Food as a addiction?
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Good grief, people. The original poster simply made a candid observation about his own behavior and OWNED it - took responsibility, and did NOT make an excuse. This is my first post here, and I joined to give & receive support, not to be eaten by a school of cyber piranhas.
This site exists to help each other out during a very difficult process. If you've found success in your weight loss journey, maybe you could offer some insight and encouragement instead of insults. Is this how you behave in real life? Thanks, but I won't be sticking around.0 -
Food is used in society to help sooth broken hearts, celebrate life, mourn deaths, just to name few. We attach all kinds of importance to food that has nothing to do with the basic need to eat to sustain life.
Of course it is. My problem is with saying "I eat for reasons other than needing the specific nutrients I'm consuming" is addiction. That's just not similar to what addiction is in any other context. EVERYONE who drinks alcohol does it for reasons like this, and not for the nutrients, and yet not everyone is an alcoholic.So, if you think a person can not have an emotional/ psychological attachment to food which is difficult to control or manage ,you are fooling yourself.
Of course people do. I've struggled with this myself.
It's still not at all the same as addiction. To claim it is is to be extremely dismissive of what real addiction is, IMO. There are lots of things we do as a result of maladjusted coping habits and because we have a hard time putting off short term pleasures in favor of harder to see and realize long term goals, but that doesn't mean we are addicts or are without self control.
That said, probably some of the same tools can be used to address the emotional and coping elements.0 -
"In the DSM" = Insurance will pay for therapy. Giving the therapy industry the benefit of every doubt, in the DSM=good faith belief that therapy may help, but it does not make it an addiction, a disease or an excuse.0
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CryingInColor wrote: »OP your best bet is to not use the forums here at MFP. I have been a member on a different account for about 4 years and lost 113 pounds. I was extremely active in the forums and got fed up with all of the negativity. I deactivated the other account and started this new one. I still read the forums but obviously do not respond much. I just had to respond to this one because most of the people above are completely wrong.
Anyway, I am not sure if anybody above me has a degree in Science or Psychology and has studied addiction. Well I have so let me tell you that food can in fact be an addiction. Here is a quote from WebMD which is a reliable and credible webpage:
"Like addictive drugs, highly palatable foods trigger feel-good brain chemicals such as Dopamine. Once people experience pleasure associated with increased Dopamine transmission in the brain's reward pathway from eating certain foods, they quickly feel the need to eat again." The same thing happens with cocaine and heroin. Food CAN be an addiction.
Anyway, that's the basics. Feel free to do more research on your own but make sure you check the credibility of the webpage you are using first. I won't return to the forum, it's pointless.
Good luck OP. You got this!
Lmao webmd highly credible? And food covers a lot more than the subset of highly palatable foods0 -
Good read.
Kirschenbaum, D. S., and R. Krawczyk. "The Exaggeration of Food Addiction: Most Weight-Controllers are Athletes, not Addicts." J Obes Bariatrics 2.2 (2015): 6.
http://www.avensonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/JOAB-2377-9284-02-0009.pdf0 -
CryingInColor wrote: »OP your best bet is to not use the forums here at MFP. I have been a member on a different account for about 4 years and lost 113 pounds. I was extremely active in the forums and got fed up with all of the negativity. I deactivated the other account and started this new one. I still read the forums but obviously do not respond much. I just had to respond to this one because most of the people above are completely wrong.
Anyway, I am not sure if anybody above me has a degree in Science or Psychology and has studied addiction. Well I have so let me tell you that food can in fact be an addiction. Here is a quote from WebMD which is a reliable and credible webpage:
"Like addictive drugs, highly palatable foods trigger feel-good brain chemicals such as Dopamine. Once people experience pleasure associated with increased Dopamine transmission in the brain's reward pathway from eating certain foods, they quickly feel the need to eat again." The same thing happens with cocaine and heroin. Food CAN be an addiction.
Anyway, that's the basics. Feel free to do more research on your own but make sure you check the credibility of the webpage you are using first. I won't return to the forum, it's pointless.
Good luck OP. You got this!
Anytime you do anything pleasurable, dopamine is released. But that doesn't mean you are addicted. Don't get me wrong, people have eating disorders but it doesn't mean food is physically addictive like drugs are. It means, they developed a comfort response to a situation. It's a reaction, not a dependency.
The issue that most people have is blaming sugar but in reality, it's a variety of foods (really anything hyperpalatable) that will give you that happy feeling. For some, it's cupcakes, cookies or ice cream, others it's pizza, chicken or etc... For the OP, it was sweets. But does that mean they are addicted? Probably not. But do they need invention, yes.
