Food as a Drug: Conclusions

Abstract

In this special collection the authors have explored the question of whether various food substances can be categorized as drugs from two overlapping anglesthe potential pharmacological properties of foods and dietary supplements and the addictions model of weight and eating disorders. Although the question of whether foods act as drugs can reduce to a semantical debate over the definition of ‘‘drug’’ or ‘‘addiction,’’ we believe that the authors of this series have provided useful insights into whether viewing foods as drugs is scientifically or clinically useful. Poston et al. (Poston, Fan, Rakowski, Ericsson, Bunn, & Foreyt, 2000) provided a regulatory perspective on the issue of foods as drugs. Given the U.S. Federal Drug Administration definition of a drug (FDA, 1938), it is clear that certain naturally occurring dietary supplements (e.g., Ephedrine, St. John’s Wort) meet the definition of a drug.