Wendy Wessler, who is divorced and lives on New York's Long Island, lost 150 pounds after gastric bypass surgery, but the weight is creeping back. She says she just can't understand why she can't say no to food.
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The ingredients in some fast food could trick the brain into overeating.
"If I am upset or I am really stressed out, I just think I am going to get home to get a bag of chips," Wessler told "Good Morning America." "I just keep telling myself I should know better. I should be stronger, just as a person [says], 'You are intelligent, you shouldn't be doing this. This is not grown up behavior. This is child behavior."
Contrary to her opinion, Wessler's behavior is fairly common among adults, affecting an estimated 70 million Americans, according to former FDA commissioner Dr. David Kessler. Kessler too has struggled throughout his life with food compulsion.
In Kessler's new book, "The End of Overeating," he describes how the part of the brain the amygdale, which is the area of the brain that controls our desires, can affect overeating.For most of people, when they see a tempting snack like a potato chip, it's the area of the brain will light up with activity and send feelings of anticipation and want. And once they start eating it shuts off. But for an overeater the amygdala remains activated while eating, creating that feeling of want, even after five, 10 or even 50 chips.
"We now know that the brains of millions of Americans are being excessively activated. Not everybody," Kessler said. "Let me give you [some] characteristics. Hard time resisting foods, a lack of feeling full, hard time stopping, a preoccupation, a thinking about foods between meals. And the foods that really arouse our brains are a combination of sugar, fat and salt, in other words, junk food."
Christine Zuccarelli overcame her struggle with food and became a dietitian, but she still feels the intense pull from some of her old favorite snacks.
"I call it food porn, because it excites me," she said. "It's something that gets me outside myself and I want more."
When overeater Mary Crean's favorite guilty pleasure, a Twix bar, is placed near her, she seems to lose concentration on a conversation as her mind floats to the chips.
"It calls to you," she laughed.
Similarly, Wessler said she becomes distracted when potato chips are placed in front of her.
"If there's something there that's edible, I cannot go about my business until I consume it," she said.