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I should also add, That I do believe process sugars are addictive to the body. The more you eat it the more you crave it. I understand there are sugars in fruit and veggies, but these are combine with fiber and such, metabolize differently, more slowly. then say a donut. I did make a few food selection base things that were foods I like but really never over indulged. like pretzels or corn chips . In addition I added more beans to my diet as well.
yea, no …you can't be addicted to one form of sugar and not another. if someone told you they were a crack addict but snorted cocaine you would call BS on them.
self control issues around certain food/sugar does not equal addiction.
if you think you have an issue then see a therapist or check yourself into a rehab program for your "addiction"…
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BeachKitty301 wrote: »Good grief, people. The original poster simply made a candid observation about his own behavior and OWNED it - took responsibility, and did NOT make an excuse. This is my first post here, and I joined to give & receive support, not to be eaten by a school of cyber piranhas.
This site exists to help each other out during a very difficult process. If you've found success in your weight loss journey, maybe you could offer some insight and encouragement instead of insults. Is this how you behave in real life? Thanks, but I won't be sticking around.
so telling OP that he/she is not addicted and to see a therapist is rude..??
sorry, but we don't just blindly support OP's here…if people are going to make statements like this then they are going to be challenged on it..
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TheVirgoddess wrote: »If you really believe you're addicted to food, you should be seeing a therapist.
People don't necessarily need therapy to break an addiction. Many people quit smoking without therapy.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »TheVirgoddess wrote: »If you really believe you're addicted to food, you should be seeing a therapist.
People don't necessarily need therapy to break an addiction. Many people quit smoking without therapy.
The difference is you need food to live. Eating is not something you just quit. Of course, you *can* use the same strategies to not eat food as you can with not smoking/drinking/other drug use, but eventually death happens because humans kinda need to eat to survive.
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »TheVirgoddess wrote: »If you really believe you're addicted to food, you should be seeing a therapist.
People don't necessarily need therapy to break an addiction. Many people quit smoking without therapy.
The difference is you need food to live. Eating is not something you just quit. Of course, you *can* use the same strategies to not eat food as you can with not smoking/drinking/other drug use, but eventually death happens because humans kinda need to eat to survive.
I didn't suggest using the same strategy.0 -
I should also add, That I do believe process sugars are addictive to the body. The more you eat it the more you crave it. I understand there are sugars in fruit and veggies, but these are combine with fiber and such, metabolize differently, more slowly. then say a donut. I did make a few food selection base things that were foods I like but really never over indulged. like pretzels or corn chips . In addition I added more beans to my diet as well.
See if processed sugar is physically addictive, you would be able to "get your fix" by chugging ketchup. If you are craving processed sugar, would drinking ketchup satisfy your cravings? And if you take a fiber pill with your sweets, would that make you crave them less because it metabolizes differently?
My problem with using the term "food addiction" is that it's usually used to justify failure when the first step of solving a problem is to acknowledge it and acknowledge the real reasons behind it, which would be much more helpful when planning strategies than feeling powerless and using the term as a crutch in case something fails again. You don't need to protect yourself from failure, trust me. It teaches much more about success than you realize.
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So what non-therapy route do you suggest for stopping smoking that can be used for stopping eating?Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »TheVirgoddess wrote: »If you really believe you're addicted to food, you should be seeing a therapist.
People don't necessarily need therapy to break an addiction. Many people quit smoking without therapy.
The difference is you need food to live. Eating is not something you just quit. Of course, you *can* use the same strategies to not eat food as you can with not smoking/drinking/other drug use, but eventually death happens because humans kinda need to eat to survive.
I didn't suggest using the same strategy.
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Good read.
Kirschenbaum, D. S., and R. Krawczyk. "The Exaggeration of Food Addiction: Most Weight-Controllers are Athletes, not Addicts." J Obes Bariatrics 2.2 (2015): 6.
http://www.avensonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/JOAB-2377-9284-02-0009.pdf
Yes, an excellent read. Thanks for the link.
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »TheVirgoddess wrote: »If you really believe you're addicted to food, you should be seeing a therapist.
People don't necessarily need therapy to break an addiction. Many people quit smoking without therapy.
The difference is you need food to live. Eating is not something you just quit. Of course, you *can* use the same strategies to not eat food as you can with not smoking/drinking/other drug use, but eventually death happens because humans kinda need to eat to survive.
I didn't suggest using the same strategy.
then why even bring it up? Or do you just like posting things and then saying that is not what you mean…oh wait...0 -
So what non-therapy route do you suggest for stopping smoking that can be used for stopping eating?Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »TheVirgoddess wrote: »If you really believe you're addicted to food, you should be seeing a therapist.
People don't necessarily need therapy to break an addiction. Many people quit smoking without therapy.
The difference is you need food to live. Eating is not something you just quit. Of course, you *can* use the same strategies to not eat food as you can with not smoking/drinking/other drug use, but eventually death happens because humans kinda need to eat to survive.
