I'll leave it up to the experts to make the final call but as a layperson? I can't tell the difference between a drug addict and someone who abuses food. I have them all in my family: drug addicts, alcoholics and sick people who can't stop eating junk. They all know how bad it is, they all really, truly desperately want to change and almost all of them still abuse their substance of choice.

I think we've made a huge mistake putting an emphasis on the emotional aspects of overeating and ignoring the role the food itself plays.

ETA: From my own experience eating junk food (aka carbs) and smoking were exactly the same. I'd have the same feeling of well being while smoking/eating and then a gradual build up of needing/wanting to smoke/eat again for my next "fix". Over the years I needed ever increasing amounts to be satisfied and I worked my way up to a 2+ pack a day smoking habit and ever increasing, insane amounts of junk food and morbid obesity.

When enough was enough and I resolved to quit that was the same too. The same cravings, panicky feelings and anxiety. With cigarettes it became easier and easier over time. With junk food it got harder. I struggled every. single. day. for six months with cravings, food obsession and compulsions to eat and keep eating while eating a moderate carb, no junk food diet.

Within a month of eating a low carb diet all of that food obsession was just gone -- like someone flipped an off switch in my brain. It wasn't the only thing I need to do to gain control over my eating and come out the other side -- eating anytime, anywhere, anything habits needed to be changed as well -- but low carb plays a crucial role. And every time I indulge and eat high carb (holidays, special occasions) I'm prepared for the cravings and insatiable appetite that almost always follows so I don't relapse into old, bad habits.

I don't know if I'm an addict or not -- I don't think I am but I use some of the same strategies that addicts use to prevent me from abusing food.

When a drop in blood sugar creates a hormonal surge to eat (carbs specifically) I'd say yes, it's an addiction. Retraining your body to settle for lowcarb foods, burning keytones, and having high carb food unavailable (not stocking it in your kitchen) are all reasons LCHF works.

I agree with the poster who said eating low carb over time lowers the background noise of carbs. It's all about habits, and humans are very habit driven, but reaching for the right foods and for food that don't cause more cravings when the insulin rush from storing excess sugar as fat floods your body, so yes, it's physiological too!

It's not just a mental or emotional thing when you consider the blood sugar/insulin responses in your body and then the high sugar drop and desire for more quick energy. Keeping blood sugar low and stable all day are vital. Eat carbs, raise blood sugar. It's logic.

AlabasterVerve wrote: »

Within a month of eating a low carb diet all of that food obsession was just gone -- like someone flipped an off switch in my brain.

I think it took longer than a month for me, but I also feel like a switch has been flipped. Some of my triggers have lost their power, which I frankly find amazing. But I don't push my luck.

I did a little experiment recently. I was full. No desire at all for food. Then I intentionally ate something that I found mildly addictive (cocoa-dusted almonds). I went back for seconds. So the fullness was enough to prevent cravings, but eating the addictive food was enough to trigger a craving for MORE.

But I was able to stop with almost no effort. For me, I think the problem is that some foods are just a quick and easy source of pleasure. A distraction from less pleasant tasks. The path of least resistance. And a path that makes you fat if you take it too often.

wabmester wrote: »

AlabasterVerve wrote: »

Within a month of eating a low carb diet all of that food obsession was just gone -- like someone flipped an off switch in my brain.

I think it took longer than a month for me, but I also feel like a switch has been flipped. Some of my triggers have lost their power, which I frankly find amazing. But I don't push my luck.

I did a little experiment recently. I was full. No desire at all for food. Then I intentionally ate something that I found mildly addictive (cocoa-dusted almonds). I went back for seconds. So the fullness was enough to prevent cravings, but eating the addictive food was enough to trigger a craving for MORE.

But I was able to stop with almost no effort. For me, I think the problem is that some foods are just a quick and easy source of pleasure. A distraction from less pleasant tasks. The path of least resistance. And a path that makes you fat if you take it too often.

The 30 day flipping an off switch effect sums up my experience when I finally got fed up and quit carbs cold turkey that my physical cravings for carbs stopped. It was like another 90 days before my mental addiction like cravings started to fade. Like I could remember what a lemon icebox pie tasted like and I want some. 6 months later I do not typically have a physical or mental craving for food that is going to cause me joint pain.

I have what I imagine to be a mild addictive type of relationship with carbs. When I had some, I wanted more within a pretty short order of time. If I couldn't get any I got migraines, the shakes, cranky and lightheaded. I had to eat every 2-3 hours, right up to bed time or I felt poorly. When I went lower carb (150g/day), I had the initial poor feelings, but the headache and fatigue lasted longer, and then I switched to keto and it got more intense for a few days. It may just have been the switch to ketosis but I don't think that is it.

I'm a celiac and I gave up gluten a few years ago. When I went GF I had a huge migraine for well over a week, was tired, cranky and week... the same as what I experienced when I went vLCHF. I was anything BUT low carb back when I went GF because I was proving to myself that I wasn't missing out; candies, pop, baked goods, and pretzels were daily foods for me.

Withdrawal from gluten is not at all unusual. It's known among well read celiacs that giving up something (a food) that is not good for you can cause a withdrawal, so I wasn't surprised when it happened again when I cut my sugars down to almost nothing, and my carbs pretty low.

I'm not sure if my carb issue is an addiction, chemical withdrawal, prediabetic blood sugar madness, or whatever, but it was definitely something - for me. And I know it was more than a craving. I still crave a cola sometimes but being many weeks away from having one it is not hard to ignore that craving unlike when I hadn't had my carbs for 3 hours. KWIM?

Kudos to you Angie for owning it and moving one. That's pretty impressive.

I feel like I have a very bad relationship with carbs.

I don't tell many people this as it's embarrassing, but for the first 5 weeks of using MFP I made lunch for my kids and locked all the food in the garage and made my partner take the key with him to work. I would shake and sweat and and tried to break in a few times.

Definitely disordered eating. I don't know about addiction.

Very interesting! I recently had an "addicting" experience myself. I allowed myself to indulge in chips and cookies once night, after being "good" for many weeks. THe next day I was totally craving again --- I wanted to stuff my face with more chips and cookies, it was nuts! I managed to stay on track after 24 hours but it was difficult. Couldn't believe how little it took.