Food as an Addiction

Food as an Addiction

written by: Kosjenka Muk

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So many theories and rules have appeared lately concerning the consumption of food that many people, discouraged, just give up and return to their customary, unconscious and unnatural eating habits. As in every other area of life, my approach to food is to avoid too many petty rules and follow some simple, general principles which sound logical to me. One of the crucial ones, as far as food is concerned, is that it is prudent to eat the most natural and fresh food available and to avoid too processed food. Most people still do not consider this important because they do not wish to give up their enjoyment in the food they are used to eat. Still, the fact is that cardiovascular diseases - the result of incorrect eating habits - are the primary cause of death in western societies and most people start to suffer fairly early on in life from many degenerative processes. The most common one of these and the one often most dreaded is cellulite, but I also know quite a few young people, even students, who suffer from chronic diseases and pathological processes in the body, even though they are slim and do not eat much at all.

We are an addiction-obsessed civilization. We use every possible method or activity to draw our attention away from our real feelings and needs. Anything can serve as an addiction that can temporarily divert our focus from ourselves: from certain habitual daily activities to heavy psychoactive drugs. Food is one of the most common and most subtle addictions: as a rule there is a very low awareness not only of the effects of poor quality food, but also of addictive behaviour itself.

The reason for this is that we start to associate food with love and emotional satisfaction at a very early age. For babies, the time of feeding is often the most pleasurable one; it's associated with closeness and caressing. Older children, who are starting to face frustrations, prohibitions and social brain-washing, usually find relief in being reminded of that pleasure. At a deep level, we perceive the food we were given in an early age as something of emotional value, which makes it psychologically attractive.

Since many people have only the most superficial ideas about nutrition - and pay little attention to them anyway - usually the first food they give to children after breast milk is some unnatural, industrially produced food full of sugar and chemicals. Despite the unnatural, chemical smell of some of these foods, many people give it to their children without a second thought, thus creating a foundation for food addiction. As the child grows up, more and more processed sweets are given to him as an expression of love, a reward or a way to divert his attention. As adults we continue to use food for the same purpose, both for ourselves and our children. Most of us take far more care of our cars than our bodies!

Sugar has a molecular structure similar to alcohol and causes an emotional and physical addiction. Harvey and Marilyn Diamond in their book 'Fit for Life' state: 'If only half of what is known about sugar were known about any other substance used as a food additive, that substance would immediately be banned from human consumption'. Sugar (and other refined substances) deprive the body of Vitamin B, calcium and other minerals and sharply increase the production of acids and insulin. When the body has accumulated acids and toxins, the body retains water in order to neutralise it which is one of the reasons for the formation of cellulite.

Moreover, it appears that our bodies are genetically conditioned to crave sugar and fat above low-calorie food. Through millions of years, humanity had abundance of vegetable food available, but not so much of sugar and fat. Sugar and fat were essential for survival and energy, especially during winter. Nowadays, however, we have abundance of processed, highly addictive sugar and fat, are much less physically active, and our bodies still try to prepare for winter. Even so, it would be much easier to control that craving if it wasn't for emotional needs.

Apart from a chemical addiction, processed food causes an emotional addiction as well. From an early age processed foods, because of their pleasant taste and their stimulation of the production of endorphins, begin to be associated with emotional satisfaction and stress relief. Many people are familiar with the longing for sweets or other forms of food during times of stress or simply for emotional satisfaction. Many people even believe that this longing is healthy and natural. Where milder levels of addiction are concerned, moderate consumption of foods which we long for is sufficient to achieve the desired effect; however, when it comes to stronger emotions and a deeper emotional void, the person may become aware that not even large amounts of food can satisfy the emotional needs but only dull them. For different reasons, however, we often act as though we were too lazy to deal with these emotions.

In this way, not only do we put more and more toxins and other cumulative ingredients of poor quality foodstuffs into our bodies, but we also miss the possibility of healing emotions and discovering our own ability to create the feeling of emotional joy within ourselves in a spontaneous and natural way.

