Food as a addiction?

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  • Erfw7471
    Erfw7471 Posts: 242 Member
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    eric_sg61 wrote: »
    Good read.
    Kirschenbaum, D. S., and R. Krawczyk. "The Exaggeration of Food Addiction: Most Weight-Controllers are Athletes, not Addicts." J Obes Bariatrics 2.2 (2015): 6.
    http://www.avensonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/JOAB-2377-9284-02-0009.pdf

    Yes Sir, this is a good read - thanks
  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
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    MrM27 wrote: »
    dmfish1 wrote: »
    I should also add, That I do believe process sugars are addictive to the body. The more you eat it the more you crave it. I understand there are sugars in fruit and veggies, but these are combine with fiber and such, metabolize differently, more slowly. then say a donut. I did make a few food selection base things that were foods I like but really never over indulged. like pretzels or corn chips . In addition I added more beans to my diet as well.

    So in your opinion does everyone get addicted?
    Does the glucose in sugar metabolize different than the glucose than it does in a donut?

    +1
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
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    Acg67 wrote: »
    zyxst wrote: »
    zyxst wrote: »
    If you really believe you're addicted to food, you should be seeing a therapist.

    People don't necessarily need therapy to break an addiction. Many people quit smoking without therapy.

    The difference is you need food to live. Eating is not something you just quit. Of course, you *can* use the same strategies to not eat food as you can with not smoking/drinking/other drug use, but eventually death happens because humans kinda need to eat to survive.

    I didn't suggest using the same strategy.
    So what non-therapy route do you suggest for stopping smoking that can be used for stopping eating?

    You don't stop eating altogether, you stop eating your trigger foods or eat them in such small amounts they don't cause a problem. And that produces the same exact feelings, or at least it did for me, I experienced trying to quit smoking.

    For years before I quit smoking just the thought of quitting would make me smoke more and if I tried to cut back? I'd smoke even more... I worked my way up to a 2 pack a day habit doing that. But there comes a point when enough is enough, you resolve to stop and you do -- no matter how panicky or sick you feel you suck it up, don't give in and know it gets easier. And a few years later you wonder that you ever had a problem.

    I've never been a drug addict but there are people who say their issues with food were comparable:
    I’m a recovering alcoholic, smoker and drug addict with a history of many rehabs, jail more often than I can count and several trips to the emergency room due to overdose.

    After I had been sober for several years, I started to develop an addiction to unhealthy foods.

    Full-blown addiction. Nothing more, nothing less.

    The reason I’m telling you this is to demonstrate that I know how addiction works.

    I’m here to tell you that food addiction is the same as addiction to drugs… exactly the same.
    --Food Addiction – A Serious Problem With a Simple Solution


    The authority nutrition quack's link to the scientific proof is hilarious and many don't deal with "food addiction" or even humans

    I wasn't posting science I was sharing my experience and the experience of a drug addict for the countless people using this site who feel like they have a problem and are looking for a solution -- whether there's "proof" that problem exists or not is irrelevant.

    That's not a solution, it's perpetuating faulty thinking and enabling the continuing of the real problem without ever getting to the root of it.

  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    dmfish1 wrote: »
    I should also add, That I do believe process sugars are addictive to the body. The more you eat it the more you crave it. I understand there are sugars in fruit and veggies, but these are combine with fiber and such, metabolize differently, more slowly. then say a donut. I did make a few food selection base things that were foods I like but really never over indulged. like pretzels or corn chips . In addition I added more beans to my diet as well.
    The more I eat fruit the more I crave it. Is my grocer pumping my fruit with gallons of sugar by this logic?
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    I can't believe how rude and out of touch some of those comments are. The DSM-5 defines binge eating disorder as a psychiatric disorder covered by health insurance. Check it out.

    Binge eating =/= "addiction" to food.
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
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    Acg67 wrote: »
    zyxst wrote: »
    zyxst wrote: »
    If you really believe you're addicted to food, you should be seeing a therapist.

    People don't necessarily need therapy to break an addiction. Many people quit smoking without therapy.

    The difference is you need food to live. Eating is not something you just quit. Of course, you *can* use the same strategies to not eat food as you can with not smoking/drinking/other drug use, but eventually death happens because humans kinda need to eat to survive.

    I didn't suggest using the same strategy.
    So what non-therapy route do you suggest for stopping smoking that can be used for stopping eating?

