Habit/Addiction

[Neenee Jellybeanie]

So perhaps this is just a bunch of new age fuddy duddy, but I am honestly starting to think I have an addiction to food, particularly sugar. Actually, definately sugar.

I have been overweight nearly my whole life except for when I was a toddler and when I was bulimic. I am too smart for this! Yet nothing works. I exercise and I enjoy exercise but I just can't get my eating under control. I noticed tonight that I bought a sweet today . . . it's my 3rd sweet!! Actually if you include the fact that I had chocolate milk during the day, it's my 4th! Actually . . . is two biscuits one sweet or two? If it's two, then I have had 5! This is insane! But I just don't feel like I have any self control whatsoever.

I took DD out for lunch and was drinking my chocolate milk and the woman who owns the health food store saw me and she smiled but she gave me a bit of a look before - last time I saw her I was doing a body cleansing/raw vegan thing (which I stopped when I got kicked out because it just fell off the priority list).

I lost weight in the 2nd half of last year (about 12kgs I think) but put a lot of that back on. I'm now 6kgs more than my lowest weight last year. I'm so tired of losing and gaining, my skin looks terrible.

SO after my rant, my question is, are there any natural approaches I can take to deal with this once and for all? Any good books? Acupuncture, herbal medicine, counselling? Anything? I am so sick of this!

[LimeSlice]

I really do know how you feel Nee!
I wish I had some brilliant advice, but I am still working on that myself.
The one thing I do know is that your body will crave sugar if you are lacking in fibre or protein I think it is. A bowl of Fibre Plus when you want a chocolate bar, will help the sugar cravings...

...Now if I could just get the exercise part !
Yes you can get counselling for food addiction. I would think though that the old nugget of emotional or boredom eating would be addressed first and foremost.
Anyway, if you want to talk , just MSN me.
I have no doubt that a woman of your capability can overcome this problem

[Astrid]

Seeing a Naturopath could help you. They will take a holistic approach, looking at what you eat, why, exercise levels, sleeping, any health concerns, mood etc They will work out what you are deficient in (I was deficient in zinc and magnesium), as often these can cause the cravings that make you want to eat more. I was also give a basic eating plan, what foods were good for me and what I should avoid.

They are not cheap, as you have the consultation and then the tonics etc. It is so worth it though, as what you are getting is like a multi vitamin just for you, plus other herbs to help where needed. Mine was also part councillor, she was just so good to talk to, I always felt better afterwards.

If you can't see a Naturopath, you could try something like in-liven to help top up those missing nutrients. Also as you are concerned about sweets, you may want to look at how much bread, potatoes that you are eating. Sometimes we eat them at the sacrifice of vegetables. Try having salad for lunch rather than a sandwich.

[AnyDream]

I got this in my intray earlier this month and nearly fell of my chair because it's something I always suspected to be the case about myself:

Is the GI a key to unlocking a hidden addiction?
Doing something about the obesity epidemic is at the top of most public health agendas. Talk about budget blow out! The financial cost to the whole community of burgeoning waistlines is scary. New Zealand scientists from the University of Auckland explore the idea in Medical Hypotheses that addiction could be an important factor causing the obesity epidemic. They compare and contrast the evidence about nicotine addiction to food and GI and suggest that if high GI foods like corn flakes or white bread are the villain of the piece, ‘low GI equivalents may be the saviour’. The point of the study is really the public health implications of the theory. As the researchers point out: ‘Just as tax increases and control of advertising have proved effective in reducing the prevalence of smoking, similar strategies may help reduce the obesity epidemic.’


Dr Simon Thornley

Lead researcher Dr Simon Thornley, from Auckland Regional Public Health Service, said foods with a high GI caused blood glucose levels to spike, and this rush stimulates the same areas of the brain associated with addiction to nicotine and other drugs. He reports evidence showing that people who binged on high GI carb foods experienced loss of control, a compulsion to keep taking higher amounts to get the same ‘buzz’, and suffered withdrawal if they went ‘cold turkey’.

‘It's a novel idea that draws on strong evidence that glucose consumption influences levels of the feel-good chemical serotonin in the brain, says Sydney University’s Prof Jennie Brand Miller. ‘Although all foods take about 30 minutes to peak and the overall shape of the post-meal glycemia curve is similar for high, medium and low GI foods, high-GI foods peak and fall at substantially greater levels. Our recent study that explored the association between a food’s GI and the shape of the curve clearly suggests that to control high blood glucose after meals, carb quality (or its GI) and carb quantity both count (see the abstract). So the general message is say “low GI” with carb-rich foods as well as watching portion size.’

[Kazbah]

this may sound strange, but it's working for my g/f ...

eat high-fibre foods. she's eating brans, blueberries, lots of stuff, but as it's all high-fibre she feels fuller and isn't looking at stuff like sugar content. And she's not missing her chocolate addictioin!

[sushee]

I don't know how much this will help you, Nee, but I did find that when I was on my pre-op diet for my surgery, I had to cut out all sugars, and the two weeks on that diet, I believe, got me to overcome my sugar addiction.

I had the worst migaine on day 2 and 3 of the diet, I was cranky and tired and unhappy, but then from the 4th day onward all those things gradually went away. By the end of those two weeks, I'd stopped craving sugary foods altogether (and still don't crave them now).

In my mind, what I did was give up sugar cold turkey - even though that wasn't the intention of my pre-op diet, that was one of the 'side effects'. It was bloody hard those first few days and I do believe that the migraines and mood swings were a symptom of my withdrawal from sugar. I now don't drink coke (used to have at least a can a day) I don't eat sweets, I don't eat chocolate much (maybe a small piece or two if I feel like it or it's an occasion) and I don't eat cookies. I don't so much consciously avoid these things as it's just that I don't crave them anymore. If I do have something sugary now, I feel ill and get a headache.

So like any habit/addiction, you need to break the cycle. And sometimes going cold turkey can work.