13 Books to Expose the Science and Secrets of Sugar and Food Addiction

Vera Tarman, 2019

This book is a primer on sugar and food addiction. It covers the science, the clinical picture (from diagnosis to treatment to treatment) and actual stories of food addicts in various stages of their addiction. It is very reader-friendly, ideal for both the newcomer to the field with no science background and the clinician who wants to learn more about how to treat food addiction. Food Junkies was written by an addiction physician working in the field, with her own recovery from food addiction (and weight loss maintenance) for over 20 years.

Susan Peirce Thompson, PHD, 2021

Well-known in the food addiction field, Bright Line Eating is a must-read. This book offers a science-based approach to weight loss and healthy living by focusing on the addictive dynamic of foods. She believes that food addiction recovery is the kingpin for weight loss and maintenance. To address food addiction, the book offers practical strategies and meal plans, presenting clear boundaries/ bright lines around eating habits, as well as eliminating ultra-processed foods, added sugar and excessive amounts of flour and oil.

Kathleen DesMaisons, 1999

This is an old book that deserved its update - since it spoke to so many food addicts (including myself) twenty years ago. In her 1999 book, DesMaisons is one of the first who wrote that sugar sensitivity can cause issues like depression, fatigue and addiction in many people. In her book, she offers a customizable, drug-free program to break free of sugar dependency through diet change (starting with eating a potato with the skin at night) and lifestyle adaptation. Her books give practical solutions for overcoming sugar addiction and detox.

Robert H. Lustig, 2013

This book is a must-read by anti-sugar advocate Robert Lustig. He is a pediatric endocrinologist who became famous with the viral You Tube video: Sugar: the Bitter Truth. Although Robert Lustig has written more books since this one, this book is the best. It covers the science of sugar and its detrimental effects o the body. It is a staple in the food addiction field. It is both scientific and readable and mind-boggling.

Gary Taubes, 2017

Written by investigative reporter Gary Taubes - he covers the span of history, science, and toxic effects of sugar on our populations. It is very readable and very enlightening. He holds no punches on the sugar industry. Well researched - he had the time to accumulate the data over the years; no academic has had that kind of time or commitment, or daring to speak the truth.

Dr. Anna Lembke, 2021

For the scientists, clinicians, and geeks who are interested in the fascinating back-story of addiction, including food addiction, this is a classic must-read. Psychiatrist Anna Lembke explores how overstimulating the brain’s reward dopamine with activities like drug use, gambling or social media can hijack dopamine pathways and lead to addiction. Using case studies, and neuroscience, she warns the reader about the dark side of pleasure seeking. She calls to restore a balance between limiting excessive dopamine reward exposure and instead seeking contentment through social connection. I loved this book!

Michael Prager, 2010

Here is a compelling memoir that describes the story of a fat boy who became a thin man. Fat from childhood, Prager struggled with obesity into his 30s, despite losing over 130 pounds three times. His book chronicles his life as a compulsive eater, which he eventually defined as food addiction. When he discovered Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous, a 12-step group that focuses on food as a drug, he was able to stop his compulsive eating and maintain his weight loss of 160 pounds over the last 15 years.

Sara Somers, 2020

This is THE memoir for someone seeking inspiration to deal with their food addiction. Sara Somers bares her soul, recounting decades of struggle, mired by binges, shame, and self-destructive coping mechanisms, painting a raw picture of the disease’s grip. But she also writes of the hope and tools that eventually transformed her struggle from despair to freedom from the relentless cravings and finally to her food addiction recovery.

Judy Collins, 2018

Here is another inspiring memoir to give hope to the struggling food addict. In Cravings, iconic singer Judy Collins opens up about her secret past, revealing a tumultuous battle with food addiction that shadowed her musical stardom for decades. She graphically describes her binges, crippling self-doubt and relentless cycles of despair. Collins finds her recovery in a 12-step food group and explains how she has managed to come out from under her insatiable cravings into a place that she now calls ‘food serenity.’

Michael Moss, 2013

This is a must-read for anyone interested in how the food industry - Big Food - makes food addictive and contributes to food addiction. It addresses how the food industry deliberately engineers foods to be addictive - regardless of poor health outcomes. The food industry are drug pushers no different than any other drug dealers. They just do it in plain sight.

Michael Moss, 2021

Here is Moss’s second book, Hooked, now looking into the science of food addiction and how the food giants have employed stages to exploit our biological vulnerabilities. Moss shows how processed foods are engineered to be addictive, using research and careful manipulation to create products that hijack our brain’s reward pathways and are the reason for 40% of Americans being obese. It is a deeper dive into the mechanics of food addiction itself.

Chris van Tulleken, 2023

In this best-selling book, Ultra-Processed People, Tulleken presents a thought-provoking exploration (using himself as an example) of the impact of ultra-processed food on our health and well-being. He gains weight, loses energy and finds the food increasingly addictive over the month-long experiment of eating only ultra-processed foods. Van Tulleken makes a compelling case for avoiding highly processed foods - as he argues that it is in the processing of the food itself that the addictive dynamic is enhanced.