Addicted to food, really?

odusgolp · September 2013

my cousin is severely obese, but she has serious mental problems..so in her case her overeating is tied to her mental health/depression issues...

Your expert medical opinion?

ndj1979 · September 2013

my cousin is severely obese, but she has serious mental problems..so in her case her overeating is tied to her mental health/depression issues...

Your expert medical opinion?

thirty four years of experience and knowing her yes...as she has been in and out of therapy most of her life..her mom is the same way ..sad situation, really...

odusgolp · September 2013

my cousin is severely obese, but she has serious mental problems..so in her case her overeating is tied to her mental health/depression issues...

Your expert medical opinion?

thirty four years of experience and knowing her yes...as she has been in and out of therapy most of her life..her mom is the same way ..sad situation, really...

I'm sure your love, support, and lack of judgment is wonderful for them.

Madame_Goldbricker · September 2013

Just to add whilst it obviously doesn't relate to the majority of the population. People with the genetic disorder Prada-Willi syndrome are genuinely addicted to food & can't control feelings of hunger.

jofjltncb6 · September 2013

In...

...to see what's going on in here.

mooie70 · September 2013

Yeah....heroin addicts aren't really addicted either. They just have no freaking willpower...those buggers!

RhineDHP · September 2013

I honestly don't know if there's a true "food addiction" or if it's a consequence of some other underlying mental issue.

But man, have you seen the show Freaky Eaters? They could probably put that claim to the test. One guy was addicted to eating raw meat. A woman was addicted to cola (she drank at least 20 a day, and didn't stop even when a test showed that at 20 years old, she was pre-diabetic).

There could or there couldn't be. It's kind of a vague thing in my mind since we require food to live, rather than heroin or alcohol.

sloth3toes · September 2013

I'm a little surprised that the devilish 'carbs' haven't been mentioned more in this thread. This is ONLY my personal experience.... I find if I eat a salad, or a black bean pita, something like that for supper.... I don't think much about eating sweets for desert. If I eat a more typical meal, which include rice, or pasta, etc.... after supper, I tend to wrestle with the idea of eating desert more. Not that giving in to desert is inherently bad or anything.... but, I'm fairly convinced that the carbs from the rice or pasta help to trigger cravings for more carbs / sweets.

Is it just me?

TheCalorieSMASHER · September 2013

I have a food addiction depending on what time of the month it is. Ok, that's not really an addiction, it's just that I love chocolate.

meeper123 · September 2013

I'm a little surprised that the devilish 'carbs' haven't been mentioned more in this thread. This is ONLY my personal experience.... I find if I eat a salad, or a black bean pita, something like that for supper.... I don't think much about eating sweets for desert. If I eat a more typical meal, which include rice, or pasta, etc.... after supper, I tend to wrestle with the idea of eating desert more. Not that giving in to desert is inherently bad or anything.... but, I'm fairly convinced that the carbs from the rice or pasta help to trigger cravings for more carbs / sweets.

Is it just me?

Depends if i ate enough that day if i dont eat well during the day then eat carbs at dinner all i want is tons more carbs lol

nikky31 · September 2013

I used to say I had a food addiction...then I realized I was really making an excuse of WHY I shouldn't stop eating terrible foods. it really is lack of self control...But one thing was I love sugar and used to eat a ton of it daily then I eliminated all sugar from my diet that aren't natural I had headaches for days...I think our bodies just get soo used to eating a certain way that when we attempt to change it we make excuses to not change like oh my stomach is hungry and growling...drink water? People mistake thirst for hunger.

jonnythan · September 2013

Yeah....heroin addicts aren't really addicted either. They just have no freaking willpower...those buggers!

You know, there's a reason that medical and mental health professionals refer to "addiction" in the case of heroin and not in the case of food.

ndj1979 · September 2013

I'm a little surprised that the devilish 'carbs' haven't been mentioned more in this thread. This is ONLY my personal experience.... I find if I eat a salad, or a black bean pita, something like that for supper.... I don't think much about eating sweets for desert. If I eat a more typical meal, which include rice, or pasta, etc.... after supper, I tend to wrestle with the idea of eating desert more. Not that giving in to desert is inherently bad or anything.... but, I'm fairly convinced that the carbs from the rice or pasta help to trigger cravings for more carbs / sweets.

Is it just me?

I typically have rice or some kind of carb with dinner all the time, and I do not have any desire to hit the sweets...I usually save about 100 to 200 calories for something if I want it ..or just have a protein shake with strawberries and some peanut butter....

madworld1 · September 2013

I am probably going to catch some major flack for this one, but oh well what the hell, I am used to it.

Reading through the threads I am reading a lot of "I can't eat carbs because it make me binge on more carbs", or "I can't eat sugary foods, because then I want more sugary foods and can't stop myself" or "I have to eat clean because I have a food addiction..." there are more but I think I have laid out the general thoughts that I have seen on the subject.

