The Psychology of Eating: From Healthy to Disordered Behavior

Food Choice 53

smoking as a weight loss strategy, and smoking cessation may result

in increased consumption of calories, particularly from sweet foods

(Ogden, 1994).

• Amphetaminesare also closely linked with food intake. In particular,
  they have been shown to have a dramatic suppressant impact on both
  subjective hunger and food intake (Silverstone and Kyriakides, 1982),
  and have been given both legally and illegally to dieters for many years.


• Marijuanahas been shown to increase hunger and food intake (e.g.,
  Hollister, 1971).


• Alcohol seems to influence food intake in contradictory ways. Some
  studies indicate that it can have a weak inhibitory effect but at other
  times can stimulate hunger (e.g., Hollister, 1971).


• Antipsychotic drugs are given to those suffering from psychosis,
  usually schizophrenia or manic depression. Studies of these drugs show
  that both lithium and chlorpromazine cause considerable weight gain
  (Vendsborg et al., 1976, Robinson et al., 1975).


• Tricyclic antidepressantswere, until recently, the main medical treat-
  ment for depression. Studies show that amitryptiline has a slight effect
  on hunger and is associated with a craving for sweet food and weight
  gain (Blundell et al., 1989).


• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)are now more commonly
  used for patients with depression. These antidepressants do not appear
  to induce either weight gain or an increased desire for sweet foods, and
  they may even promote weight loss (Blundell et al., 1989).


• Analgesicsare drugs that are used for pain relief and have been shown to
  influence hunger and satiety. For example, naloxone can trigger decreased
  food intake (Trenchard and Silverstone, 1983), and morphine has also
  been found to have a weak depressant effect on hunger (Beecher,1959).


• Appetite suppressant drugs, such as fenfluoramine and dexfenfluora-
  mine, have been shown to have a consistent depressant effect on hunger
  and to reduce food intake (Blundell and Hill, 1988). These have now been
  removed from the market because they were linked with heart problems.
  Likewise, tryptophan and sibutramine can also reduce eating behavior
  (Kopelman, 1999b). In addition, hormones of the small intestine, such
  as CCK, have also been shown to inhibit food intake (Kissileff et al., 1981),
  although CCK is not currently available as a prescribed drug.

Drugs appear to have differential effects on hunger. Studying these effects
has highlighted the ways in which these drugs influence the chemical activity