ARE YOU ADDICTED TO FOOD? TAKE THIS QUIZ TO FIND OUT

ONE of the things this diet will help you with is cravings. I love chocolate, particularly milk chocolate, and I know my cravings have nothing to do with hunger.

I can be ravenously hungry and walk past a shop without a second glance, but at other times, particularly when I’m tired, stressed or bored, you might find me prowling the house like an animal, desperately searching for chocolate.

I tried to wean myself onto dark chocolate, but that doesn’t fulfil the same emotional needs. Some foods have addictive qualities — but when I was doing the diet I found my cravings much reduced.

I am convinced the modern obesity epidemic wasn’t triggered by a sudden collective breakdown in willpower. It happened, at least in part, because over the past few decades food manufacturers have found ever more ingenious ways to make us buy their products.

Like the tobacco industry, they know the importance of hooking in their customers. Highly addictive foods are also highly processed foods, designed to be absorbed very rapidly and give your brain an almost immediate dopamine (the reward hormone) rush.

The pleasure you get from eating junk food it is normally short-lived. It is about compulsion. We eat junk food knowing it is bad for us, but we can’t stop ourselves.

Try this quiz to see how addicted you are to a particular food. More than three ‘yes’ answers and you may be in trouble:

When I start eating this food, I can’t stop and eat more than intended. I keep on eating this food even when I am no longer hungry. I eat to the point where I feel physically ill. I find myself craving this food when I’m feeling stressed. If it isn’t in the house I will drive to the nearest shop that sells it. I use this food to feel better. I hide this food so even those close to me don’t how much of it I eat. Eating it causes anxiety and feeling of self-loathing and guilt. Although I no longer get much pleasure from eating it, I keep on doing so. I have tried to give this food up but failed. Add up your ‘yes’ answers. The more you gave the answer yes, then the more hooked you are.