Food addiction is an extremely difficult disease that is misunderstood by the general public and by many medical and mental health professionals. Weight regain following extreme weight loss through medically supervised diet programs, fad diets, or weight loss (bariatric) surgery is all too often followed by weight regain. Regain is largely attributed to failing to following through with "behavior modifications," which are the focus in most weight loss programs. Behavior modifications include "eating less and moving more." Those whose weight has gone up and down over time attribute their regain to "going back to old habits." Understanding food addiction educates us about why it is so difficult for vast numbers of people to follow through with the behavior modification tools that actually do help the patients lose weight to begin with, and if practiced over time help in keeping the weight off. Food addiction takes our brains "hostage" and makes it seem impossible for intelligent, well-meaning people who sincerely want to lose weight to avoid foods they realize will result in added pounds. Food addiction "hijacks" our rational minds and leads us to making decisions that will defy our weight loss efforts and goals. Those who choose to have weight loss surgery often view it as "a last resort" for losing weight. They hope the surgery will result in dramatic weight loss, and will also help in sustaining that weight loss. It is a tragedy when patients who have elected to undergo a surgical weight loss procedure regain dreaded pounds in spite of having had good intentions to follow through with the behaviors necessary to keep the weight off. A hallmark of addiction is knowing there are physical and/or emotional problems caused, or made worse by a substance, and continuing to use the substance anyway. If food consumption is leading to excess weight and physical comorbidities, such as high blood pressure, sleep apnea, high cholesterol and/or diabetes, and the patient is informed they need to lose weight in order to improve these medical conditions, but they are unable to change their eating habits, food addiction may be a reason. If people are depressed because of their weight and the limitations it places on their lives and the friction it causes in their relationships, and they want to lose weight but cannot seem to stop eating unhealthy foods, again, food addiction may be a reason. If a person has both the disease of obesity and the disease of addiction (in th