This is the 7th in a series of blogs on the “Reality of our Food and the Demise of our Health.” Last week’s blog had some hard information to accept, I think this week might be even harder. But hopefully it will cause you to pause and take a good hard look at yourself, and I will be right there with you doing the same. Do we have a food addiction? That is the question for this week. And if we do, how is it affecting not only our own health, but the health of our families and even our community? Is it far more reaching than we even realize? And if we do have addiction, what can we do about it?
But first, I said I would start off each blog with what the definition and the function of food is, just so we remember what the foundation of our focus in this series is each week:
Definition of Food
Food: substance consisting essentially of protein, carbohydrate, fat, and other nutrients used in the body of an organism to sustain growth and vital processes and to furnish energy. The absorption and utilization of food by the body is fundamental to nutrition and is facilitated by digestion. (Britannica)
Food: material consisting essentially of protein, carbohydrate, and fat used in the body of an organism to sustain growth, repair, and vital processes and to furnish energy (Merriam Webster).
Function and purpose of food: …to sustain growth, repair and vital processes and to furnish energy.
Definition of Addiction:
From Merriam Webster’s Dictionary –
Noun
- compulsive, chronic, physiological or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, behavior, or activity having harmful physical, psychological, or social effects and typically causing well-defined symptoms (such as anxiety, irritability, tremors, or nausea) upon withdrawal or abstinence: the state of being addicted
- a strong inclination to do, use, or indulge in something repeatedly
You may already be familiar with my “before Jesus” story, but for new readers I’ll briefly share: almost 30 years ago I was an alcoholic – for 20 years. Then God healed me from that addiction in an instant. One morning I woke up and I no longer had a desire for another drink of alcohol, or cigarettes for that matter.
Twenty years later I was working for a women’s addiction recovery ministry as their fund-raiser. I would share with the ladies in the program that I had been an alcoholic. As they heard more of my story that it was all Jesus Who healed me, and that I never had to attend even one AA meeting, they looked at me with a bit of skepticism – if someone didn’t have to attend an AA meeting, or even struggle with cravings and have to fight them every day for the rest of their life, then they truly weren’t addicted to anything. I totally disagree. I know how I lived my life, and how I vowed to quit drinking many, many times before that last time – to no avail. There is no doubt in my mind that I had an addiction to alcohol – I never went out for the entire night and just socialize but never have a drink. Or even just one or two drinks, no I drank consistently, all night long until 2,3,4 or even 5:00 in the morning.
But here is something else I was addicted to at that time, but did not realize this until years later – socializing. Or what is more commonly known as FOMO – Fear of Missing Out. This too can be a type of addiction and I believe it contributed to my addiction to alcohol. Might you too be struggling with FOMO?
So you see, there are all types of addictions –
- Alcohol
- drugs
- cigarettes
- pornography
- shopping
- gambling
- and even socializing.
But what I want to talk about today is an addiction to food.
Can We Have an Addiction to Food?
We have been conditioned to think that food only has an impact on our digestive system,since that is where it initially goes, and is ultimately eliminated through. When we think of food sensitivities for example, we wrongly think that if we don’t have digestive symptoms of some kind – gas, bloating, cramping, constipation, diarrhea etc. then we don’t have food sensitivities.
But this is another misunderstanding of how our bodies work. Our body functions as a whole mechanism. There is actually a whole physiological understanding that has increasingly become more understood, and that is the gut/brain connection. Very simply put, if there is inflammation in the gut it has a direct correlation to inflammation in the brain as well.
The brain has hormones called neurotransmitters, or brain chemicals. Some of the more common neurotransmitters that we are all probably familiar with are dopamine and serotonin. But there are also some brain chemicals called leptin and ghrelin. Leptin is supposed to signal to the brain when the body is full, and ghrelin is supposed to signal to the brain that the body needs renourished — that is when the body is functioning optimally.
But it’s the brain chemical known as dopamine that we want to key into today. Dopamine is our “reward” center of our brain. When we consume or initiate in a pleasurable activity, the brain remembers that pleasure signal and reinforces the body to repeat the behavior. Depending on how healthy the brain and body are to begin with could dictate whether that behavior becomes excessive and unhealthy or not. This response is simply known as a chemical reaction occurring in the body. A stimuli and response reaction.