    You don't stop eating altogether, you stop eating your trigger foods or eat them in such small amounts they don't cause a problem. And that produces the same exact feelings, or at least it did for me, I experienced trying to quit smoking.

    For years before I quit smoking just the thought of quitting would make me smoke more and if I tried to cut back? I'd smoke even more... I worked my way up to a 2 pack a day habit doing that. But there comes a point when enough is enough, you resolve to stop and you do -- no matter how panicky or sick you feel you suck it up, don't give in and know it gets easier. And a few years later you wonder that you ever had a problem.

    I've never been a drug addict but there are people who say their issues with food were comparable:
    I’m a recovering alcoholic, smoker and drug addict with a history of many rehabs, jail more often than I can count and several trips to the emergency room due to overdose.

    After I had been sober for several years, I started to develop an addiction to unhealthy foods.

    Full-blown addiction. Nothing more, nothing less.

    The reason I’m telling you this is to demonstrate that I know how addiction works.

    I’m here to tell you that food addiction is the same as addiction to drugs… exactly the same.
    --Food Addiction – A Serious Problem With a Simple Solution


    The authority nutrition quack's link to the scientific proof is hilarious and many don't deal with "food addiction" or even humans

    I wasn't posting science I was sharing my experience and the experience of a drug addict for the countless people using this site who feel like they have a problem and are looking for a solution -- whether there's "proof" that problem exists or not is irrelevant.

    That's not a solution, it's perpetuating faulty thinking and enabling the continuing of the real problem without ever getting to the root of it.

    You can go to therapy, get in touch with your feelings, your higher power, your inner child, dig deep for the "real problem" or any of the other woo... and if that works for you? More power to you and thank you for sharing your experience; I'm sure it will resonate for someone and be exactly what they need to hear to be successful.

    But while you do that I'll be over here eating in a way that resolves the issue and getting the same results without the therapy.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    This question comes up a lot, doesn't it? I blogged all my latest thoughts on this today.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/jgnatca/view/is-food-addictive-740632

    Food isn't inherently addictive as in having a chemical substance that removes all self-control. We need food to live and the desire and pleasure from eating is primal.

    There is however, addictive behavior (ever spiralling attempts to repeat a pleasure) and the abstension/binge/guilt cycle that I think is particularly damaging.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    ana3067 wrote: »
    I can't believe how rude and out of touch some of those comments are. The DSM-5 defines binge eating disorder as a psychiatric disorder covered by health insurance. Check it out.

    Binge eating =/= "addiction" to food.

    Also overeating is not necessarily (or usually) "binge eating."
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    Acg67 wrote: »
    zyxst wrote: »
    zyxst wrote: »
    If you really believe you're addicted to food, you should be seeing a therapist.

    People don't necessarily need therapy to break an addiction. Many people quit smoking without therapy.

    The difference is you need food to live. Eating is not something you just quit. Of course, you *can* use the same strategies to not eat food as you can with not smoking/drinking/other drug use, but eventually death happens because humans kinda need to eat to survive.

    I didn't suggest using the same strategy.
    So what non-therapy route do you suggest for stopping smoking that can be used for stopping eating?

    You don't stop eating altogether, you stop eating your trigger foods or eat them in such small amounts they don't cause a problem. And that produces the same exact feelings, or at least it did for me, I experienced trying to quit smoking.

    For years before I quit smoking just the thought of quitting would make me smoke more and if I tried to cut back? I'd smoke even more... I worked my way up to a 2 pack a day habit doing that. But there comes a point when enough is enough, you resolve to stop and you do -- no matter how panicky or sick you feel you suck it up, don't give in and know it gets easier. And a few years later you wonder that you ever had a problem.

    I've never been a drug addict but there are people who say their issues with food were comparable:
    I’m a recovering alcoholic, smoker and drug addict with a history of many rehabs, jail more often than I can count and several trips to the emergency room due to overdose.

    After I had been sober for several years, I started to develop an addiction to unhealthy foods.

    Full-blown addiction. Nothing more, nothing less.

    The reason I’m telling you this is to demonstrate that I know how addiction works.

    I’m here to tell you that food addiction is the same as addiction to drugs… exactly the same.
    --Food Addiction – A Serious Problem With a Simple Solution


    The authority nutrition quack's link to the scientific proof is hilarious and many don't deal with "food addiction" or even humans

    I wasn't posting science I was sharing my experience and the experience of a drug addict for the countless people using this site who feel like they have a problem and are looking for a solution -- whether there's "proof" that problem exists or not is irrelevant.

