I am so excited to share with you a recap of my amazing time in London last month for the International Food Addiction Consensus Conference (IFACC), the Ador@BLEs Conference, and a visit to SHiFT Recovery by Acorn in Margate. 

The recordings for the 11 presentations at IFACC are available now, and there’s a link below where you can access them for a small donation.

The point of the conference was to showcase and present a consensus statement that we have been working on for a year about food addiction. 37 professionals signed on to the statement, which is available at the link below. This will be the foundation of our work as we apply to have the disorder recognized internationally in the DSM-5 and ICD-11.

We decided that the disorder needs to be called ultra-processed food addiction. Many of us were not initially thrilled with that but I’ve come around to believing it is the right name. When you put food addiction as a substance use disorder in the DSM-5 and in the ICD-11 in the addiction section, which is where it belongs, next to substances like nicotine, opiates, caffeine, and alcohol, you need to narrow down the focus. 

By saying it’s ultra-processed food that’s the problem, you single it out as the target for legislation and control. Currently, two-thirds of what we’re feeding our kids are ultra-processed foods, and that’s what’s leading to addiction. So I think this name is the right one.

I was blown away by the quality of the presentations. I learned SO much. A few in particular: Dr. David Wiss’s talk on eating disorders vs. food addiction and the war between these two communities was incredible. Dr. Nicole Avena spoke—she was one of the first people to establish the reality of sugar addiction in rats. Dr. Erica LaFata, too—she talked about the NOVA Scale among other things. I’ve had issues with the NOVA categorization system because it doesn’t list sugar and flour as ultra-processed foods. Erica LaFata agrees with me but cautions that the NOVA people are trying to change the food systems, and it’s worth working with them. Because of her presentation and several deep conversations I had with her, I’ve changed my opinion on the NOVA system.

So, yes, the talks were awesome. Overall, the tone of the conference was amazing—there was unity and professionalism, and it was a beautiful experience. 

Then I went to the Ador@BLEs Conference, which was just so sweet. Thank you, Adele and Sue and everyone who put together this gathering. I had so much fun, and got so many good hugs!

Then I went by train to Margate with Amanda Leith, founder of ShiFT-Recovery by Acorn and the program’s operations director and a facilitator. We had a whole train ride to connect, and I found a wonderful kindred spirit. She is doing such great work.

It was very interesting to be in an in-patient treatment setting. It’s serious work: people have their technology taken away when they register and get their marching orders. And it’s all beautiful.

I stayed there for a couple of days. Their food plan is different from the Bright Line plan in a few aspects. One example: no caffeine, at all. They also have a category I’ve never seen, which is textures. They don’t do smooth or crunchy, which means no nut butters, no Triscuits. 

They also have four meals a day. I’ve seen more and more people who have binge eating disorder benefit from a fourth meal. A fourth meal is automatizable. I’m a fan of that fourth meal for people who need it.

I highly recommend that you access the recordings from IFACC. I gave the final talk, about what we had accomplished the day before. We had two workshop groups. One group prepared the strategy for submitting ultra-processed food addiction to be accepted by the World Health Organization and included in the ICD-11. They’re aiming to get their petition submitted within one year. 

The other sub-committee, which I was part of, outlined studies that would fill gaps in the research to help have ultra-processed food addiction recognized by the ICD-11 and DSM-5. We found a need for studies on withdrawal, and we need studies that are on the efficacy of abstinence-based programs. We want to do a study looking at whether abstinence causes (or cures, or both, or neither) eating disorders. We also need to look at people who have both an eating disorder and food addiction, and ideally show that an abstinence-based food plan improves recovery outcomes.

So much has come out of my time in London. So check out those recordings—your donation is well worth it. One thought to leave you with: As great as London was, when it comes to our research and understanding of food addiction treatment, we’re in the dark ages. And we here at Bright Line are ready to work on that.

To see the content from the IFACC, click here: https://the-chc.org/fas/conference