A Times Health Club member commented recently that he was “addicted” to cheese. He wanted to know what he could do to control his urges. Can we be addicted to foods or is our overwhelming desire to devour certain things simply a craving that undermines our good intentions to eat well? Addiction is characterised by the compulsion to use a substance, followed by withdrawal symptoms when it is no longer available.

Food triggers “pleasure” chemicals

Scientists have identified that pleasurable sensations stimulated by food share common pathways in our brains to those triggered by drugs. For example, there are similarities in the way we release the “pleasure” chemical dopamine at the thought of a food we love to the way an addict's brain reacts when he or she thinks of his or her drug of choice.

More a craving than an addiction

What we desire and enjoy when it comes to food is ultimately an intricate balance and interaction of blood-sugar levels, hunger hormones, mood and so on. This means that what we fancy eating does not rely simply on the pleasure and reward system which is so apparent in drug addicts.

So our Times Health Club member is probably not a cheese addict. Researchers feel that such urges are better described as a “food craving”. These are hard to resist but it means that you will not go through cold turkey and battle with real, physical withdrawal symptoms if, for example, you cut out crisps.

But do not dismiss or belittle these cravings. Whether they are learnt habits or triggered by certain emotions or physiological mechanisms such as the need for a quick blood-sugar hit to achieve a swift but short-lived rise in the feel-good brain chemical serotonin, they can influence our food intakes - often for the worse.

Try working it out for yourself

If a food craving is dominating your life and adversely affecting your health, it may be worth seeking professional advice, either from a dietitian or a counsellor with expertise in disordered eating patterns.

But working things out for yourself might do the trick. Sometimes cravings are habits, such as always having ice-cream when you watch TV in the evening. Doing the ironing, going for a walk or trying fruit salad instead could break the behaviour.

Understanding what drives your seemingly uncontrollable desires and finding a way to relearn your behaviour around trigger foods can help to put you, not them, in the driving seat.

Amanda Ursell is the Times nutritionist