    That's not a solution, it's perpetuating faulty thinking and enabling the continuing of the real problem without ever getting to the root of it.

    You can go to therapy, get in touch with your feelings, your higher power, your inner child, dig deep for the "real problem" or any of the other woo... and if that works for you? More power to you and thank you for sharing your experience; I'm sure it will resonate for someone and be exactly what they need to hear to be successful.

    But while you do that I'll be over here eating in a way that resolves the issue and getting the same results without the therapy.

    Coming from someone who has gone to four therapists and is about to go back on anti-depressants, how is avoiding the food a way to resolve the issues? That's not resolving the bigger issue at hand, that's just avoiding the more immediate issue. I didn't need to go to therapy for my negative food relationship because I figured out the bigger issue behind my food issues: demonizing particular groups/items and not allowing myself to enjoy what I wanted. But then again I never self-identified as being "addicted" to the foods I would binge on.

    If someone believes that their problems are so severe that they qualify as an addiction then measures must be taken to help resolve the issue on a deeper level. When I was a smoker I did not identify it as an addiction, just a bad habit. Other than at times increasing how much I smoked (usually due to contextual variables) and wasting way too much money on it, it did not interfere with my life in any significant way.
  • Nuke_64
    Nuke_64 Posts: 406 Member
    Options
    OP: Food addiction/overeating is seen by many as a ligament disorder. I have a family member who has had a lot of success dealing with his overeating by the seeing a therapist and attending OA meetings. OA has a 12 questions to help determine if OA is for you.

    http://www.oa.org/newcomers/is-oa-for-you/

    The thought that it’s a disease, it’s not me, is an easy excuse not to do anything. Many overweight folks, me included, will try to find excuses why it’s not our fault. In either case, it up to you to seek help or control your diet. You will not find the help you need for an overeating disorder in this forum.

    Others: The OP may be like many looking for an excuse, but that does not mean she should be belittled and treated so poorly when she is looking for help.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    Acg67 wrote: »
    zyxst wrote: »
    zyxst wrote: »
    If you really believe you're addicted to food, you should be seeing a therapist.

    People don't necessarily need therapy to break an addiction. Many people quit smoking without therapy.

    The difference is you need food to live. Eating is not something you just quit. Of course, you *can* use the same strategies to not eat food as you can with not smoking/drinking/other drug use, but eventually death happens because humans kinda need to eat to survive.

    I didn't suggest using the same strategy.
    So what non-therapy route do you suggest for stopping smoking that can be used for stopping eating?

    You don't stop eating altogether, you stop eating your trigger foods or eat them in such small amounts they don't cause a problem. And that produces the same exact feelings, or at least it did for me, I experienced trying to quit smoking.

    For years before I quit smoking just the thought of quitting would make me smoke more and if I tried to cut back? I'd smoke even more... I worked my way up to a 2 pack a day habit doing that. But there comes a point when enough is enough, you resolve to stop and you do -- no matter how panicky or sick you feel you suck it up, don't give in and know it gets easier. And a few years later you wonder that you ever had a problem.

    I've never been a drug addict but there are people who say their issues with food were comparable:
    I’m a recovering alcoholic, smoker and drug addict with a history of many rehabs, jail more often than I can count and several trips to the emergency room due to overdose.

    After I had been sober for several years, I started to develop an addiction to unhealthy foods.

    Full-blown addiction. Nothing more, nothing less.

    The reason I’m telling you this is to demonstrate that I know how addiction works.

    I’m here to tell you that food addiction is the same as addiction to drugs… exactly the same.
    --Food Addiction – A Serious Problem With a Simple Solution


    The authority nutrition quack's link to the scientific proof is hilarious and many don't deal with "food addiction" or even humans

    I wasn't posting science I was sharing my experience and the experience of a drug addict for the countless people using this site who feel like they have a problem and are looking for a solution -- whether there's "proof" that problem exists or not is irrelevant.

    That's not a solution, it's perpetuating faulty thinking and enabling the continuing of the real problem without ever getting to the root of it.

    You can go to therapy, get in touch with your feelings, your higher power, your inner child, dig deep for the "real problem" or any of the other woo... and if that works for you? More power to you and thank you for sharing your experience; I'm sure it will resonate for someone and be exactly what they need to hear to be successful.

    But while you do that I'll be over here eating in a way that resolves the issue and getting the same results without the therapy.

