Addicted to food, really?

lovejulez03

Overeating/Food CAN be an addiction. Not for everyone, but for some. I look at it from a common sense AND psychological standpoint. Some use it as an excuse..for others it's something real that needs to be worked through. Either way, MANY people (from what I've seen personally) have SOME sort of mental health battle..whether it be clinical depression, bipolar, ptsd, childhood sexual abuse/physical abuse, etc... morbidly obese people like myself did not get fat by chance. Unfortunately when you start out young and your body and brain gets used to having something, couple that with depression or something else, plus traumatic experiences, and food WILL become a trigger for dopamine in the brain. Sugar triggers the same parts of the brain that crack cocaine does. So saying that food is an addiction isn't true for all, but it's real. If food isn't an addiction, then alcohol isn't an addiction for alcoholics. Is the persons choice to start eating/drinking and continue, but after a while it's not just about stopping, it's about healing. If you can get headaches from not getting your regular caffeine intake then why is it so hard to believe that other foods can trigger your brain and cause an "addiction" of some sorts? It shouldn't be used as an excuse, but it's just the truth.

Come on now. lol

lovejulez03

Oh and just to back up what I said (aside from the fact that I've been morbidly obese for years, am a psychology major, have common sense, and also work with those addicted to various substances, AND have a mother who was overweight and has lost and maintained through OA) .... here is just one article. I could produce more, but I have homework to do..

"The Obesity Epidemic and Food Addiction: Clinical Similarities to Drug Dependence" by Jeffrey L. Fortuna Dr.Ph from the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs

lejla2002

just another excuse, no one is really addicted to food, we just love the taste i love food, but I'm learing to eat in moderation now, i never really been a lazy person, i'm actually on the move always when working i have to get out of my chair atleast 30 times a day, when i get home i cook and clean and tend to my family, I guess i just eat more then my body was burning, now i eat smarter, i have sweets but just not as many as i love to thoug lol...moderation people that's all and keep moving

loserbaby84

I think we are hung up on the term "addicted". Personally, I'm an emotional eater and would eat until I wanted to explode. Not because I was addicted to the food but because of the "satisfying" feeling of being "full". I was filling a void with something that comforted me and made me "feel better".

This is a disorder for sure! But I agree that it was no "addiction".

Just my opinion

barbie3000

I generally stay away from minefields like this, but when it comes to addiction, I have to throw in my two cents.

Years ago, after some very bad stuff happened in my life, I jumped down the rabbit hole and became addicted to cocaine, and then crack. I lost everything, had to declare bankruptcy...everything.

I got clean by...stopping. It was the hardest thing I ever did. In my case I didn't go to 12-step programs (but I recognize their value for some people). I stopped because I bottomed out and the people who love me didn't deserve any more pain.

I was an addict. But I was able to stop, by choice and will. I've been clean for five years.

I now have a cancerous tumor. Unfortunately I can't make that go away by willpower.

There are some of us who have a pleasure-seeking gene in our brain, something that tells us that when something feels good, we must continue to do it, over and over. When I got rid of drugs, I turned to food.

But I can change this, as I changed my addiction to my drug.

lovejulez03

I generally stay away from minefields like this, but when it comes to addiction, I have to throw in my two cents.

Years ago, after some very bad stuff happened in my life, I jumped down the rabbit hole and became addicted to cocaine, and then crack. I lost everything, had to declare bankruptcy...everything.

I got clean by...stopping. It was the hardest thing I ever did. In my case I didn't go to 12-step programs (but I recognize their value for some people). I stopped because I bottomed out and the people who love me didn't deserve any more pain.

I was an addict. But I was able to stop, by choice and will. I've been clean for five years.

I now have a cancerous tumor. Unfortunately I can't make that go away by willpower.

There are some of us who have a pleasure-seeking gene in our brain, something that tells us that when something feels good, we must continue to do it, over and over. When I got rid of drugs, I turned to food.

But I can change this, as I changed my addiction to my drug.

Well said. And well done.

ndj1979

in...for the re-bump...

this should be interesting...

barbie3000

in...for the re-bump...

this should be interesting...

I shouldn't have mentioned the C word. Makes people feel they shouldn't tear a strip off me.

Tear away! I'm tough as nails...

alone_aqua

(btw i can see this post is old at this point). Addiction is defined as anything from a compulsive need to a strong desire. Lots of addictions and mental diseases are debatable: anorexia nervosa is often questioned as to its legitimacy of being a real disease.
True, heroine addicts have physical reactions to lack of heroin use, but I have witnessed people claiming to be food addicts suffer other symptoms: nausea and even the shakes. Will they die or do they need morphine because they couldn't have "one more oreo" as someone said- probably not- we all have our habits, some stronger than others. Your own experience at being your heaviest weight clearly means you can't relate- there are people out there who do desire multiple servings of foods for no other reason than that they are there. I can tell you can't relate when you say at your heaviest you "i liked pasta, doesn't mean I need 4 bowls," if you were a food addict that would be exactly your logic- you would want as much as humanly possible because you wouldn't just "like" pasta you would "love it" beyond all comprehension. Is it illogical? silly? sure, but what addictions are logical?