Food Addiction …
…. you may crave the food you are allergic to
Part 5 – Food Addiction
article by Dieter Luske – Copyright
Here is an essential question for you:
“What are 6 foods or drinks you never would like to give up“?
If you can’t give up a specific food, you are addicted to that food.
Yes, we may crave the food we are allergic to. And yes, they are probably the foods most likely associated with weight gain; therefore, those may be the foods that need to be replaced.
The good news is; that food addiction is not as hard to overcome as an addiction to cigarettes, alcohol or heroin.
Food addiction is a combination of; taste addiction, habits, allergies, chemical addiction and burned-out taste buds.
By re-educating your taste, you may overcome your addiction.
Let’s have a good long look at sugar.
“Sugar addiction”…… is sugar a drug?
It may be argued that sugar addiction is not a real addiction; however, who cares? It’s just a term; the real problem is most people have too much sugar. Apparently, we can’t be without it … or can we?
If you could choose a phobia, choose a sugar phobia, it’s good for you; it stops you from eating sugar.
In recent years, many people have become fat phobic, but that hasn’t helped them lose weight because fat is not the main weight-gaining culprit; sugar, your mind and habits are.
I predict that the average overweight person will lose 6 kg within the first 3 months just by cutting out sugar.
If you like to start improving your diet right now, cut out sugar.
If we were in control of our sugar consumption, we would be fine, but unfortunately, sugar has crept into absolutely everything; it’s hard to get away from it. And there is enough evidence to suggest that the more sugar you consume, the more you want it.
Supermarket shelves are loaded with addictive foods; everything is sweet, salty or extra spicy, all addictive and extremely bad for our health.
The only way to avoid sugar is to get on to a well-balanced natural diet, meaning to cut out processed food and stick to fresh and unprocessed foods.
There is no need to switch to an alternative sweetener; as you already know, artificial sweeteners may be worse for your health than sugar.
Once we understand that sugar is simply a “taste” addiction, we may just as well admit we have been sucked in; we have become totally taste conditioned.
How can we break that conditioning?
Go cold turkey; for about 7 to 10 days, have no sugar, including honey, sweeteners etc. After that, your taste buds will respond to the natural sweetness in vegetables and other food sources. The need for sugar will be gone, free at last.
Why is sugar bad?
Sugar is the number one contributing factor to weight gain, and in addition, it is detrimental to blood sugar problems, like diabetics and other metabolic processes. It is negatively associated with high blood pressure – cholesterol – skin problems – stress problems, and much more; there is no metabolic function where sugar is not involved.
Australia is now officially the fattest nation in the world, with more than nine million adults classified as obese or overweight, which is highly unhealthy and has been shown to increase the risk of many chronic illnesses, including “metabolic syndrome”.
What is metabolic syndrome?
Metabolic syndrome is a condition often seen in people who are obese or overweight. This condition can affect your blood sugar control, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure and can significantly increase your risk of developing heart disease and/or diabetes.
Metabolic syndrome is now recognised as a significant contributing factor to the two major causes of death in our society: heart disease and cancer. In fact, if you have metabolic syndrome, this increases your risk of heart attack and stroke by around 500%!
1 in 4 Australian adults have metabolic syndrome – could this be you?
If you have been diagnosed with one or more of the following conditions, you may have metabolic syndrome, and therefore another strong motivation to change your lifestyle:
- High blood pressure.
- Diabetes or at risk of diabetes.
- Problems with your triglycerides or cholesterol.
- Carrying extra weight around your waist.
Keeping your weight under control is the first step to addressing metabolic syndrome.
Where the fat is stored significantly influences the risk of metabolic syndrome.
Abdominal fat (i.e. fat around your midsection) increases your risk far more than general body fat (i.e. fat on hips and thighs).
Now to the Good News…
If you think you may already have metabolic syndrome, it’s not all bad news. Metabolic syndrome is primarily caused by diet and lifestyle, and much can be done to remedy the condition. Losing weight by improving your diet and lifestyle will address all previously mentioned health problems.
As you noticed, this weight loss program is about convincing you to change your lifestyle, specifically your attitude to yourself and food.
Once you conclude that you can change, weight loss is guaranteed, and not only that, but because of the changes you have achieved within yourself, the weight will stay off.
I am sure you know that most diets, to a certain degree, help you to lose weight; therefore, the initial weight loss is hardly disputed by anyone. It’s all about keeping it off.
Let’s do some more mind-changing exercises.
This statement we all know to be true; “use it or lose it”.
Doesn’t that sound fantastic? How can we make that stick to our weight loss program?
Physically speaking, it’s straightforward… check your muscles; have you used them?
You will lose your muscles if you are not moving and not doing any exercise.
Unfortunately, they are not lost in a way that they just drop off. Muscles you lose are converted to fat.
You know this already; if you eat more than you need for energy, you gain weight.
If you don’t move much, don’t do exercise but still eat as much as you would have done with the exercise, guess where the excess is going to go, it converts to fat.
Many people gain weight by simply not adjusting their food intake once they have stopped working or stopped some specific activity.
Understand food like petrol for your car, you wouldn’t add more petrol than you need, you wouldn’t add petrol when you are not driving. Petrol is the energy that drives your car, food is the energy that drives you, and this energy input has to be adjusted.
You either do more physical activities, or you eat less, and if you eat less, you need to eat more consciously nutritious food.
My granddad was always slim; his motto was; “stop eating before you are full“.
That’s how simple it can be, but can you achieve something that simple? That’s another question; that’s where we talk mind issues again.
Why do you eat more than you need to eat?
Is that something you can work out? Sure you can….
The following chapter will be about addressing weight Issues and Weight loss strategies.
… Part 6 – Weight loss strategies – making weight change happen
Article by Dieter L. – N.D.-D.C.H.-D.M.H.-D.H – Writer & Holistic Health Consultant
Holistic Weight Loss Menu
- Part 1 – Free Holistic Weight Loss Guide Canungra – Introduction
- Part 2 – Holistic Weight Loss – Lifestyle Change
- Part 3 – Massive Weight Loss
- Part 4 – Eating Habits
- Part 5 – Food Addiction
Disclaimer:
The information provided in this article is intended for general use and for personal interest only. It should not be used or understood as a suggestion or medical advice.