics, and affective and neurocognitive vulnerabilities of individuals with and without FA, and to explore its influences on weight loss progression. The sample included 448 adults (55–75 years) with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome from the PREDIMED-Plus cognition sub-study. Cognitive and psychopathological assessments, as well as dietary, biochemical, and metabolic measurements, were assessed at baseline. Weight progression was evaluated after a 3-year follow up. The presence of FA was associated with higher depressive symptomatology, neurocognitive decline, low quality of life, high body mass index (BMI), and high waist circumference, but not with metabolic comorbidities. No differences were observed in the dietary characteristics except for the saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids consumption. After three years, the presence of FA at baseline resulted in a significantly higher weight regain. FA is associated with worse psychological and neurocognitive state and higher weight regain in adults with metabolic syndrome. This condition could be an indicator of bad prognosis in the search for a successful weight loss process.

Highlights

IntroductionAccording to the food addiction (FA) model, the consumption of certain types of food (sugary, salty, fatty, and processed) could be potentially addictive, presenting similarities with substance use disorders (SUD) by activating brain reward systems [1]
According to the food addiction (FA) model, the consumption of certain types of food could be potentially addictive, presenting similarities with substance use disorders (SUD) by activating brain reward systems [1]
In a sample of individuals eligible for obesity surgery with a body mass index (BMI) of ≥35 kg/m2, FA was not associated with metabolic comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes (T2D), hypertension, or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease [13]

Summary

Introduction

According to the food addiction (FA) model, the consumption of certain types of food (sugary, salty, fatty, and processed) could be potentially addictive, presenting similarities with substance use disorders (SUD) by activating brain reward systems [1]. It has been suggested that the continuous intake of these high palatable foods can lead to changes in the food intake regulation [2], and could explain people’s difficulty to attach to other healthy dietary patterns [3] and overeating. It has been found a higher prevalence of FA in individuals with obesity (18–24%) [4,5,6,7], than in normal-weight population (2–12%) [8,9,10,11,12]. The levels of serum insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and the lipid serum profile were comparable in participants with and without FA [14]

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