So I think back to when I was like 200# and totally out of shape...I was never "addicted to food" I mean I just ate way too much of foods that I liked and did zero exercise. It was not like I eat some pasta, and was like "oh, my god I have to have more pasta" I would just cook a crap ton of it and eat all of it. Now, I still eat pasta, ice cream etc on occasion, I just eat less of it and watch my calories and macros goals or the day. Its not like I make a serving of pasta and immediately want to make five more servings to eat. I have ice cream in the freezer right now, if I have a servicing I do not woof down the whole pint...

I do not think that anyone can be "addicted to food", it just seems like a strange concept to me. I mean if you do not have that food will you have withdrawals? I just think that it is an excuse that people use to tell themselves that they can't eat certain foods, or to just blame their obesity issue on something else, or to cover up an underlying mental health issue. I mean people binge, but to me that seems tied into more of a mental health issue or just bad relationship with food.

So I will toss it out to the MFP crowed..what do you all think ...food addictions yes, no, or total garbage..?????

I'm not going to go into a lot of psychological jargon here.

In a nut shell, yes I truly believe that people can be "food addicts." Food can cause "good" feelings in much the same way drugs and alcohol cause "good" feelings. People often turn to food in the same way they do drugs... to compensate for something else.

Just because you've never experienced a "food addiction" doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. Do you believe in drug addiction? Surely, you do. It's a very similar concept.

shrinkingWITS · September 2013

it's not the food itself they're addicted too (although sugar is hard to let go of), it's the feelings they get during or after they eat that they're addicted to. It's not like cigarettes or drugs where the product itself is addictive but they eat as a comfort for their emotion and in the mment the food makes them feel better and they're addicted to the "feel better" feeling. Even if they feel guilty about eating the way they do they still feel like they can't stop because they need that "feel better" feeling a little longer. It's a mental thing, so the person saying they're "addicted" to ice cream isn't actually addicted to ice cream but they probably have an emotional connection to it that makes them feel better when they eat it.

*I think that makes sense. It makes sense to me but that's cause I know what i'm trying to say.*

so its kind of like getting high from eating? interesting notion..

.aka certain hormones produced can be higher in some people so they do indeed feel a high or sense of relief. Some people cut or abuse themselves, some overeat...there isn't a black and white answer.

ndj1979 · September 2013

I am probably going to catch some major flack for this one, but oh well what the hell, I am used to it.

Reading through the threads I am reading a lot of "I can't eat carbs because it make me binge on more carbs", or "I can't eat sugary foods, because then I want more sugary foods and can't stop myself" or "I have to eat clean because I have a food addiction..." there are more but I think I have laid out the general thoughts that I have seen on the subject.

So I think back to when I was like 200# and totally out of shape...I was never "addicted to food" I mean I just ate way too much of foods that I liked and did zero exercise. It was not like I eat some pasta, and was like "oh, my god I have to have more pasta" I would just cook a crap ton of it and eat all of it. Now, I still eat pasta, ice cream etc on occasion, I just eat less of it and watch my calories and macros goals or the day. Its not like I make a serving of pasta and immediately want to make five more servings to eat. I have ice cream in the freezer right now, if I have a servicing I do not woof down the whole pint...

I do not think that anyone can be "addicted to food", it just seems like a strange concept to me. I mean if you do not have that food will you have withdrawals? I just think that it is an excuse that people use to tell themselves that they can't eat certain foods, or to just blame their obesity issue on something else, or to cover up an underlying mental health issue. I mean people binge, but to me that seems tied into more of a mental health issue or just bad relationship with food.

So I will toss it out to the MFP crowed..what do you all think ...food addictions yes, no, or total garbage..?????

I'm not going to go into a lot of psychological jargon here.

In a nut shell, yes I truly believe that people can be "food addicts." Food can cause "good" feelings in much the same way drugs and alcohol cause "good" feelings. People often turn to food in the same way they do drugs... to compensate for something else.

Just because you've never experienced a "food addiction" doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. Do you believe in drug addiction? Surely, you do. It's a very similar concept.

IDK I do not get a "high" from eating, so I can't really see the connection to drug addiction. When you smoke weed, snort cocaine whatever you get a "high" that you then in turn crave more...

Maybe if I experienced that with food I could relate to what you are saying...

yustick · September 2013

I was just thinking that I've had a pint of ice cream in the freezer since Saturday. I was actually proud of myself for seeing it there and walking away.

Cranquistador · September 2013

Why post this?

why not?

unoriginal and argued to death already?

you are free to exit stage right and not post in here..

I have not seen any similar threads with this topic...but it interested me and I posted it ...

sorry to ruin your evening....I will endeavor to be more original in future posts...

Addicted to food, really?

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