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Food Addiction - A Different Perspective
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For me also. And in addition to being more hungry I have less willpower so I tend to make lousier food choices.1
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This is fascinating - I can speak from experience that hunger dramatically increased when being forced to "undersleep".
There are several monitored studies conducted through the Naval Special Warfare Command and Dive Medical Center which have confirmed this.
Sleep allows the lymphatic system to expand and drain to remove toxins. Reduced sleep inhibits this so rather than investing in the latest detox kit, the best remedy is as simple as increasing water intake and getting more sleep.
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And I've noticed when I am short on sleep, all I want are carbs, probably because my body views them as an easy source of energy.0
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I'm another one for lack of sleep = eat ALL the things. Mostly carbs and sweet stuff.1
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Alatariel75 wrote: »I'm another one for lack of sleep = eat ALL the things. Mostly carbs and sweet stuff.
Yep, this is exactly me. It resulted in half a bag of marshmallows disappearing last night, whoops
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Mine is fat. Chicken wings, ribs, potato chips, even vegetables as long as they are cooked in a lot of fat. If I crave something it's always something with a lot of fat.0 -
Fat+carbs or fat+protein for me. The latter is slightly more likely but it could be either. Almost always savory.0
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No sleep? Only spaghetti will suffice.0
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
Mine is fat. Chicken wings, ribs, potato chips, even vegetables as long as they are cooked in a lot of fat. If I crave something it's always something with a lot of fat.
Mine is always fat with sugar. Brownies. Cookie dough. Frosting. LOL Peanut Butter Cups
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
Mine is fat. Chicken wings, ribs, potato chips, even vegetables as long as they are cooked in a lot of fat. If I crave something it's always something with a lot of fat.
Mine is always fat with sugar. Brownies. Cookie dough. Frosting. LOL Peanut Butter Cups
Those are all salt + sugar + fat. Pretty much the most hyperpalatable combination.2 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
Mine is fat. Chicken wings, ribs, potato chips, even vegetables as long as they are cooked in a lot of fat. If I crave something it's always something with a lot of fat.
Mine is always fat with sugar. Brownies. Cookie dough. Frosting. LOL Peanut Butter Cups
Those are all salt + sugar + fat. Pretty much the most hyperpalatable combination.
And it's AWESOME!!!!
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I think the lack of sleep can also be stretched to include feeling poorly. I know I eat more when my energy is lacking. Hypothydrism and autoimmune flare-ups will do it to me too. I regained a bit of weight this fall which I contribute to this.0
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I think the lack of sleep can also be stretched to include feeling poorly. I know I eat more when my energy is lacking. Hypothydrism and autoimmune flare-ups will do it to me too. I regained a bit of weight this fall which I contribute to this.
I've found from having a Fitbit that when I'm tired, even if I think I'm moving as much as usual, my step count will be about 20% lower.
When I'm flaring all I want to do is sleep and eat. I'm lucky if I make it out of bed.0 -
For me, it's fat and starch. Salty. Baked potato with olive oil. Potato chips. Popcorn with olive oil. Lots of salt on all of the above.
I had an IBS flare keep me awake last night AND my son got his braces off yesterday, so we are overrun with popcorn at the moment since he had me take him to Trader Joe's to buy all his favorite kinds that he's been missing.
I will stay out of it all, it's not mine. I will stay out of it all, it's not mine. I will stay out of it all, it's not mine. I will stay out of it all, it's not mine. I will stay out of it all, it's not mine....4 -
ILiftHeavyAcrylics wrote: »I think the lack of sleep can also be stretched to include feeling poorly. I know I eat more when my energy is lacking. Hypothydrism and autoimmune flare-ups will do it to me too. I regained a bit of weight this fall which I contribute to this.
I've found from having a Fitbit that when I'm tired, even if I think I'm moving as much as usual, my step count will be about 20% lower.
When I'm flaring all I want to do is sleep and eat. I'm lucky if I make it out of bed.
Interesting...0 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »For me, it's fat and starch. Salty. Baked potato with olive oil. Potato chips. Popcorn with olive oil. Lots of salt on all of the above.
I had an IBS flare keep me awake last night AND my son got his braces off yesterday, so we are overrun with popcorn at the moment since he had me take him to Trader Joe's to buy all his favorite kinds that he's been missing.
I will stay out of it all, it's not mine. I will stay out of it all, it's not mine. I will stay out of it all, it's not mine. I will stay out of it all, it's not mine. I will stay out of it all, it's not mine....
My MIL and wife are obsessed with targets popcorn. They're rather addicted.2 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »For me, it's fat and starch. Salty. Baked potato with olive oil. Potato chips. Popcorn with olive oil. Lots of salt on all of the above.
I had an IBS flare keep me awake last night AND my son got his braces off yesterday, so we are overrun with popcorn at the moment since he had me take him to Trader Joe's to buy all his favorite kinds that he's been missing.
I will stay out of it all, it's not mine. I will stay out of it all, it's not mine. I will stay out of it all, it's not mine. I will stay out of it all, it's not mine. I will stay out of it all, it's not mine....
My MIL and wife are obsessed with targets popcorn. They're rather addicted.
Heh. I tasted the Baconesque popcorn. After being thoroughly spoiled with fresh air-popped, the bagged stuff tasted... meh. I had two pieces and wasn't further tempted.
Thankfully the kid doesn't like caramel corn. That stuff and I are not safe around each other.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
Mine is fat. Chicken wings, ribs, potato chips, even vegetables as long as they are cooked in a lot of fat. If I crave something it's always something with a lot of fat.
