Addiction is addiction whether it is to alcohol, tobacco, unhealthy relationships or food. They all must be dealt with in similar ways. One of the hardest and necessary steps to cut off any unhealthy addiction is a clean, complete and permanent cut off from the addicting substance. Next, a mind and/or body detox. Then, setting up other healthy patterns to replace bad habits.
Can food really be addicting?
You may be thinking, ‘now Amanda Jean, food is addicting? Really? Come on.’ I am hear to say without a doubt yes it can be. How is this possible? Well, It involves small neurotransmitters in the brain like dopamine that work off the reward center in the brain. A common and now better-understood and very addicting substance is sugar. This is being brought to light by health warriors like Dr. Lustig of UCSF and even great men like John Yudkin, who wrote the book, “Pure, White and Deadly,” back in 1972 and was trying to tell us of the hazards and addicting qualities of sugar. It has been quoted as causing….”a similar reaction in the brain as cocaine,” by neuroscientist Eric Stis.
Another equally addicting substance is wheat and any other seeds of grass, which have the same stimulating substances in their makeup. Much like sugar, seeds of grass break down into opioids in the body and act just like a drug on the body, having you craving your next hit of bread or corn chips. So to answer your question can food be as addicting as a drug, in some yes in everyone to a lesser degree maybe but still an addiction.
Am I addicted to food?
Here are a few easy ways to tell if you are addicted to food. Have you ever just eaten a full meal and are still hungry? This is due to things like grains (wheat) lepton blocking capability. Lepton is the way the body is told by the mind it is full, and is blocked by wheat germ agglutinin, so the brain continues to tell the body to eat. It is also caused by the rewards trigger in the brain just like a high from a drug we crave that dopamine release. Another common way to experience this is feeling over stuffed after a few minutes of finishing a meal, a common addiction cue, over-eating.
Yet another cue to addiction do you find yourself obsessing over a particular food all day long, to the point of distraction of work until you satisfy the craving? Or do you repeatedly try to quit eating a food only to cave and even binge on it after a given period? These are a few more keys to proving that food can be addicting.
How to break the cycle
Ok so you now know it is addicting, so how do you break the cycle. The simple answer is a clean and complete break. You must stop eating the substance to which you are addicted. This is by no means easy. Which is yet more proof of this unhealthy addictive quality in some foods. Going off foods like sugar and wheat will feel more often then not as if coming off drugs or alcohol in a milder level for most. You will feel awful, headaches; nausea and symptoms similar to a cold are all common effects along with a ton more. It is not fun to go through and is best to do on at least a three-day weekend that you have some time to recover. I highly recommend doing it with a friend or family member to help have the support. As well I would do a juicing detox at minimum on that three-day weekend. I personally would work in juices use ingredients for alcohol and drug detox like this “Independence Juice” and plenty of green juices like the “Green Mean.” If you are new to detox in general I would suggest starting half days juicing, morning and afternoon, then eating a light healthy greens salad for dinner, even having a fresh fruit snack during the day if need be. I would only start with a three day cleanse if new to cleansing. If not, try a week cleanse. It will take one to three weeks of not eating a food for most to stop the cravings. For some, the cravings may still hit from time to time for a much longer period of time. I was a sugar-holic so I get those cravings to this day although rare.
A warning and extra tips
Warning if you are a true addict of sugar of other food, like I was, you will regress if you eat it again. So just don’t! There are so many other options out there to appease those sides of our taste and mind. I suggest as well when coming off a food to help yourself by finding ways to prepare meals with different ingredients to appease those foods that you know you might go off the boat for. For example if you love pizza, try out a zucchini (Paleo) or cheese crust (if going wheat belly) and pre make up the food for the week of your detox to help you get through without jumping ship. I made date sweetened cookies and brownies for my first detox. I did not touch the goodies till after the first week either. Be careful if sugar is your addiction of using honey or maple sugars until after detox and only using them in moderation after a detox for special occasions. For some you may never want to use them, they break down just like table sugar, but are not processed if you get raw and unfiltered.
So you have stopped eating the addicting food substances. You detoxed with juicing. You have found substitutes for your favorite foods and are continuing to broaden your horizon in your health food options. You are on your ways to being addiction free for good. A couple of extra tips for your good life journey: if you fall of the wagon just get back on. Do another juice detox and start again, do not beat yourself up. You are doing great. You have made healthy decisions that millions never do, and guilt will have you crash binging on even more no-no’s so be careful. Also find other things that draw your mind from food like painting or picking up an instrument or a class at a local college. Another key to a healthier life and balance for the body’s adjustment is exercise. Even getting out for fresh air to walk is enough to help kick start healthy blood flow and joint and muscles movement to get the new and improved nutrients to those a lot cells quicker.
What is a way you distract yourself for addicting foods? Share below.
Until next time, enjoy the good life,
Woman of the Journey