I didn't suggest using the same strategy.
You don't stop eating altogether, you stop eating your trigger foods or eat them in such small amounts they don't cause a problem. And that produces the same exact feelings, or at least it did for me, I experienced trying to quit smoking.
For years before I quit smoking just the thought of quitting would make me smoke more and if I tried to cut back? I'd smoke even more... I worked my way up to a 2 pack a day habit doing that. But there comes a point when enough is enough, you resolve to stop and you do -- no matter how panicky or sick you feel you suck it up, don't give in and know it gets easier. And a few years later you wonder that you ever had a problem.
I've never been a drug addict but there are people who say their issues with food were comparable:I’m a recovering alcoholic, smoker and drug addict with a history of many rehabs, jail more often than I can count and several trips to the emergency room due to overdose.
After I had been sober for several years, I started to develop an addiction to unhealthy foods.
Full-blown addiction. Nothing more, nothing less.
The reason I’m telling you this is to demonstrate that I know how addiction works.
I’m here to tell you that food addiction is the same as addiction to drugs… exactly the same. --Food Addiction – A Serious Problem With a Simple Solution
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AlabasterVerve wrote: »
So what non-therapy route do you suggest for stopping smoking that can be used for stopping eating?Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »TheVirgoddess wrote: »If you really believe you're addicted to food, you should be seeing a therapist.
People don't necessarily need therapy to break an addiction. Many people quit smoking without therapy.
The difference is you need food to live. Eating is not something you just quit. Of course, you *can* use the same strategies to not eat food as you can with not smoking/drinking/other drug use, but eventually death happens because humans kinda need to eat to survive.
I didn't suggest using the same strategy.
You don't stop eating altogether, you stop eating your trigger foods or eat them in such small amounts they don't cause a problem. And that produces the same exact feelings, or at least it did for me, I experienced trying to quit smoking.
For years before I quit smoking just the thought of quitting would make me smoke more and if I tried to cut back? I'd smoke even more... I worked my way up to a 2 pack a day habit doing that. But there comes a point when enough is enough, you resolve to stop and you do -- no matter how panicky or sick you feel you suck it up, don't give in and know it gets easier. And a few years later you wonder that you ever had a problem.
I've never been a drug addict but there are people who say their issues with food were comparable:I’m a recovering alcoholic, smoker and drug addict with a history of many rehabs, jail more often than I can count and several trips to the emergency room due to overdose.
After I had been sober for several years, I started to develop an addiction to unhealthy foods.
Full-blown addiction. Nothing more, nothing less.
The reason I’m telling you this is to demonstrate that I know how addiction works.
I’m here to tell you that food addiction is the same as addiction to drugs… exactly the same. --Food Addiction – A Serious Problem With a Simple Solution
The authority nutrition quack's link to the scientific proof is hilarious and many don't deal with "food addiction" or even humans-1 -
AlabasterVerve wrote: »
So what non-therapy route do you suggest for stopping smoking that can be used for stopping eating?Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »TheVirgoddess wrote: »If you really believe you're addicted to food, you should be seeing a therapist.
People don't necessarily need therapy to break an addiction. Many people quit smoking without therapy.
The difference is you need food to live. Eating is not something you just quit. Of course, you *can* use the same strategies to not eat food as you can with not smoking/drinking/other drug use, but eventually death happens because humans kinda need to eat to survive.
I didn't suggest using the same strategy.
You don't stop eating altogether, you stop eating your trigger foods or eat them in such small amounts they don't cause a problem. And that produces the same exact feelings, or at least it did for me, I experienced trying to quit smoking.
For years before I quit smoking just the thought of quitting would make me smoke more and if I tried to cut back? I'd smoke even more... I worked my way up to a 2 pack a day habit doing that. But there comes a point when enough is enough, you resolve to stop and you do -- no matter how panicky or sick you feel you suck it up, don't give in and know it gets easier. And a few years later you wonder that you ever had a problem.
I've never been a drug addict but there are people who say their issues with food were comparable:I’m a recovering alcoholic, smoker and drug addict with a history of many rehabs, jail more often than I can count and several trips to the emergency room due to overdose.
After I had been sober for several years, I started to develop an addiction to unhealthy foods.
Full-blown addiction. Nothing more, nothing less.
The reason I’m telling you this is to demonstrate that I know how addiction works.
I’m here to tell you that food addiction is the same as addiction to drugs… exactly the same. --Food Addiction – A Serious Problem With a Simple Solution
The authority nutrition quack's link to the scientific proof is hilarious and many don't deal with "food addiction" or even humans
I wasn't posting science I was sharing my experience and the experience of a drug addict for the countless people using this site who feel like they have a problem and are looking for a solution -- whether there's "proof" that problem exists or not is irrelevant.
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