    I actually resolved my problem the exact opposite way. I ate as much of the item I used to overeat as possible until that novelty of it being special and sinful disappeared, and it became just another food I can have whenever I want without feeling bad about it. I now like it for the taste, and a small amount is enough to satisfy that desire to experience that taste again. Every person needs to identify the source of their problem to resolve it. Randomly cutting out a food may be just what someone needs, but it may also be a gateway to a "relapse" once the food is re-introduced. In my case having a "forbidden food" mentality was the source of the problem, being a rebel and all, so removing that special label was all I needed. Thinking long term into maintenance is a much more successful way than enjoying a temporary success. Now if someone is planning to cut out certain foods for life and does not feel it will cause them to feel deprived then that's what they should do. Strokes and folks and all.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Options
    jgnatca wrote: »
    This question comes up a lot, doesn't it? I blogged all my latest thoughts on this today.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/jgnatca/view/is-food-addictive-740632

    Food isn't inherently addictive as in having a chemical substance that removes all self-control. We need food to live and the desire and pleasure from eating is primal.

    There is however, addictive behavior (ever spiralling attempts to repeat a pleasure) and the abstension/binge/guilt cycle that I think is particularly damaging.

    The article that was linked above is worth reading, IMO.
  • happycauseIride
    happycauseIride Posts: 536 Member
    Options
    dmfish1 wrote: »
    I am not new to weight loss. I have a life long history of losing and gaining weight. I know the facts and the rules and in the end it is about balance, moderation and exercise. The most recent realization I have come to accept is that I am addict. YES. I am addicted to Food. In particular sugar,(and all the things sweeten by it) and bread type carbs.
    about 3 1/2 years ago, I was considering a surgical intervention for weight loss, but my insurance did not cover intervention for obesity. I had gone to preliminary meeting, and heard about what was expect of someone who had the surgery, how and what they were expected to eat.
    I met with my doctor and had serious discussion, about my Weight. she made a simple statement" sugar you just can not have it" that when a light really lit up.
    the diet post surgery was eat every 2hours, protein first, veggies and fruits.. no sugar sweets etc..
    I chose to eat no white potato, no rice/ pasta. sweet potato was ok
    to only eat bread that was high protein and fiber based. and my 2 indulges corn chips, and fat free pretzels. I decided 3 bread type carb per day only.
    I stopped eating ALL cookies, cakes, brownies, sweets of any kinds, any breads other the approved choices. I filled out my plate with protein and fruits and veggies.
    I did not weight and measure my food, I ate until I was full. and snacked often. I did not feel deprived at all.. I loss 67 lbs and felt good. I added exercise after losing 40 pounds
    I kept it off 2 years. then stress hit my life, I slowly starting adding those food back into my life( my old coping techniques, it made me feel good in moment, )
    at first it was ok, then it began to slip out of control. just like a boozer at the bar.
    I have now gain it back and am back on the wagon.
    So when someone ask if not eating certain types of food will help with weight loss. Yes, because when food is addition. Like any addict you can not do just a little of your feel good thing. IT will pull you back in. some of us have trigger foods/ or food groups
    I know this is a familiar story .. to many.


    I 100% agree with you on this. I am in the same situation. I lost 75 lbs here on MFP then stress hit, life hit and I'm back to eating the sugary carb crap and I can't stop. I'm up 15 lbs. I know what I need to do, but I just don't have the will power to do it. I'm am stressed to the max and a cake, cookie, donut or candy bar makes me feel all better. I am also a food addict.

  • vvallentyne
    vvallentyne Posts: 77 Member
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    OP I feel your pain dear. Here is a link to further prove your point and hopefully shut the mouths of the posters who don't really know what they are talking about. Best wishes to you on your journey.

    http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/addiction/
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    edited April 2015
    Options
    Acg67 wrote: »
    zyxst wrote: »
    zyxst wrote: »
    If you really believe you're addicted to food, you should be seeing a therapist.

    People don't necessarily need therapy to break an addiction. Many people quit smoking without therapy.

    The difference is you need food to live. Eating is not something you just quit. Of course, you *can* use the same strategies to not eat food as you can with not smoking/drinking/other drug use, but eventually death happens because humans kinda need to eat to survive.

    I didn't suggest using the same strategy.
    So what non-therapy route do you suggest for stopping smoking that can be used for stopping eating?

    You don't stop eating altogether, you stop eating your trigger foods or eat them in such small amounts they don't cause a problem. And that produces the same exact feelings, or at least it did for me, I experienced trying to quit smoking.