The thing with the body, however, is once this chemical reaction pathway in the brain becomes over-stimulated by one stimuli and response reaction, it opens the doors to other stimuli to follow suit much easier.
Simply put, if a person has addictive tendencies or behaviors to one thing, the chemical makeup in their body now makes them more susceptible to addictions to other things.Going with this understanding, it is not a secret that sugar and foods made with synthetic sugars, or foods that turn to sugar, are highly addictive. While there certainly can be an addiction to food in general, for the sake of this point I will focus on sugar in particular. After all, it is probably the synthetic sugars in a food addict’s diet that triggers over-eating behaviors in general. It’s not as common to hear of someone being addicted to fruits, vegetables or even clean animal products life beef, chicken, eggs etc.
It’s also been scientifically proven that sugar is just as addicting as cocaine and other chemical substances and stimulates the same chemical reactions in the brain. When I worked for the women’s ministry, I always encouraged staff as well as the participants that it was highly important that the women stay away from sugars, especially synthetic processed sugars as much as possible, in order to support, rather than hinder their efforts of remaining clean and sober. Just as drugs and alcohol can trigger their cravings, sugar can do the same thing – and not just for sugar, but for anything else they may have been addicted to.
So yes, we absolutely can have an addiction to food, and sugar, in particular. But one of the strong and over-whelming tendencies of those addicted to anything is denial.
The Far-Reaching Effects of Food Addiction
When I look at the Church, as the Body of Christ, across our country, I see addiction. No, no, not addiction to alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs, oh no, not in the Church Heaven forbid! We turn our noses up at “those people.” Well, hopefully not – in all seriousness, not in my church. But… I never hear any pastor — and I’ve attended many other churches in my almost 30 years of saved life – joke about the alcohol they consumed over the weekend, or the drugs, or dare I say, pornography they watched. But they sure don’t bat an eye when it comes to joking about their excessive girth and the unhealthy junk foods they consume.
Or the good-hearted, loving, well-meaning servant women who fix the covered dishes for every event the church has. If only these dishes were healthy, nutrient dense foods that nourish the congregants. If only Paul of the Bible included healthy foods as part of “taking up the whole armor of God.” But just because he didn’t doesn’t mean we still shouldn’t consider the vitalness of healthy bodies for us to fulfill all that God is calling us to be and do.
Processed foods, and sugars in particular, are literally killing us.They play a role in every single chronic disease from hypertension to cancer. Addiction is so apparent if you just look around us. From children on the playgrounds who can hardly move because they are so over-weight, to the under-privileged person we talked about last week, or the chronically ill riding hover carts in the grocery store with 6-packs of sodas hanging off the edges and loaves of white bread, frozen dinners and junk food loaded in their carts.
We use the excuse that we want to be a blessing to others by giving them cakes and other sweets, when in fact it is our very own addictive appetites that are driving us to do so and not face the truth.
If we just take a look around us – if we see someone with a chronic disease, are overweight or obese, and/or are on a bunch of medications – they almost certainly have an addiction to food. And conversely, food addiction is one of the roots to almost all chronic, degenerative diseases.It adversely affects all of us from our children to our seniors and everyone in between. Hardly anyone is immune to it, just in varying degrees.
As a side note: Just because someone is not over-weight, in fact they are under-weight, doesn’t mean they don’t have an addiction to food. There are binge eaters, and bulimics, and folks struggling with anorexia who have their own kind of addiction going on.
How Did We Get Here?
As I’ve talked about in previous blogs in this series, the food industry is a multi-billion-dollar industry. They employ the top of the top scientist to make you come back for more of their products. In particular, salt, sugar and fat. Michael Moss’ book of the same title “Salt, Sugar, Fat” is still one of the most enlightening journalistic reads to me, that will open one’s eyes to the truths of the packaged and processed food industry as well as the fast food industry. He has a more recent book that I am still reading but is a good read so far as well: “Hooked – Food, Free Will, and How the Food Giants Exploit our Addictions.” And Dr. Joel Fuhrman also has a great read “Fast Food Genocide – How Processed Food is Killing Us and What we Can Do About it”. I have found both of these authors to be highly reputable and would encourage you to pick up a copy for further enlightenment.
