© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Food is not just fuel for our body but happiness for our soul. A good food offsets our mood on a stressful or a boring day and is an escape from our hectic schedule. Everyone has their own taste and choice of food but it is usually the fat and sugar in them that build dependence. These activate the pathway in the brain that stokes the pleasure points and generates “reward” impulses, similar to those done by addictive drugs. These can override the brain’s normal ability to tell an individual to stop eating. When this happens, a person may want to eat more and more.
The right way is to treat ourselves regularly with nutritious food that also makes us feel good about ourselves and not regret after we have eaten it.
What is dependence/craving?
Food can cause the release of dopamine (feel good chemical) in the brain. It’s because we prefer to feel good that we keep on returning to “happy” foods. Years of habituation mean it can be very difficult to break the circle. So if we regularly associate having sweets after dinner, it’s natural to feel like eating something sweet after dinner. Many brain-mapping studies have shown that the addiction of food is the same as that of alcohol and people need more and more of it to reach their satiety threshold.
What psychological factors cause food addiction?
Usually, these are emotions and stress. When you are elated or have a high level of satisfaction born of achievement, you reward yourself to feel better. Similarly, you seek succour in food when you are down, trusting it to make you feel good enough to pull yourself out of the trough. Unfortunately, stress-eating is just a distraction, not a solution for your depression. Your brain chemistry could be affected severely as foods rich in fat and sugar can alter the reward centres of the brain in the same way as drugs and alcohol do. Sugar gives you a natural high. Sometimes, trauma could trigger food addiction. A study of women with PTSD found that they had more than twice the prevalence of food addiction as women with no PTSD symptoms or trauma.
How to beat food addiction?
Changing habits takes effort and is time-consuming by nature. Here are some of the steps to follow to overcome eating addiction.
1. What to change? Identify areas in your meal plan that need addressing, particularly those that contribute to weight gain and ill-health.
2. Understanding triggers for food craving: Is it stress due to long working hours, boring long days without anything to do, intense workouts or an argument with a family member or a colleague? Find out the reason that causes you to binge.
3. Prepare a meal plan: Knowing what to eat and spreading them through the day.
4. Look for other relaxants: Try music, watching a film, reading a book or talking to a friend as destressers rather than ordering food.
5. Write out and regularly read your goals: If weight loss is your goal, then write it out on a post-it and put it on the fridge or mirror, basically in plain sight.
6. Don’t keep tempting food in the house: What is out of sight is out of mind.
7. Inform family and friends: Informing family members that you are on a weight loss programme and informing them about your lifestyle changes and diet planning could be very helpful.
8. Keep a food diary: Mindless eating is a huge problem in our busy multi-tasking lives. We eat while we work, watch movies or while talking on a call. Keeping a food diary will help us develop an awareness of our eating habits and make changes in them. Keep a list of healthy restaurants you can eat in within your area.
9. Explore non-food rewards: Reward yourselves with travel and mini-breaks.
10. Well-balanced diet: It involves not skipping meals or binge-eating. A healthy well-balanced meal with protein, fibre, carbohydrates, healthy fats with lots of fruits and vegetables should ideally curb your cravings.
But above everything else, prepare yourself for withdrawal symptoms, which are bound to set in like any other addiction. You may suffer from bouts of anxiety, feeling down, mood swings and anti-social behaviour. If you feel overwhelmed, seek help from a mental health professional.
