The Addiction Help .com

I feel an addicted feeling to eating alot of junky foods or even healthy food in very large portions. I eat even way after I am full. If I stop eating I feel sad, empty, or depressed. When I stop eating what I am addicted to I feel the same withdrawl symptoms as if I was doing drugs.
I have tried to find numerous things to take the place of food. But there is nothing that takes the place of the wonderful tastes of food! Is there even such a thing as a food addiction? What can I do about this? I'm gaining too much weight no matter how much I excersize

You are addicted to the sugar highs and lows. The steroids, and hormones they put in meat.

Question the quality of food you are eating. Your body isnt getting the nutrients through the food you are eating so it is still craving more food. