Understanding the Relationship Between Food and Alcohol Addiction

Understanding the Relationship Between Food and Alcohol Addiction

Published June 2011

Food and alcohol addiction is a dangerous and damaging combination. Addiction experts are noticing a troubling new trend with these compounding issues; often, an individual will restrict the amount of food they eat to consume greater amounts of alcohol. The largest demographic that admits to engaging in these starvation-and-binge drinking behaviors are college-age female students. According to an article in Behavioral Pharmacology, many college-age women engage in this behavior to cut down on calories and are also bulimic. Roughly 40 percent of bulimic women also rely on drug or alcohol history abuse.

Although eating disorders in conjunction with alcohol abuse are not new, their prevalence is increasing. Severely restricting food intake and drinking alcohol on an empty stomach is very dangerous. Food in the stomach acts as a buffer to slow down the absorption of alcohol; drinking on an empty stomach can lead to rapid intoxication, blackouts, or alcohol poisoning. Also, women’s bodies produce lower quantities of the enzyme that metabolizes alcohol than men’s, placing them at a higher risk for alcohol-related health problems.

Alcohol abuse increases liver cancer, heart disease, arthritis, kidney disease, anxiety, depression, and insomnia. If you or someone you know is engaging in an eating disorder, alcoholism, or both, professional treatment can help. We specialize in co-occurring disorders at Passages and have eating disorder specialists on staff.