Understanding Your Eating Type

One of the most important things we have learned about problematic eating is that it is not a single condition. People struggle with food for different reasons, and understanding your particular pattern — your eating type — is essential to finding an approach that actually works.

The three eating types

The concept of distinct eating types was put forward by Phil Werdell, a pioneer in the field of food addiction treatment. In his work, Werdell identified three groups of people who struggle with food: food addicts, people with eating disorders, and normal overeaters. Food addiction and eating disorders can co-exist — some individuals have both conditions at the same time, and treatment needs to address both. Normal overeaters, by contrast, do not have food addiction or an eating disorder — they simply eat too much. Each group benefits from a different approach to recovery.

This framework is at the heart of the Eating Types approach. Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all solution, we screen every client to understand which group they fall into, so we can tailor their programme accordingly.

The spectrum of over eating

Caroline Davis (2013) proposed that problematic eating exists on a spectrum. At one end is passive overeating — eating too much in response to environmental cues, portion sizes, or emotional triggers, but without the compulsive quality of addiction. At the other end is food addiction — a pattern of compulsive consumption driven by neurobiological changes in the brain.

Most people who struggle with their weight fall somewhere on this spectrum. Knowing where you sit changes everything about how you approach recovery.

Over eating without addiction

Many people over eat without being addicted to food. They may eat too much because of stress, boredom, habit, or because they have been caught in a cycle of restrictive dieting followed by rebound eating — a pattern described by Herman and Polivy (1980) as "restrained eating."

For these individuals, the solution is not about eliminating specific foods. It is about understanding the emotional and behavioural triggers that drive over eating, learning to eat in a more balanced and intuitive way, and addressing the underlying feelings that food is being used to manage.

Food addiction

For others, the problem is more specific. Certain highly processed foods — typically those high in sugar, fat, and salt — trigger an addictive response in the brain. These individuals may find that they cannot moderate their intake of these foods no matter how hard they try. They may experience cravings, tolerance (needing more to get the same effect), and withdrawal-like symptoms when they stop eating them.

The Yale Food Addiction Scale (Gearhardt et al., 2016) is the most widely used tool for identifying food addiction. It maps eating behaviours onto the same diagnostic criteria used for substance use disorders.

Why it matters

The distinction between these eating types is not academic — it has real practical implications. Someone who over eats due to emotional triggers may benefit from counselling, mindfulness-based approaches, and nutritional education. Someone with food addiction may need a more structured approach that includes identifying and removing trigger foods, understanding the biochemistry of their condition, and building a recovery programme similar to those used for other addictions.

This is exactly why we created two distinct programmes — RAFT for those with food addiction, and CANOE for those who over eat without addiction. Take our quiz to find out which is right for you.