To book Dr. Jackie for speaking engagements go to:
https://jackiemckool.com/schedule-jackie/
8 Common Symptoms of Food Addiction
There certainly are psychological health problems related to food, diagnosis like Bulimia and Anorexia for example. But just because you weren’t diagnosed with one of these, or they don’t fit your behavior doesn’t mean you don’t have a food addiction.
The following is a list of symptoms of food addiction from the Healthline website. Although just because you don’t experience any of these doesn’t let you off the hook. If you think you might have a problem? You probably do!
- Having cravings despite feeling full
- Eating much more than intended
- Eating until feeling excessively stuffed
- Feeling guilty afterward but doing it again soon
- Making up excuses (this to me is very common – justification is a manipulating evil!)
- Repeated failures at setting rules (for yourself around eating)
- Hiding eating from others
- Unable to quit despite physical (health) problems
For greater clarity on any one of these symptoms you can go to Healthline’s article here.
What Are NOT Solutions
Bariatric surgery is not a solution. This is certainly not getting to the root cause of the health problem – ever. I have known far too many people who have had gastric bypass surgery over the years, and every one of them that I have known about have gained their weight back and struggled with additional health problems on top of it.
Trading one addiction for another, like AA does is not a solution. They permit, and at times even encourage their participants to smoke cigarettes, drink sodas, consume sugary foods to sway their mind off alcohol and onto anything else. Now they might not come right out and say that is what they are suggesting, but sublimely at least, that is what is taking place in the body and the brain.
Attempting to overcome your addiction in your own strength is not the way to go either. Addiction is powerful and it’s truly only through the strength of Jesus Christ that you can overcome this fully.
How to Overcome Food Addiction
First, you must admit you are addicted to food/sugar.
Next, pray and ask God to walk alongside of you on this journey. I promise you, His desire for you is to be healthy and whole. Eat the foods He made, not the foods man made. He will not ask you to do more than is possible. When you step out first and do the possible, He will come alongside of you and do the impossible. Trust Him in this.
Know there is a difference between a commitment and a desire – make a commitment to yourself and to God that you will overcome this – “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” but “apart from Him I can do nothing.”
Don’t grocery shop when you are hungry, and certainly not when you are most vulnerable – angry, sad, or even feeling celebratory. If it doesn’t go in the cart, it can’t make it to the kitchen cabinet.
Start by eating nothing but real food – nothing processed. Maybe you find it overwhelming to jump in with both feet – all or nothing at first. But perhaps start with fruits and vegetables. Only consume them fresh or frozen. And if frozen, make sure they are not in a prepared dish form – another words without sauces and seasonings etc. Start making those things yourself.
Or maybe you just commit to eliminating all snack foods, which are really “junk foods” and appropriately named. What happens if you no longer consume chips, crackers, cookies, cakes and candies – in any shape or form? For one, you will have more disposable income in your pocket to put towards healthier foods, and two you will be well on your way to breaking your addiction to food.
Perhaps pursue Celebrate Recovery’s 12-Steps to your food addiction. Here is a link to their steps.
In Summary
- Bottom line is food addiction is real, and it’s a major problem for the majority of our population.
- The first step to correcting this is admit we have an addiction to food, and sugar in particular.
- Packaged and processed foods, and in particular sugar, are highly addictive foods that are literally killing us.
- The majority of people have some degree of food addiction.
- Food addictions trigger the same addictive pathway in the brain, triggering pleasure hormones – dopamine in particular – as cocaine and other illicit drugs do.
- One addiction can lead to other addictions.
- If you are a recovering addict to alcohol or illegal substances, above all, stay away from packaged, processed foods and sugars.
- With God, all things are possible – you CAN overcome your addictions!
Do you like to get a jump on your Christmas shopping? How about gifting that special someone who wants to learn more about their health with a copy of “Are You Being Deceived About Truth Wellness?” “Are You Being Deceived About Truth Wellness?”
Did you miss the first Four blogs in this series? Visit them now…
“The Reality of Our Food and the Demise of Our Health”
“Genetics or Lifestyle?”
“How Did We Get Here? The History of Processed Foods”
“Ingredients Over Nutrition Facts”
Non-GMO’s USDA Organic, Gluten-Free – Important Food Labels!
“Are We Sending the Underprivileged to an Early Grave?”