Food Addict

trier49

I eat so much rubbish, and I often hide food so I don't have to share. I feel pretty bad about it but I'm having difficulty getting it under control. Has anyone else had this problem and can give me some advice? would love some friends to help me with my food addiction. Going it alone is hard so if there is anyone out there who can friend me I would be grateful for the support.

Whitezombiegirl

Hi! The first thing I just want to mention before you get pounced on is that the concept of 'food addiction' does not get a warm welcome here. In reality it's just that the junk that most of us love is created to be 'hyper-palatable'- which means that it hits all the right buttons in the right way- sweet, salty, fatty etc.

Hyper-palatable food is very attractive to us for the reasons above, and habit-forming whilst so -called 'clean' food or whole-foods (another term hotly debated here) can seem bland or have unappealing textures by comparrisson. Personally one way to kick the habit is to go cold turkey, if this isn't possible just suck it up and cut down bit by bit. Eventually you will most likely get used to the morre subtle textures of vegetables etc. and used to the texture and start to prefer them. Then you can add them back in, in moderation if you want.

There is also the element of gut bacteria. You tend to have more of the bacteria present that help to digest the food you most often eat- changing what you eat will change your 'biome' of bacteria- but it will take a bit of time and the transition may be uncomfortable at stages. Some people think gut bacteria may be linked to cravings- so if you feed the'junk food' bacteria - you are only enabling them... I don't know, it's just a theory- and this area of science is fairly new - so watch this space.

trier49

Thank you, what you have said makes sense. Thankfully I do enjoy most fruit and veg but when I'm eating rubbish I forget the good stuff. I'm going to go cold turkey and see how I make out.

ardentsunshine

Food Addiction is a very real issue, no matter what other people may say. It is a direct result of the way that prepackaged food is made, and the way that those ingredients work within our system. Many different types of junk food have additives in it that attack the same part of your brain that drugs like cocaine and heroin do, and can cause the same types of addictions. My best advice is to actually pay attention to the food you're eating as you're eating. Think about the taste and texture, and decide if you really do like it or if you only think you like it.