Even if we resolve our chemical addiction by controlling ourselves, emotional needs which we don't learn to satisfy in a healthy way will quickly stimulate a return to processed foods or a shift to another addiction. It's an illusion to hope that emotional addiction can be resolved through the use of willpower alone. Emotions cannot be resolved through suppression and rejection, especially not emotions which are so strong that they stimulate us to create addictions. In fact, these are not just temporary emotions; they are whole parts of our personality. We cannot heal these by ignoring or suppressing them, nor by waiting for them to resolve themselves by some miracle. The reasons why we suppressed them were initially strong, but the need of these parts of us to reach our consciousness and make themselves heard is just as strong. The more we suppress them, the more they are forced to strengthen and spend more energy in their messages. This is why the majority of diets or other methods by which we attempt to end addictions fail: with time the resolve diminishes and the strength of will is exhausted, while emotional pressure becomes stronger and stronger. One who doesn't know how to work with those emotions will soon return to his old habits or adopt some other addiction.

Non-smokers know very well the feeling of revulsion toward cigarette smoke, as well as the thought that someone could put smoke into their body. Nonetheless, the majority of non-smokers do the exact same thing through introducing to their bodies large quantities of processed foods that are not compatible with the human body.

The emotional and physiological consequences of food addiction are subtler than with other addictive substances, and hence are more difficult to perceive and accept. Still, even if we know these facts, we will often spontaneously activate our " defence mechanisms" to find excuses for addictive behaviour. This is a mechanism that is typical for any addiction: fooling ourselves that what we do is not really that damaging, that we have control, and that something that gives us such great pleasure cannot do us harm if we feel such a need for it.

Nonetheless, if we succeed to reject food of lesser quality for several months or years, especially processed foods, we will come to notice that such food becomes more repugnant to us. We might feel about eating for example chocolate as if we were eating plastic. We will also become more aware of the toxic effects such foods have on the purified body if we consume them in large amounts: such as the feeling of uneasiness, heaviness, revulsion and the need for the body to cleanse itself. A body that gets used to low quality foods slowly loses its capability to sense these warning signals.

I know a person who is a real hedonist, who enjoys food and has no desire whatsoever to rid herself of that pleasure. However, when she for the sake of an experiment decided to eat mostly fresh and light food for a time, she quite quickly noted that her tastebuds changed and she was less and less attracted to low quality, heavy foods. At no time did she try to force such a change in habits. Still it is important to note that despite her hedonism she was not really addicted to food in the first place; she was able to stop after quite small quantities. If she was addicted, it would be slower and more difficult for her to get to that point.

The consumption of low quality food that is poorer in vitamins, minerals and enzymes leads to malnutrition and 'starvation' of the body even when one eats large quantities. This stimulates a continuous need for food without the body ever feeling completely satisfied. Weight reduction diets usually decrease the amount of food consumed, but not necessarily increase its quality. In fact, the body becomes even more starved for nutrients and we will soon return to our old habits. As in other areas of life, the key is not in quantity, but quality.

Following strange beliefs and different rules of food perparation is maddening, as everyone who has tried to do so knows. However, if we learn to carefully listen to our own bodies from minute to minute, we will begin to recognise its subtle needs and we will recognise how much our energy rises and how we feel great with their fulfilment, in comparison to forceful and controlling methods such as rationally imposed dieting and exercise.

At this point it is important to learn the difference between healthy physical needs of the body and the unhealthy addictive needs. The majority of people who decide to follow the messages of their bodies use this idea as an excuse to follow their addictive cravings instead of healthy needs. The difference between these two different impulses is not easily defined as they are subtle bodily feelings, but through determination and awareness one can learn them. One difference is that unhealthy needs are usually much stronger and push us to need more than we really need, while healthy needs are subtler and don't continue after we have eaten what we needed. Compare how you feel when your body signals it would like an apple or some vegetables with the craving for sweets or hamburgers.

This process will most likely trigger emotions to surface - emotions that we were trying to suppress with food or emotional needs that we were trying to fulfill through food. To achieve a complete resolution of the problem, not just control over the consequences, one needs deep and continuous work on such emotions. The reward is great, though - a beautiful and healthy body as well as an increase in emotional satisfaction and quality of life.

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