Food provides energy to the body, enabling it to efficiently carry out its functions. Many people abuse food, though, by having an unhealthy relationship with it. This food bondage leads to problems with obesity and serious medical conditions.

What are the signs of an unhealthy relationship with food? The person who has an unhealthy relationship with food will be preoccupied with food. She may use it as a coping device for stress, anger, pain and guilt. External stimuli like cookies being brought into the workplace or the smell of fast food will prompt her to eat when not actually hungry.

She may sometimes eat very quickly with no control in an episode of binging and then condemn herself with feelings of shame and guilt. She may eat everything -- even the burnt or fatty portions of food -- on her plate and consume any leftovers on her children's plates in fear of being wasteful. She may have rules about what she can or cannot eat, how much she can eat, and when she must eat. She may be a strict calorie counter.

The person preoccupied with food no longer can distinguish among the signals of hunger, thirst, satiation or feelings in her own body. She may dislike her appearance or weight to the point of obsession. She may use laxatives, diuretics, diet pills, drastic diets, self-induced vomiting or extreme periods of exercise to attempt to lose weight quickly. The time spent in her work, leisure and relationships is imbalanced with the time spent thinking about food.