Here's an interesting question...

Nailrep

Do you believe in food addition? I'm not speaking of eating disorders. I'm talking about physical addiction to carbs/sugars?

I swear, I didn't before. But I do notice now that if overeat, say pizza, I get the craziest cravings/sweet tooth for days after until I have been eating right for a few days. Is it my imagination?

breezymom81

I'm with you, and yes food can be an addiction. If I eat sweets that is all I want, I have to careful and have will power!

carpar1

Interesting, had pizza last night for dinner along with 2 pieces of bread.......right now for dinner I am having a peanut butter and chocolate protein shake. So yes, this may be true!

Heather75

I don't know if I believe in an actual physical addiction, but there are certainly psychological food issues. I don't think it's like heroin, if that's what you mean.

chattygirl2

Cheese id a huge addiction!!!
http://www.healthdiaries.com/blogs/vegetarianblues/archives/2004/09/casein_and_cheese_more_addictive_than_chocolate.html
I love cheese!! I have been doing really good on leaving it off... but I still want it BAD!!! lol

poedunk65

pizza is made with processed white flour and tha tturns into glucose right awa in your system. It kicks the craving for sugar in also. eat pizza with whole wheat flour instead.

diembroadhurst

Yep I believe its true. The more sugar/fat combo you eat the more your body craves - I did see a study on it once but I don't recall where from so can't quote it to confirm your suspicians are true.

karenkwalker

Food can actually cause a reaction in your brain with your endorphines. So like other addictions that affect endorphines, carbs/sugar can have a physical addiction.

brewingaz

Yes I believe! Damn chicken wings. I can't resist. I sometimes will work out extra hard just to make room for my addiciton lol

Nailrep

pizza is made with processed white flour and tha tturns into glucose right awa in your system. It kicks the craving for sugar in also. eat pizza with whole wheat flour instead.

I think I will try this! I don't eatpizza more than every few months (unless it's a Lean Cuisine). But next time, I'm trying this!

moremari

I completely agree. I told the nutritionist I saw about my theory and she said that the body does crave sugars, whether it's carbo's, or straight up fructose. It's quick energy. I didn't feel so bad about it after that.

Nailrep

Food can actually cause a reaction in your brain with your endorphines. So like other addictions that affect endorphines, carbs/sugar can have a physical addiction.

Ahhhhh, makes sense....

TS65

Do you believe in food addition? I'm not speaking of eating disorders. I'm talking about physical addiction to carbs/sugars?

I swear, I didn't before. But I do notice now that if overeat, say pizza, I get the craziest cravings/sweet tooth for days after until I have been eating right for a few days. Is it my imagination?

LOL! Excuse me while I go on a rant... (I posted this before if you're wondering why it looks familiar)

I'm a firm believer that sugar is an addictive substance. If you think about it from a logical standpoint, it makes sense - most addictive substances are "refined" - and the more refined it is, the more addictive it is. Examples:

Coke is refined cocoa leaves
Alcohol is mostly from refined grains
Heroin is from refined poppies
Crystal meth is refined from 3 ingredients
Tobacco is dried (refined) tobacco leaves
Sugar is refined sugar cane

The problem is that we live in a country where EVERYONE has the same addiction. Would it be normal to wake up and inject yourself with heroin? No, but we wake up, stumble to the coffee maker, and pour sugar in our coffee every morning. Or we have a soda in the afternoon as a "pick me up." Sugar is in almost every product available on the market (ketchup, cereals, seasonings). It's everywhere.

People have argued by saying "yea, but people won't steal for sugar." If sugar were all of a sudden illegal tomorrow, do you think people would stop using it or would they find a way to get it? (even if it meant stealing)

If you've ever tried to quit sugar, it's dang near impossible. Besides it being hidden in obscure ingredients (did you know most commercial french fries were sprayed with dextrose... a form of sugar... to keep the potatoes from browning?), the withdrawl can take 3 days. You'll find yourself irritable, headaches, etc.

Interestingly enough, at least for me, when I'm not eating sugar all of the carb cravings stop. I no longer am interested in bread, chips, crackers, etc.

Will it ever be recognized as a problem? No. The sugar industry is one of the most powerful industries in the civilized nations. If sugar were to go away, the economy would collapse. Think about it - any company that makes anything requiring sugar would go under - cookies, ice cream, cereal, condiments, breads, pastries, donuts, coffee creamers, soda and the list goes on and on.

Nailrep

Do you believe in food addition? I'm not speaking of eating disorders. I'm talking about physical addiction to carbs/sugars?

I swear, I didn't before. But I do notice now that if overeat, say pizza, I get the craziest cravings/sweet tooth for days after until I have been eating right for a few days. Is it my imagination?

