I've been struggling with this for a while, and I'm wondering if anyone else experiences the same thing.

Almost every night, I get this really strong craving for something sweet to drink. Not just water — I specifically want soda, sweet tea, or something sugary.

It's especially bad during summer. Sometimes I feel like I absolutely NEED a cold, sweet drink, even though I know I should be cutting back on sugar.

What's strange is that when winter comes around, these cravings seem to get a lot better.

I've tried telling myself not to drink sugary stuff, but honestly, I often end up giving in.

It's starting to make me wonder if I've developed some kind of sugar dependency, or if it's just a habit I've built over time.

I'm curious:

• Does anyone else experience this, especially the seasonal difference?
• What do you actually do when you get a strong sugar craving?
• Have you found anything that genuinely helps you cut back without constantly fighting your cravings?

I'd really love to hear your experiences. I'm not necessarily trying to quit sugar completely — I just want to feel more in control of how much I'm consuming.

Im just at my wits end by now, I've just been extremely stressed with school and I've been binging nonstop for the part two weeks or more. Today I was just standing Infront of a cake and debating whether to binge on it and you can guess what happened. I just feel like whatever I try to do I can never win this battle and the "just go on a walk" or "text a friend" is bullshit and can't do shit when my problem is I can't walk away. If anyone has gone through this situation before please lend me your knowledge cuz I can't with this anymore 😭

Can an online test tell you whether you have Food Addiction or Binge Eating Disorder?

Not by itself.

Screening tools can be useful for recognizing patterns and deciding whether something deserves a closer look. But they are screeners, not diagnoses.

This week’s Wiki Spotlight explains which tools may be useful for different questions—and what their results actually mean.

👉 Self-Tests and Screening Tools for Food Addiction or BED

🧭 First ask: what are you trying to screen for?

Different tools answer different questions.

If you're wondering about BED

A BED-specific screener such as the BEDS-7 may be useful.

It looks for patterns associated with Binge Eating Disorder, including things such as:

• loss of control
• distress about binge episodes
• eating when not hungry
• embarrassment
• guilt or disgust afterward

A positive result means:

“BED may be worth evaluating further.”

It does not mean:

“You definitely have BED.”

🧠 If your eating feels addiction-like

The Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS 2.0) is the best-known research measure for addiction-like eating.

It looks at patterns such as:

• strong cravings
• difficulty cutting down
• eating more than intended
• continued eating despite consequences
• significant preoccupation with food
• distress or impairment

But there is an important limitation:

Food Addiction is not currently an official DSM diagnosis.

So meeting the YFAS threshold means you show a pattern consistent with the research construct of addiction-like eating—it is not the same thing as receiving a formal medical diagnosis.

🔍 If you're not sure what kind of eating problem you may have

A broader eating-disorder screen may be a better starting point.

The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) offers a screening tool that looks more generally at eating-disorder risk.

That may be more useful if your concern is simply:

“Something about my eating doesn't seem right, but I don't know what it is.”

📊 What does a positive result really mean?

Probably the most useful way to interpret a positive screen is:

“This may be worth looking into further.”

Not:

“This test has diagnosed me.”

A proper assessment can consider things a short questionnaire cannot fully capture, including:

• frequency and duration
• amount eaten
• loss of control
• restriction
• compensatory behaviors
• physical consequences
• other mental-health conditions
• how much the problem interferes with daily life

Context matters.

❓ What about a negative result?

A negative screen does not always mean there is no problem.

Different questionnaires measure different things, and no screening tool catches everyone.

If you are repeatedly experiencing:

• loss of control
• binge eating
• severe restriction
• purging
• intense food preoccupation
• significant distress
• secrecy
• health consequences

those concerns still deserve attention even if an online screening result is negative.

⚖️ Restriction can complicate the picture

Screening results can also be difficult to interpret when someone is heavily restricting food.

For some people, certain foods appear to trigger repeated loss of control.

For others, dieting, fasting, or rigid food rules may contribute to increasing hunger, food preoccupation, and binge eating.

