PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Addictive Disorders
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1653982
This article is part of the Research TopicUltra-Processed Food Addiction: Moving toward Consensus on Mechanisms, Definitions, Assessment, and InterventionView all 14 articles
Integrating the management of Ultra-Processed Food Addiction into Type 2 Diabetes Care: A Clinical Response to De Silva et al, (2025) and Practical Recommendations for Practitioners
Provisionally accepted
- 1Coventry University, Coventry, United Kingdom
- 2Public Health Collaboration, London, United Kingdom
- 3Collaborative Health Community, London, United Kingdom
- 4Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, United Kingdom
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Ultra-processed food addiction (UPFA) is increasingly recognised as a clinically meaningful construct with implications for metabolic and psychiatric health. Recent evidence suggests that approximately 30% of individuals living with type 2 diabetes (T2D) may also experience UPFA, a co-occurrence associated with poorer glycaemic control and increased morbidity. Despite this, UPFA is rarely addressed in routine diabetes care. This article provides a clinical response to da Silva et al. (2025) and outlines practical recommendations for healthcare professionals supporting individuals with overlapping T2D and UPFA. Drawing on current literature and clinical experience, we propose a structured approach incorporating screening, dietary strategies, behavioural support, and medication management. Screening can be facilitated using brief, accessible tools such as CRAVED, enabling early identification of addictive eating patterns. Addiction-informed nutritional support — including structured exclusion of trigger foods — may improve dietary adherence and glycaemic outcomes, particularly when supported by continuous glucose monitoring and behavioural relapse-prevention strategies. Pharmacological interventions such as GLP-1 receptor agonists may also play a role in reducing appetite and food cravings. We further highlight the value of professionally facilitated and peer-led support groups (e.g., Liberate, SUGARx Global, 12-step models) and the need for integrated multidisciplinary care. UPFA represents both a clinical barrier and a therapeutic opportunity: recognising and addressing it may enhance metabolic and psychological outcomes. Future research should evaluate UPFA-informed interventions in randomised trials to guide clinical practice.
Keywords: ultra processed food addiction treatment, addiction relapse prevention, type 2 diabetes and metabolic health, peer support, Behavioural Medicine, Low carbohydrate
Received: 25 Jun 2025; Accepted: 14 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bennett, Myers-Morrison and Unwin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ellen Bennett, calteaue@uni.coventry.ac.uk
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