Food Addiction

Food addiction is essentially no different than drug addiction. Certain foods, especially those whose calories are absorbed very rapidly, signal the reward centers of the brain, causing dopamine to be released as these foods are eaten. The trouble-causing foods include:

• Processed/refined foods, especially sweets
• High-fat foods or other high-calorie foods, such as fried food
• Excessive salt
• Higher-fat animal products

Although dopamine is involved in many processes in the body, it also gives you a feeling of euphoria or a “high.” Just as addictive drugs, that can give you a “high,” the euphoria of dopamine is short-lived and can be followed by a “low” that causes depression, lack of pleasure, fatigue, and difficulty concentrating.

In addition to the effects addictive foods have on brain neurotransmitters, the build-up of metabolic wastes from eating unhealthful foods also complicates and contributes to addictive overeating. This is because withdrawal discomfort from metabolic toxins occurs in the non-feeding, non-digestive state, driving unhealthful eaters to eat too frequently to quell ill feelings, particularly fatigue, headache, and stomach cramping.

It is physically painful to stop smoking, drinking, and eating unhealthy foods. The feelings of shakiness, nausea, headaches, stomach cramping, fatigue, and uneasiness that make people feel they have to eat something are the result of detoxification symptoms from eating unhealthful food.

To conquer food addiction permanently, you must avoid highly flavored and calorically concentrated processed foods. You need to flood the body with high-nutrient foods to normalize detoxification channels.

When we experience this variety of neurologic and metabolic side effects from eating unhealthy foods, it can create unfavorable symptoms, such as:

• Anxiety
• Impaired emotions and thoughts
• Impulsiveness
• Aggression
• Compulsiveness
• Lack of self-control

Food addiction fuels our nation’s health care crisis and obesity epidemic. The answer to keeping our natural potential for food addiction under control is to eat more natural, whole plant foods. Adopting a Nutritarian diet-style allows for a comfortable, and satisfied feeling, yet avoids the extreme “highs” and “lows” of low-micronutrient eating. This allows us to enjoy our food when we eat it, and then later have the ability to enjoy other parts of our lives, without being distracted by the effects of food addiction and its associated ill feelings.

Low-nutrient, high-glycemic foods are also associated with depressed mood, making life more difficult for the food addict. Abstaining from unhealthy, addictive foods is hard at first, but doing so brings tremendous benefits. You will find yourself regaining pleasure from food, as your tastes and food preferences change. And the biggest bonus of all is that eating healthfully can save you from a life of medical suffering and premature death.

Diet

Follow a Nutritarian eating style by doing the following:

• Avoid processed and refined foods (sugar, oils, spreads, refined grains, etc.).
• Eat only whole foods.
• Avoid excessive animal product intake, limiting to only a few ounces, and at less frequency.
• Limit salt intake.
• Fill a significant portion of your meal with raw and/or cooked whole plant foods (vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and fruit).

Read Eat for Health, which gives you strategies to help change your taste buds to enjoy natural wholesome flavors.

Other Considerations

Just like any addiction, food addiction is much easier to tackle when you are not alone in your efforts. Consider the following:

• Join a support group of like-minded people who are following a Nutritarian diet-style by becoming a member of DrFuhrman.com and participating in the forums.
• Create or join a local meet-up group for sharing Nutritarian meals and recipes.
• Seek out a professional who can give you personalized and confidential support, such as a therapist from our Success Program. This program was created especially for food addicts who are having difficulty getting started with the Nutritarian diet-style.