Some people experience both.

A questionnaire score alone cannot tell you which pathway best explains your eating.

🤝 What about Overeaters Anonymous' Fifteen Questions?

The OA Fifteen Questions can be useful for thinking about compulsive eating and whether OA's recovery approach might be relevant to you.

But it is important to know what it is:

It is a recovery-community self-reflection questionnaire—not a clinical diagnostic test for BED or Food Addiction.

That doesn't make it useless.

It simply means it serves a different purpose.

🚩 Sometimes you don't need another test

You do not need to “prove” that your eating problem is serious enough before seeking help.

Consider professional assessment if you are experiencing things such as:

• frequent or escalating binge eating
• repeated loss of control
• severe restriction
• self-induced vomiting
• laxative or diuretic misuse
• fasting or excessive exercise to compensate
• significant physical consequences
• serious emotional distress
• major disruption to work, relationships, finances, or everyday life

In those situations, the whole pattern matters more than another questionnaire score.

💡 The takeaway

The best use of a screening tool is:

“Is there something here that deserves a closer look?”

The worst use is:

“This score proves exactly what diagnosis I have.”

A screener can be a useful first step.

It should not be the final word.

Screeners are signposts—not verdicts.

💬 Discussion

Have you ever taken an eating-related screening questionnaire that helped you understand your pattern better?

Did it clarify something for you, raise new questions, or lead you to seek more information or professional help?

You are welcome to discuss what you learned from the process, but please remember that other Reddit members cannot reliably diagnose someone from a test score.

📖 Read the full Wiki article:
Self-Tests and Screening Tools for Food Addiction or BED

The Wiki is for education and peer support and is not a substitute for individualized medical or mental-health care.

Hi everyone. I’m 17, and I’m looking for real advice from people who have been through this cycle because I’m feeling stuck and desperate for a change. I've already read all the forums and doctors advices but none of it helps.

I’ve struggled with binging tendencies since I was a kid, but I was always naturally underweight so I never paid attention to healthy habits. At 11, I developed anorexia. By 12, I went straight into binging and gained 10kg. Over the last couple of years, my mental health dropped, and I’ve been stuck in an endless loop of anorexia and bulimia.

Recently, I gained 4kg while trying to embark on a "healthy weight loss journey," and it's making me feel awful. Because I’ve never been visibly overweight or even mid-sized, people around me don’t notice or take it seriously, but mentally it’s exhausting. I hate feeling out of control around food, and I miss how comfortable I felt in my body a year ago. I can feel and see how much it has affected my body and I really can't stand here and just let it happen anymore.

I’ve been doing 16:8 intermittent fasting for a while to try to regain control and lose the weight, but it hasn't stopped the binging at all. It worked for the first 2-3 months but now I feel like I've actually gained weight instead.

How did you actually stop the urge to binge? Any honest advice or shared experiences would mean a lot. I'm desperate. Thank you.

I've spent the last 2 years trying to heal my damaged gut through diet, first doing carnivore for a year and then GAPS for 9 months. I struggle with IBS, skin issues and other symptoms, and after 20 years of BED, bulimia and food addiction, I really wanted to believe I could finally fix some of my health problems.

The issue though? These therapeutic diets are SUPER restrictive, removing any and all irritants, and I'm starting to wonder if I'm doing more harm than good.

I've become scared of foods because of oxalates, seed oils and other things I've been told to avoid. I overanalyze everything I eat, and food has become a source of constant stress. Recently, a change in my GAPS protocol triggered the worst binge episode I've had in a year.

I feel so frustrated because I've put so much time, money and hope into trying to heal my gut, only to feel like I'm damaging my relationship with food in the process. I don't want to give up on improving my health, but I also don't want to spend the rest of my life afraid of food.

Has anyone with a history of binge eating or bulimia gone through something similar? How did you approach your gut issues without falling back into restrictive eating patterns? Did you eventually find a way forward?

