In obese adults without diabetes, greater severity of food addiction is associated with an earlier onset of reactive hypoglycemia (210–240 minutes postprandial), while the presence of binge eating disorder is associated with a later onset of severe hypoglycemia (300 minutes postprandial), demonstrating distinct temporal patterns of glucose dysregulation between these two conditions.

In people with food addiction, glucose is removed from the blood too quickly by tissues even without much insulin, causing blood sugar to drop early and trigger hunger and cravings. In people with binge eating disorder, the body makes too much insulin over a long time after eating, which eventually pulls glucose out of the blood too late, causing a severe drop in blood sugar hours later. Both patterns cause low blood sugar that drives more eating, but they happen at different times because of different ways the body handles glucose.