There has been some very compelling evidence that food high in fat, sugar and sodium can trigger the same brain pathways in some individuals as other, more serious addictions. It has been well documented that food companies (both grocery and eat-out) have purposely used this sugar-fat-sodium combination and other food qualities (mouth feel, bliss point, etc.) to engineer food to trick the brain and make consumers consume more. With some foods, we are not talking about what our body is, for the largest part of human history, used to dealing with. I do not count calories, and I do eat rather intuitively a great deal of the time. I binged often as a teenager, but that has, due to a fix of my hormones, larglely gone away. With foods like this, however, I always remind myself that these food constructions, which are relatively new to the diet of humans, do have these qualities of addiction. I eat these foods with restraint and practice Krampus's avoidance as well. It is not out of fear, however, but out of knowledge that these foods, while tasty, are not telling my body the truth. I can listen to my body, but if my brain is being tricked, I'm not getting the right signals.
I do believe that if intuitive eating of this food is what it takes to cope with fear and disordered eating, then okay. I believe gaining power with knowledge and trusting your mind and intellect is the way to go... at least for me. I know my own body enough to know that these foods mess with it. I don't know if that's the same for everyone, but it's rather well documented that it's true for some.
Awesome article in New York Times a while back about the science that goes into addictive junk food:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/ma...anted=all&_r=0