LOL! Excuse me while I go on a rant... (I posted this before if you're wondering why it looks familiar)

I'm a firm believer that sugar is an addictive substance. If you think about it from a logical standpoint, it makes sense - most addictive substances are "refined" - and the more refined it is, the more addictive it is. Examples:

Coke is refined cocoa leaves
Alcohol is mostly from refined grains
Heroin is from refined poppies
Crystal meth is refined from 3 ingredients
Tobacco is dried (refined) tobacco leaves
Sugar is refined sugar cane

The problem is that we live in a country where EVERYONE has the same addiction. Would it be normal to wake up and inject yourself with heroin? No, but we wake up, stumble to the coffee maker, and pour sugar in our coffee every morning. Or we have a soda in the afternoon as a "pick me up." Sugar is in almost every product available on the market (ketchup, cereals, seasonings). It's everywhere.

People have argued by saying "yea, but people won't steal for sugar." If sugar were all of a sudden illegal tomorrow, do you think people would stop using it or would they find a way to get it? (even if it meant stealing)

If you've ever tried to quit sugar, it's dang near impossible. Besides it being hidden in obscure ingredients (did you know most commercial french fries were sprayed with dextrose... a form of sugar... to keep the potatoes from browning?), the withdrawl can take 3 days. You'll find yourself irritable, headaches, etc.

Interestingly enough, at least for me, when I'm not eating sugar all of the carb cravings stop. I no longer am interested in bread, chips, crackers, etc.

Will it ever be recognized as a problem? No. The sugar industry is one of the most powerful industries in the civilized nations. If sugar were to go away, the economy would collapse. Think about it - any company that makes anything requiring sugar would go under - cookies, ice cream, cereal, condiments, breads, pastries, donuts, coffee creamers, soda and the list goes on and on.

EXCELLENT post! Thans for this!

zeeeb

i believe in food addiction... if there wasn't such a thing, there wouldn't be so many overweight people in the world. Nobody wants to be fat, they just generally can't control their food.

look at alcohol and cigarette addiction, you don't need it, but you like the feeling you get from it, so you keep doing it, and then it gets out of control, just like food. you don't need to eat so much, and you don't need to eat rubbish, but you like the way it feels (or tastes) in the moment, so you keep doing it, and it gets out of control.

it destroys lives
it kills people
it makes people depressed
it makes people uncomfortable
and it makes people do things that they wish they didn't

so how is it different than any other addictive substance except that we can't go cold turkey, we need to have some every day or we will die, unlike cigarettes, alcohol and other addictive drugs.

Nailrep

So, should you try to avoid i all together OR reduce your intake so that you get below the threshold of craving? I eat most anything I want while I'm cutting calories - just less of it. PERHAPS if you eat under a certain amount, your body will not go into that craving mode. Just curious on opinions about this too...

Nailrep

i believe in food addiction... if there wasn't such a thing, there wouldn't be so many overweight people in the world. Nobody wants to be fat, they just generally can't control their food.

look at alcohol and cigarette addiction, you don't need it, but you like the feeling you get from it, so you keep doing it, and then it gets out of control, just like food. you don't need to eat so much, and you don't need to eat rubbish, but you like the way it feels (or tastes) in the moment, so you keep doing it, and it gets out of control.

it destroys lives
it kills people
it makes people depressed
it makes people uncomfortable
and it makes people do things that they wish they didn't

so how is it different than any other addictive substance except that we can't go cold turkey, we need to have some every day or we will die, unlike cigarettes, alcohol and other addictive drugs.

GREAT point!!

JEK717

Haha yeah..stupid poptarts!
So addicted to poptarts...the brown sugar ones of course!

TS65

Honestly, I just reduce the amount of sugar intake. i TRY to eat clean - complex carbs, etc. but when it comes down to snacks or dessert, I'll let myself have small treats - nothing crazy sugar (my favorite dessert is angel food cake (1/8) or butter toffee almonds). When I slip and have something crazy stupid, I end up having to fight sugar and carb cravings the whole next day. I'm learning it's just not worth it.

Nailrep

Honestly, I just reduce the amount of sugar intake. i TRY to eat clean - complex carbs, etc. but when it comes down to snacks or dessert, I'll let myself have small treats - nothing crazy sugar (my favorite dessert is angel food cake (1/8) or butter toffee almonds). When I slip and have something crazy stupid, I end up having to fight sugar and carb cravings the whole next day. I'm learning it's just not worth it.

That's exactly the way I feel!! My downfall is anytype of alcohol. I just want to sit down and eat an entire cake or a bag of M & M's. when I stay within my calorie limit, I don't have any cravings. So strange.

skinnybitch1987

YES. It obviously isn't anything like an intense drug addiction, but if someone is depressed, and chooses food (sugar/processed carbs) as their drug of choice (like I did), it literally becomes an addiction. This is from MY experience only, but I have given it up almost completely. Before, there would be days that I could not physically function, and my whole day simply revolved around getting the biggest carb-iest meal I could with a 42 oz. coke and sleeping.