    For years before I quit smoking just the thought of quitting would make me smoke more and if I tried to cut back? I'd smoke even more... I worked my way up to a 2 pack a day habit doing that. But there comes a point when enough is enough, you resolve to stop and you do -- no matter how panicky or sick you feel you suck it up, don't give in and know it gets easier. And a few years later you wonder that you ever had a problem.

    I've never been a drug addict but there are people who say their issues with food were comparable:
    I’m a recovering alcoholic, smoker and drug addict with a history of many rehabs, jail more often than I can count and several trips to the emergency room due to overdose.

    After I had been sober for several years, I started to develop an addiction to unhealthy foods.

    Full-blown addiction. Nothing more, nothing less.

    The reason I’m telling you this is to demonstrate that I know how addiction works.

    I’m here to tell you that food addiction is the same as addiction to drugs… exactly the same.
    --Food Addiction – A Serious Problem With a Simple Solution


    The authority nutrition quack's link to the scientific proof is hilarious and many don't deal with "food addiction" or even humans

    I wasn't posting science I was sharing my experience and the experience of a drug addict for the countless people using this site who feel like they have a problem and are looking for a solution -- whether there's "proof" that problem exists or not is irrelevant.

    That's not a solution, it's perpetuating faulty thinking and enabling the continuing of the real problem without ever getting to the root of it.

    You can go to therapy, get in touch with your feelings, your higher power, your inner child, dig deep for the "real problem" or any of the other woo... and if that works for you? More power to you and thank you for sharing your experience; I'm sure it will resonate for someone and be exactly what they need to hear to be successful.

    But while you do that I'll be over here eating in a way that resolves the issue and getting the same results without the therapy.

    Actually, I didn't go to therapy at all. I just learned through experience and was willing to admit over and over again that I was wrong.

    The biggest steps for me in my life, not just when it comes to weight, but for everything (actually, for me, losing weight is the last piece of a really complicated puzzle) were taking responsibility for my own actions and realizing that I didn't need to feel afraid of negative emotions. A large part of my weight problems were due to issues arising from those two factors.

    I grew into those realizations all on my own.

    No woo, no higher power, nothing.

    In other words, I finally grew up. Now, I say that... but my issue with food was mostly emotional. However, even after realizing what those emotional issues were, I was still left with bad habits that I needed to break. I had no sense of portion size, for example.

    I tend to think, for the most part, that the crowd who feels addicted to food does have an emotional aspect to their eating problem.

    So, yes, I will share my experience, because I think blaming the food is still masking the underlying emotional issue.

    IF it's just a matter of really, really liking ... say... sweets? Meh, you want to never eat them again? Have at it. But that wasn't the thrust of the link you provided. So I'll stick with the emotional aspect for the sake of this conversation.

  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
    Options
    hmvanwink wrote: »
    dmfish1 wrote: »
    I am not new to weight loss. I have a life long history of losing and gaining weight. I know the facts and the rules and in the end it is about balance, moderation and exercise. The most recent realization I have come to accept is that I am addict. YES. I am addicted to Food. In particular sugar,(and all the things sweeten by it) and bread type carbs.
    about 3 1/2 years ago, I was considering a surgical intervention for weight loss, but my insurance did not cover intervention for obesity. I had gone to preliminary meeting, and heard about what was expect of someone who had the surgery, how and what they were expected to eat.
    I met with my doctor and had serious discussion, about my Weight. she made a simple statement" sugar you just can not have it" that when a light really lit up.
    the diet post surgery was eat every 2hours, protein first, veggies and fruits.. no sugar sweets etc..
    I chose to eat no white potato, no rice/ pasta. sweet potato was ok
    to only eat bread that was high protein and fiber based. and my 2 indulges corn chips, and fat free pretzels. I decided 3 bread type carb per day only.
    I stopped eating ALL cookies, cakes, brownies, sweets of any kinds, any breads other the approved choices. I filled out my plate with protein and fruits and veggies.
    I did not weight and measure my food, I ate until I was full. and snacked often. I did not feel deprived at all.. I loss 67 lbs and felt good. I added exercise after losing 40 pounds
    I kept it off 2 years. then stress hit my life, I slowly starting adding those food back into my life( my old coping techniques, it made me feel good in moment, )
    at first it was ok, then it began to slip out of control. just like a boozer at the bar.
    I have now gain it back and am back on the wagon.
    So when someone ask if not eating certain types of food will help with weight loss. Yes, because when food is addition. Like any addict you can not do just a little of your feel good thing. IT will pull you back in. some of us have trigger foods/ or food groups
    I know this is a familiar story .. to many.


