Food Addicts Anonymous (FAA) is a

twelve-step program Twelve-step programs are international mutual aid programs supporting recovery from substance addictions, behavioral addictions and compulsions. Developed in the 1930s, the first twelve-step program, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), founded by B ...

founded in 1987 that is patterned after the

Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a global, peer-led Mutual aid, mutual-aid fellowship focused on an abstinence-based recovery model from alcoholism through its spiritually inclined twelve-step program. AA's Twelve Traditions, besides emphasizing anon ...

program. It is for people with

food addiction A food addiction or eating addiction is any behavioral addiction characterized primarily by the compulsive consumption of Palatability, palatable and Hyperpalatable food, hyperpalatable food items, and potentially also sugar-sweetened beverages (S ...

s and is based on the premise that some people are addicted to refined high-

carbohydrate A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ...

foods and need to abstain from those foods in order to avoid overconsumption.

History and description

Food Addicts Anonymous was founded in 1987 in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

, by a founder who calls herself "Judith C."What is Food Addicts Anonymous?
, Food Addicts Anonymous website, accessed June 4, 2010a
''Massapequa Post'', November 28, 2007. By 2007 there were over 150 weekly meetings around the world in addition to phone and online meetings.
, ''

North County Times The ''North County Times'' was a local newspaper in San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of U ...

'', November 13, 2005. The organization has meetings in the US, Canada, Australia, England, Norway, Sweden and Ireland. FAA holds that some people are addicted to certain foods and must abstain from them; like other twelve-step programs, FAA members believe that help from a higher power is necessary for them to avoid the substances they crave. The organization has a suggested food plan that calls for abstinence from

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

, and

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

. All sugars, sugar substitutes, and

artificial sweeteners A sugar substitute or artificial sweetener, is a food additive that provides a sweetness like that of sugar while containing significantly less food energy than sugar-based sweeteners, making it a zero-calorie () or low-calorie sweetener. Arti ...

are restricted by the plan. All forms of wheat and flour, including flours not made from wheat, are also restricted. Dietary fats are limited. FAA suggests that its members eat a variety of foods at specified intervals and in set proportions and keep track of what they eat.

References

External links

* Addiction organizations in the United States Eating disorder organizations Organizations established in 1987 Twelve-step programs {{nonprofit-org-stub