I personally don't see any difference in certain types of addictions- including food addiction, other than the availability and the actual *need* of the addicting substance. I think being a food addict would be the worst addiction one could have because you literally need food to survive. You can't go more than a few days without eating (maybe a couple weeks, I don't know) before the body starts shutting down. We don't need addicting drugs the way we need food and water, but our bodies habituate to their presence as much as we habituate to the actual behavior of ingesting that substance. Smokers that quit will act out the act of smoking without a cigarette. I remember seeing my alcoholic father lift a non-existent glass one day...