Carbohydrate addiction is real– and it’s killing us

nickymaire

This is an amazing article from a New Zealand magazine (North and South) that I thought I would share http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/166156603?access_key=key-1qn0h4b3fk673he6gd4s&allow_share=true&view_mode=scroll

GymPoet

Really interesting article, thank you for posting.
In counterpoint, I have heard that some scientists say that "addiction＂ is the wrong word, because they say you can't be "addicted" to something (like oxygen) that life can't live without.
Also, anecdotely, when I cut down my carbs, I had ZERO negative withdrawal symptoms. I just felt incredibly better.

That being said, I've learned a lot from the addiction-model that has helped me, so I 'm not too hung up on whether carbs are a "real" addiction or not. It is a useful way of thinking about the problem.

ShannonKirton

I would say that addiction can be a very personal thing and what one person might be addicted to, no one else can understand why. I do think that carb addiction is real for the simple reason that if you are unable to go through the "carb flu" that we all experience, and you give into your cravings, that is a very real addiction. Just like drugs I assume, when you get withdrawl, you go searching for your next fix.

It does however come down to your determination and will power to resist going back after the carbs. I know that how I feel now is a total 360 to how I felt (physically and mentally) when I was eating carbs. We have our spoils now and then, but the difference now is that we have learnt what it feels like to have a carb free system that when we put the occasional carb back into our bodies, we feel awful and bloated. We now know the damage it does. But the carbs are killing us, yes.

I totally agree.

Akimajuktuq

Processed food manufacturers spend millions and millions on doing research to find out how to make their food as addictive as possible. They look for the "bliss point". Addicted people will spend whatever it takes to satisfy their addiction. Unaddicted people are not near as good for profits. So many people are eating food that they KNOW is unhealthy, that they KNOW they should stop eating, but can't. I would argue that it is a cycle of "malnourishment" more than "addiction" but the result is the same. And I did get a "high" (extreme relaxation/slight euphoria) when I was bingeing; so there's that.

The only way I came out of the vicious cycle of unending bingeing was to eliminate processed foods and cut the carbs. There are lots of healthy carbs, but for now, I need an "unbalanced" cure (I would argue that keto is natural, not unbalanced but nevermind) for an unbalanced metabolism. And I'm no "special snowflake"; almost anyone who is struggling with cravings, bingeing, excessive hunger, obesity, depression et al. would benefit from minimizing the carbs. Maybe not forever, but until health issues are resolved.

nickymaire

I agree with Akimajuktuq. and the carbohydrate addiction was more the title of the article...but I wanted people to read it because it is the best article I've seen so far to back up a paleo/primal lifestyle!

The article its talking more about the effect that processed carbohydrates has on the body (diabetes, obesity, heart disease etc) with a direct comparison to the people from a tiny atoll in the pacific pre westernised diet and post.

Akimajuktuq

I agree with Akimajuktuq. and the carbohydrate addiction was more the title of the article...but I wanted people to read it because it is the best article I've seen so far to back up a paleo/primal lifestyle!

The article its talking more about the effect that processed carbohydrates has on the body (diabetes, obesity, heart disease etc) with a direct comparison to the people from a tiny atoll in the pacific pre westernised diet and post.

I can't read the article at work, and I forgot to look at home last night, but I've been researching aboriginal people even longer than nutrition. It's surprising to me that Anthropology and modern nutrition research doesn't often over-lap. (In fact, I've had many idiots on MFP tell me that the research of Dr. Weston Price is invalid because it is "old".) It seems like a no-brainer to me. Our ancestors wouldn't have survived if the food they were eating was anything other than perfect. There have been many recorded observations made by doctors, missionaries, researchers etc of many aboriginal societies world-wide of what occurs when they stop eating their cultural foods and start eating all the processed, nutrient devoid junk that "civilization" brings with it.

That's why I'm so furious about the huge diabetes project that is going on in my community. All they are going to look at as suspect foods are pop, candy, chips, etc. Juice, crackers, cereal, soy, canola, Kraft dinner, processed dairy, processed meat, et al, none of those "healthy" foods are even on the radar. I have a very obese Inuit friend who often asks how I am eating to get so healthy. She looks at me quite blankly when I say "eat your traditional foods" cut out the junk from the store. Of course the staff at the health centre are telling her to avoid fat, eat lots of grains, vegetables and fruit. Avoid fat. Avoid meat. (There are NO whole grains sold here, except for the small selection of fruit and veggies, EVERYTHING is processed.) But they will also say country foods are healthy (but avoid fat and meat). So it's a very confusing message. And of course, bannock (wheat flour bread fried in fat-now often Crisco!) is now considered "traditional" food.

I'm angry because they want to keep reinventing the wheel, keep us chasing our tails, and keep us sick. If prevention was even the motive, which it isn't, it is already known how to prevent diabetes. There were doctors in England who figured it out 200 years ago!!! There are numerous records of observations of aboriginal people that clearly note that all of these diseases that are so common today were completely absent-did not exist-among aboriginal peoples eating their traditional diets! Yet, here on MFP I get told that my experience and observations among the Inuit is irrelevant because they are a strange exception to the rule and don't represent all humans. I beg to differ! Inuit are totally human and are physiologically the same as the rest of us!

Anthropology and nutrition should absolutely be combined.. and it would be if it were about truth and helping people be healthy. It's not. It's about creating dependent, helpless, apathetic, sick consumers that can't stop consuming.

So, I still haven't read that article but I have read much about the subject matter. It's fascinating. Living in today's society is really like watching a train wreck in slow motion. We think we are so damn smart and have it all figured out and yet we can't even comprehend that what we eat affects our entire being. It's all about money, money, money (I'm not religious but what I see sure mirrors the sin of "the love of money" mentioned in the Bible). How can we deem ouselves so "intelligent" when we disrespect and abuse all that give us life and choose to do things that destroys our health, and threatens our survival as a species. It seems very stupid to me. I think we are the stupidest creatures on this planet to be honest. And we can't leave other happier and healthy cultures alone; we have to make sure we drag them down along with us, forcibly. Makes me angry.

GrokRockStarWECHANGED

Thanks for sharing the article! As a type 2 diabetic, there is so much mis-information, especially in regards to eating "sugar free." It is so frustrating. The only thing that has kept my levels normal has been eating Primal and exercising. It is the cure to combatting type 2 diabetes, but i dare not tell my Doc, who doesn't support me cutting out "whole" grains, arghhhh!!

ellenkilpatrick

I agree and understand your frustrations but the diabetes projects that are focusing on only the processed is right on target... you have to start somewhere...everyone is at a different level of change and if we can get our kids and family off of the processed stuff then we can transition into a deeper refinement of the foods we eat. This nation lives on the fast and easy diet..as a nation it is always going to be one step at a time!!!!!

nickymaire

I hear ya akima. I can't wait for the day that Americans figure out its the processed carbs that are killing them...and sue the likes of kellogs etc and start putting warning labels on grains and sugar.

And grokrock star your welcome :flowerforyou:

nickymaire

I hear ya akima. I can't wait for the day that Americans figure out its the processed carbs that are killing them...and sue the likes of kellogs etc and starts putting warning labels on grains and sugar.

And grokrock star your welcome :flowerforyou: