Food Addiction: Lack Of Education Leads To Compulsive Behavior

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As a Nutritional Practitioner, I see a lot of clients who complain about being addicted to food. This addiction, according to them, is likened to what an alcoholic or mild drug user suffers from: compulsive eating behaviour, binging, unnatural responses or actions, lying, etc. Most of this is said to be triggered by emotions, negative life events, boredom, or depression.

I agree that there are similarities with food addiction to other addictions; such as obsession with a substance to alter mood or outlook, overt or harmful  behaviours, or lack of self-control. But rather than blame the substance, we have to look at what triggers the response to the condition.

Many people are on destructive (restrictive) dietary paths which result in nutrient deficiencies. Indulging in fractionated carbohydrates, junk foods, canned and boxed foods which contain either starches, sugars or simple carbohydrates, only sets up a further strong psychological drive for more of these foods.  Why? Because they boost our immediate outlook through higher glucose conversion and temporary energy. But like other destructive substances, the end result is very short lived.

Refined Foods Don’t Lead To Good Health

As a society, we live for instant gratification. Rather than eating foods which give us long term energy, we desire a quick pick-me-up, even though we know the cycle has to be repeated over and over during the day, leaving us exhausted. Part of the problem is what manufacturers tell shoppers. Words such as diet, whole, goodness and so on are meaningless in light of what the food endures during processing.

In Canada, whole wheat is not “whole.” As much as 70% of the nutrients may legally be destroyed through removal of much of the kernel, which reduces shelf life. Whole wheat is not a whole grain – period. It is a product which, through loss of many of the nutrients (wheat germ and wheat germ oil), as well as bran and middlings, is now a fast absorbing energy food which spikes blood sugar. But still, our government says the end product remains good for us. In effect,  manufacturers legally (yet immorally) lie to us, desiring profit more than our good health.

Educate Yourself

Much of this can be remedied by education. With the availability of the internet and more authors writing about whole food nutrition, we should be able to find proper information on the subject. However, the excuse I frequently hear is that, “I don’t have enough time.” My answer is always the same: “Do you have the time to get sick?” Because once a person is on their sickbed, they cannot earn money, nor can they enjoy the fruits of their labour. Balanced nutrition is not an option, but a necessity to “keep the ability to be busy.”

Another angle is our relationship to food. Do we understand that restricting nutrients sets us up for psychological cravings? Most diets are about weight loss, rather than good health. Authors care more for immediate results, because this brings in income. Yet most of the poor souls reading these books don’t equate their subsequent weight gain (once off the diet) with the diet itself. Diets are a sham, which is why your 20 pound weight loss ultimately results in a net 40 pound gain. This is a protective mechanism of the body to an unnatural restriction of needed substances – a sure plan for long term failure. It’s an addictive cycle: We desire the short term weight loss rather than thinking about the end result. This is somewhat like the steroid user, or the person taking diet pills. Yes, there may be immediate dramatic results, but in the end, we suffer even more.

Don’t Worry – Make Decisions!

Dietary rules also get us thinking too much about what should be an enjoyable experience. All this weighing and calculating is a drain on a pure pleasure – the enjoyment of wholesome food. We should be able to look at a food and immediately understand if it is good or bad. Has it been refined? Then there is a great chance it is not healthy. I don’t care at all about what we are told to the contrary. I have thousands of clients who have had success with this approach. It does not lead to worry about food, because it merely entails making in immediate decision. We do this daily with our jobs. If you do “fall off the wagon,” get up and try again.

Those who eat to manage compulsive behaviours or emotions need to realize that whole foods also satisfy. Sweet, salty or fatty foods may increase serotonin or stimulate dopamine receptors in the brain, giving a temporary feel good situation. But they always result in a subsequent crash. On the other hand,  whole foods do the same, though not as strong in the short run. Wouldn’t you like to feel good in the long term, without getting depressed, run down, sad, or suffer anxiety? Fractionated foods WILL increase these feelings and set the person up for a vicious cycle of weight gain, ill health and and increased emotional disorders.

We Are To Blame

As a society, we are too dependent on psychological help. Everything is the fault of someone else, something or some situation. We don’t look at ourselves, our actions and our outlook on situations. Though some will define this approach as simplistic, it is because they have been taught to feel this way; are in the business of treating people affected by these situations, or profit from them.

You are not addicted to foods, and neither are you powerless over them and have to practice abstinence. We have been given a brain to use, but we don’t do so in many instances. The biggest predictor of weight gain (or ill health), is a level of self restraint. Don’t succumb to eating amnesia (unknowingly putting hand to mouth from a bag, box or plate). This is nothing more than mindless eating. Sit, relax and enjoy, but don’t stop thinking about what you are doing. You wouldn’t do it crossing the street (for fear of getting injured). Why do it through long term self poisoning?

Choose well, don’t diet, and don’t indulge in foods which injure the body. I have hundreds of articles on this blog which go into more detail about what I have  written here. Read them and educate yourself about balanced nutrition.

How Your Body Works: Simple Overview Of Organ Systems

Editors Comment: The following is a fairly easy to digest article on the organ systems of the body, by Dr. Ben Kim. It provides an overview of the systems that keep you well, giving enough information about your health so that you don’t have to rely on others to make decisions for you. If you can teach the basics yourself, then you have enough knowledge to avoid disease.

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How Your Body Works: Overview Of The Body’s Organ Systems

By Dr. Ben Kim

August 19, 2008

Source: http://drbenkim.com/organ-systems.htm — Experiencing your best health as you age doesn’t have to be complicated. Actually, the secrets to staying healthy as you age are profoundly simple. But don’t expect the majority of licensed physicians to share this opinion.

Some health practitioners understand that using complicated medical jargon tends to establish themselves as authority figures who should be respected and obeyed. Explaining simple truths on how to stay healthy isn’t a good technique for building a reputation as a brilliant physician.

If you want to be relatively free of the fear of not knowing enough about your health that you have to rely on others to make big decisions for you, it’s critical that you take some time to learn about how your body works.

The goal of this series of articles is to give you a broad look at the major organ systems in your body and how they work together to keep you well. As you read this series, I encourage you to adopt the mindset of having to learn this material well enough to teach it to a group of junior high school students – this mindset should lead to an excellent understanding of how to care for your health.

Before we look at the major organ systems that work to keep you well, let’s first review some basic definitions.

You’re likely familiar with most or all of the major organs in your body. Your brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, stomach, liver, gall bladder, spleen, and pancreas are well known examples of organs. Less well known as organs are your bones and skin.

Your organs are collections of specialized tissues, and your tissues are collections of groups of cells. So in reverse order, a simple, big picture look at your anatomical make-up looks like this:

Your cells are the basic living units that make up your body.

Groups of cells come together to form specialized tissues.

Groups of tissues come together to form your organs.

This bird’s eye view of your physical make-up is important because it highlights the following point:

The health of every organ in your body is determined by the health of the cells that make up your organs. When the majority of cells that make up any organ in your body are healthy, that organ is likely to be healthy; the converse is true as well – when most of the cells that make up one of your organs are dysfunctional or diseased, that organ is likely to be dysfunctional.

Given all of the above, it makes sense, then, that taking care of your organs requires that you take care of your cells.

The most important determinant of the health of every cell in your body is the quality of blood that is supplied for ongoing nourishment and removal of waste products. The blood that your heart pumps to all of your cells delivers nutrients and oxygen to fuel ongoing energy production within your cells. Steady blood flow also ensures regular removal of waste materials from your cells, which keeps your cells uncluttered and free to function properly.

The cells that make up your heart no different than the rest of the cells in your body – your cardiac cells also require a steady supply blood, nutrients, and oxygen, and your cardiac cells receive these things via your coronary arteries. So just as your heart delivers nutrients and oxygen to the cells of your kidneys, stomach, and liver, your heart also delivers nutrients and oxygen to its own cells.

If, over time, your coronary arteries become damaged and less capable of delivering a steady supply of blood to the cells of your heart, you may experience chest pain, shortness of breath, and other symptoms that are typical of a heart attack. Heart attacks are usually caused by some degree of blockage in the coronary arteries. If the cells of your heart don’t receive steady, quality blood flow, your heart will eventually lose its capacity to pump blood, nutrients, and oxygen to the rest of your body.

The main point here is this: all of the cells that make up the many organs in your body have the same basic requirements to stay healthy, with the first and most important requirement being steady blood flow. Clearly, the healthier your diet and lifestyle are, the healthier your blood will be. And the healthier your blood is, the healthier your cells will be.

It’s true that certain foods and substances are known to have specific effects on specific organs. For example, we know that eating foods that are rich in the omega-3 fatty acid, DHA, is good for promoting optimal brain function. We also know that eating foods that are rich in vitamin D can help promote healthy bones and teeth. But it’s incorrect to think that these nutrients produce only these specific results. When you eat foods that are rich in DHA and vitamin D, these nutrients touch all of your cells, not just the cells that make up your brain, bones, and teeth.

In the same vein, when you expose yourself to prescription drugs, recreational drugs, and other environmental pollutants, all of your cells are touched – there is no such thing as a “side” effect.

So now that we’ve hammered home the principle that the health of your organs is determined by the health of your cells, and that the health of your cells is determined by all of your daily food and lifestyle choices, let’s move on to an overview of your organ systems.

You have eleven organ systems that govern all of your physiological activities. They are as follows:

1. Nervous System
2. Endocrine System
3. Cardiovascular System
4. Respiratory System
5. Digestive System
6. Urinary System
7. Muscular System
8. Skeletal System
9. Integumentary (Skin) System
10. Immune System (includes Lymphatic System)
11. Reproductive System

Aside: Not included in any of the organ systems listed above are “special sense” organs that you need to see, hear, smell, taste, and maintain your balance.

Each of your organ systems are groups of organs that work together to carry out specific duties in your body. For example, your digestive system is an organ system that requires contributions from a number of organs, including your stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, pancreas, and gall bladder; all of these organs work together to digest the foods that you eat, and transfer the nutrients in the foods that you eat from your small intestine to your cells.

Some organs contribute essential work to more than one organ system. For example, your pancreas plays an important role within your digestive system by secreting digestive enzymes into your small intestine, but your pancreas is also an irreplaceable component of your endocrine system, as it produces three important hormones that are secreted into your bloodstream and have system-wide effects.

Finally, it’s important to point out that all of your organ systems affect one another. We’ve already looked at one example of this: Your cardiovascular system keeps all of your other organ systems going by supplying blood, nutrients, and oxygen to all of your cells.

Here are more examples that illustrate the interdependence of your organ systems:

• All of your organ systems are regulated by your nervous and endocrine systems – these two systems are co-directors of all of your body’s moment-to-moment activities.
• Your urinary system is essential to maintaining fluid and pH balance within all of your organ systems.
• Your respiratory system brings in the oxygen that your cardiovascular system delivers to all of your cells. Your respiratory system also plays a vital role in maintaining your blood pH.
• Your integumentary (skin) and immune systems play critical roles in preventing life-threatening infections of all of your other organ systems.
• Your muscular system allows you to move (making the rest of your organ systems relevant to your existence). Your muscular system also serves as an important reservoir for your endocrine system.
• Your skeletal system provides physical protection and structural support for your other organ systems.
• And perhaps the most obvious example: Your digestive system provides fuel for all of your other organ systems to use to produce energy.

We’ll look at each of your organ systems in more detail in future articles in this series on how your body works.

Here are the main points to take away from this article:

1. All of your organs are influenced by all of your food and lifestyle choices. There’s virtually no way to affect just one organ system via a specific diet or therapy. Whenever one of your organ systems improves or declines in health, the rest of your organ systems follow suit to some degree.
2. The health of each of your organs is determined by the health of the cells that make up your organs. And all of your cells have the same basic requirements to stay healthy.