Eating Mindfully HOW TO CHANGE YOUR REL ATIONSHIP WITH FOOD
BY ASHLEY CARTER YOUNGBLOOD, LMSW, LMFT, CMHIMP
In my work as a holistic psychotherapist*, I am seeing an ever-growing number of people describing that they do not have a healthy relationship with food, feel “addicted” to food (especially sweets), or have disordered eating.
WHY IS FOOD SO POWERFUL? Given that food affects our bodies, food affects our brains. The challenge is that, with the high rates of processed foods, considerations like hidden GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms), the prevalence of soy, gluten, and dairy in not only our food but also things like cosmetics and vitamins, and the frequency of sugar in just about everything (Don’t believe me? Take a look at not only the nutrition facts on your food but, more importantly, the ingredient list), food now has a life of its own. Let’s just explore one of the things in this list: sugar. Research clearly shows that sugar is more addictive than cocaine. Brain scans show that the brains of those addicted to sugar and highly-processed carbohydrates commonly found in our Western Diet (appropriately called the S.A.D. – Standard American Diet) show the same patterns as those addicted to drugs. Julia Ross details this in her book, The Craving Cure, and also describes that we have evidence
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that the dairy and highly-processed carbohydrate products (often containing gluten) actually function like opioids (e.g. Oxycontin, heroin) in the brain, triggering addiction to these ingredients.
One study Julia Ross describes that I think is particularly illustrative is that, when prescriptions like Naloxone or Naltrexone, traditionally prescribed for people addicted to opioids to help them remain sober, are given to those with a sweet-tooth, they no longer receive pleasure from eating that food. The endorphins released while eating the guilty pleasure are eliminated! This means that food is not just food or a matter of will power. There is a reason why we simply cannot imagine living without cookies. (Consider exploring Gary Taubes’ “The Case Against Sugar” for more details about the connection between food, sugar, and addiction). And, that’s just the chemistry of food! From a behavioral perspective, no longer do we simply hunt or harvest whole foods we have raised ourselves, cooking it mere seconds after it was harvested feet away. Or favored foods have become what is convenient and what tastes good (i.e. sweet). This reflects my belief that food has become so powerful partially because we have become disconnected from it.
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