    I 100% agree with you on this. I am in the same situation. I lost 75 lbs here on MFP then stress hit, life hit and I'm back to eating the sugary carb crap and I can't stop. I'm up 15 lbs. I know what I need to do, but I just don't have the will power to do it. I'm am stressed to the max and a cake, cookie, donut or candy bar makes me feel all better. I am also a food addict.

    Willpower and addiction are two very different things. I'm not saying it's easy to have willpower, but a lack of willpower doesn't mean you are addicted. If that was the case then we would be able to tell heroin addicts to just have some willpower.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    Options
    OP I feel your pain dear. Here is a link to further prove your point and hopefully shut the mouths of the posters who don't really know what they are talking about. Best wishes to you on your journey.

    http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/addiction/

    Except it doesn't mention food at all, strong "proof" indeed.

    Has it occurred to you, that you are the one that doesn't know what they're talking about?
  • dlyeates
    dlyeates Posts: 875 Member
    Options
    So much to comment on......Good for you for knowing that it was your coping strategies that led to bringing food back into your life that you know is harmful to you as well as something you are addicted to.

    To those who question if sugar is addictive research studies have shows that sugar (especially processed sugar) is as addictive or more addictive that heroin and cocaine....1 example of many....http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2013/10/16/research-shows-cocaine-and-heroin-are-less-addictive-than-oreos/

    And addiction to substance is very individual and personal. Not everyone who smokes a cigarette likes it or becomes addicted to it. Not everyone has the same reactions to sugar as others. Not everyone who stresses out turns to food. Not everyone who uses marijuana or alcohol or other substances continue to do so or become addicted and don't want to stop. This is her experience, this is her addiction and just because you don't have the same addiction or the same reaction to sugar as she does does not mean it is not real to her and others.

    And to the pseudo-psychiatrists/counselors in the group, the DSM-V (the most recent DSM manual available) does include Binge Eating Disorder and is classified under the category of substance-abuse disorder....which shows that this is an addictive type of disorder. So you are wrong when discussing this.

    I'm a clinically licensed therapist and know that food addiction is a physically real occurrence and that this is categorized is the diagnostic community being in the same realm as drug addiction.....per the professionals.

    Congrats on knowing what your triggers are and if cutting out certain foods because of addiction, willpower or whatever is what you need then do so and don't listen to the naysayers who don't understand.
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
    Options
    If you really believe you're addicted to food, you should be seeing a therapist.

    People don't necessarily need therapy to break an addiction. Many people quit smoking without therapy.

    Right, but I don't believe in food/sugar addiction. So my best advice, without being a jerk, is to talk to someone about said addiction - because my belief is that it's psychological, rather than physical.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    Options
    dlyeates wrote: »
    So much to comment on......Good for you for knowing that it was your coping strategies that led to bringing food back into your life that you know is harmful to you as well as something you are addicted to.

    To those who question if sugar is addictive research studies have shows that sugar (especially processed sugar) is as addictive or more addictive that heroin and cocaine....1 example of many....http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2013/10/16/research-shows-cocaine-and-heroin-are-less-addictive-than-oreos/

    And addiction to substance is very individual and personal. Not everyone who smokes a cigarette likes it or becomes addicted to it. Not everyone has the same reactions to sugar as others. Not everyone who stresses out turns to food. Not everyone who uses marijuana or alcohol or other substances continue to do so or become addicted and don't want to stop. This is her experience, this is her addiction and just because you don't have the same addiction or the same reaction to sugar as she does does not mean it is not real to her and others.

    And to the pseudo-psychiatrists/counselors in the group, the DSM-V (the most recent DSM manual available) does include Binge Eating Disorder and is classified under the category of substance-abuse disorder....which shows that this is an addictive type of disorder. So you are wrong when discussing this.

    I'm a clinically licensed therapist and know that food addiction is a physically real occurrence and that this is categorized is the diagnostic community being in the same realm as drug addiction.....per the professionals.

    Congrats on knowing what your triggers are and if cutting out certain foods because of addiction, willpower or whatever is what you need then do so and don't listen to the naysayers who don't understand.

    let me guess…rat studies…??

    here is one that runs counter to your claim..

    http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261561409002398

    and no sugar DOES NOT equal cocaine or heroin.. That is a ridiculous statement that is a smack in the face to people with real addictions..