Mine is always fat with sugar. Brownies. Cookie dough. Frosting. LOL Peanut Butter Cups
Those are all salt + sugar + fat. Pretty much the most hyperpalatable combination.
I'm sure some frostings have salt, but most I've had do not.0 -
GuitarJerry wrote: »PeachyCarol wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Great post. So many people seem to jump from I'm addicted to x, so I must cut x completely from my diet. So much of weight loss is mental, and understanding cravings, where they come from, and how to include moderation as a tool is such a huge step.
My understanding of the OP's last paragraph is that she did cut x completely from her diet for a period. Is that not what "time away from the foods" meant?
I think she's talking about the people that say "oh, i'm addicted to sugar and will never have sweets ever again!". If you identify a trigger food that you have trouble stopping eating, it is helpful for some people to avoid that food until they can reestablish good eating habits and a better relationship with food. But just saying you'll never eat cake again because it makes you eat more isn't the best route to take. That doesn't actually fix anything because if you just accept that you can never learn to control how much you eat, you'll never stay at your goal. But saying "i know if i start eating this i'll keep going, so i'm going wait a few months before having any" is a much healthier mindset. You give yourself time to retrain your brain and body to what proper portions are, and then you can add foods back in later.
Yes, this.
For example, I'm someone who will suggest taking time away from trigger foods as something that can help. It was something I thought would help me (sweets in general, not trigger foods), because I knew I had some bad habits built around those foods--specifically, misusing them for emotional purposes, but also eating when bored, eating throughout the day, and cutting them out made it easier to break those habits. I reintroduced them after only a few weeks (although I did it again later, when I thought I was falling back into old habits), but this time I kept two main restrictions: no unplanned snacking, and no eating to self-comfort.
I have specific reasons based on my particular struggles that explain why I thought cutting them out would help, and that explain two rules above.
One thing I try to do when the addiction thing comes up (not always successfully) is point out that the reasons for feeling out of control tend to be specific to the person and her habits, and that to successfully change that and break the habits one needs to be somewhat thoughtful about what's actually going on, what role is the food serving in your life, how are you eating in general (i.e., some foods might be causing an unhelpful physical response if eaten in a way that will cause blood sugar spikes, especially if one is prone to that), do you have a nutritious, calorie-appropriate diet (eating too little may cause cravings and binges), do you get enough sleep (being tired tends to make me feel out of control around some foods), etc.
If you just blame the food or claim it has power over you, you avoid focusing on what actually will help in many cases.
Exactly. I think blaming the food rather than the behavior is the root of the problem, and the purpose of my post was to show that the research is actually backing this up in that the issue is a behavioral one, not one related to the substance.
The arguments over whether the foods are or aren't addictive obscure any help from being had around here and it's gotten silly. Whether it's addiction or simply just a problem doesn't ultimately matter for the purposes of what I'm trying to do with this post.
I'm hoping to show that there's hope with behavior modification strategies for people who feel they struggle with this type of thing.
I'm honestly having trouble grasping what you are saying. I just read an article the other day that called out specific studies that are claiming sugar is an addictive substance. In rats, they showed addictive behavior similar to that of a cocaine addicted rat. However, I went to look at the DSM, and it's not there. So, either the studies cited were not confirmed, or all this is conjecture and still being debated.
One could argue that alcoholism is behavioral. But, the behavior is crazy to self-control. Most addicts need help. Whatever help they find that works, is usually a good thing. but, typically, most cannot do it all by themselves. This suggests that either addicts, by nature, are dependent. Or, it suggests that addicts are sort of out of reach seeing solutions and need guidance. Kind of like, they need "glasses to see"; bad eyesight, if you will.
However, almost everyone agrees that you can't help an addict until they want help. So, how much is behavioral and how much is chemical dependency?
This is an extremely complex thing to deal with in a forum like this. If sugar turns out to be an addictive substance, it's not as simple as saying, "just don't eat it". There's a period of withdrawl, from what I understand. It's difficult. It hits pleasure centers in the brain. There's a lot of stuff going on there.
I don't believe that it's 100% behavioral. Both sides are probably right. There is some physical dependency, and some behavior modification needed. Both play a role.
That's my $.02/
I think the point was that so many new people trying to lose weight say they're addicted to sugar because they like to eat it and don't exercise control when eating it. Labeling it as addiction means it's not their fault, it's something out of their control, therefore, gaining weight from it wasn't a failure on their part. Validating that mindset can make things worse because in doing so, you're validating that opinion and they'll never make the push to retrain themselves to eat better. It's human nature to blame others or some conception for things that we've done wrong. Yes, a person that needs to lose weight did that to themselves (except for rare medical conditions). But understanding that is hard for a lot of people, so it's easier to just say they're addicted and the cut every trigger food out instead of learning proper portion control. That's part of why fad diets become popular. If someone else says 'hey, you got to where you are because of this bad food, so here's how to fix it and it'll happen quickly!', that's comforting to a lot of people. Taking the easy road is always appealing. Taking the hard road, the one that's slower and includes accepting responsibility for how you got there in the first place is much more difficult.
Now science may discover that certain foods will trigger actual addiction in some people, something similar to alcoholism. That is a possibility. But even if that does happen, it won't be everyone that loves sweets and didn't learn proper portion control. And, part of recovery from addiction is behavior modification. Recognizing when the urge is there and learning ways to deal safely with it.
Since when is any addiction not the fault of the addict if they are adult especially.2
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