I feel pretty lost right now and would really appreciate hearing from people who understand :/

The love for it began in the kitchen of my cousin. He had a pack of it, I tried it, and since then, I wanted more. I have 9 × 25 (235€, ouch….) sacks in my basement of citric acid because I had 10, and 1 is already finished. I cannot stop consuming it every day. It’s the main thing I think about when I’m at work (is it an addiction? Probably). I fucking love it. It makes me happy whenever I have the sour delicious taste in my mouth. I use it in almost every food I consume. It is so bad. I put it in little bags when I go out to eat to add to the food.

Does anyone else also have this addiction?

So my entire life, I've always been on the heavier side. The highest I've been was around 260 lb. Around freshman year of high school, I had friends that encouraged me to go to the gym and stuff, and went down to 160-ish in around 6 months. I've been gaining back the weight and losing it every year to the point it's just tradition that I eat all I want during the summer, and during winter, I lose it again.

This year is very different, though. I've now gone back down to 160-ish pounds, but my relationship with food has changed for the worse. This year was so different. Every time I'd finish cooking my meal, my mouth would start to water a lot, my heart would start racing, and I'd get this strange feeling, like I just wanted to throw everything out the window and just sit down and eat.

Today (Saturdays) is usually the day when I can eat regularly and not pay too much attention to how many calories are in my food, so I decided to get Wendy's. On the way home, I felt the strange feeling again, and my mind wouldn't stop telling me to just grab one bite, even though I know if I do, I'll probably finish it all in my car before I get home.

So after feeling like this for a while, I just have to know if I have some sort of addiction to food?

Hi! After a lifetime of overeating, I’ve lost a lot of weight by changing my habits and improving my mental health. I still have more to lose. For those who’ve maintained a healthy weight for years without weight loss medication, what everyday habits help you feel satisfied with smaller portions?

We are currently recruiting research participants for an online research study of individuals who have a history of eating disorders. The study involves answering questions about temptations and urges, and how often you are successful at resisting them. It also involves answering questions about psychological symptoms, most of the study can be done on a home computer, laptop, tablet or phone. You will also be asked to complete an interview over zoom, and to provide a saliva sample.

The Temptation Resistance Study (Full title: “Temptation Resistance: Transdiagnostic Features and Etiological Influences” is being conducted by Rutgers University (David Zald, Ph.D. investigator) and is approved by the Rutgers Institutional Review Board.

The study takes approximately 8 hours of time, which is broken up into small chunks. Participants will be compensated up to $160 in Amazon Gift Cards for time spent in the study, and up to an additional bonus of $50 for completing all parts of the study with a high number of completed surveys. Thank you,

If you are interested in participating in the study, click the link below to see if qualify for the study or sign up for the study. 

https://redcap.rwjms.rutgers.edu/surveys/?s=JTACDKWN87J3HY8T&recruitment_mech_email=2&recruitment_group_email=3

If you have questions, you can email the study team at [Rutgerstemptationstudy@gmail.com](mailto:Rutgerstemptationstudy@gmail.com)

It’s been four months since I deleted Uber Eats, and honestly, I didn’t realize how hooked I was until I stopped using it. The pictures, the endless options, the convenience. I’d sit there for an HOUR trying to decide what to eat. And for what? Food that cost three times as much, showed up soggy, and came with a 50% chance the driver put his wiener on it. 😭

I’m embarrassed to think about how much money I’ve spent on that app over the years, but I also think these apps are designed to get you hooked. The photos make everything look amazing, and there’s always another option to keep you scrolling. I still get takeout, but now I walk or drive to pick it up myself. The decision paralysis is gone, I’m saving money, and I’ve actually started enjoying cooking at home.

I keep reminding myself that this is how I grew up. Ordering food wasn’t an everyday thing. We ate at home, and eating out was a treat. But with Uber Eats, it creates a non-stop dopamine hit. Ordering daily & multiple times a day is NOT NORMAL!

It’s wild how something that used to be an occasional convenience slowly became a daily habit. Four months later, I don’t miss the app nearly as much as I thought I would.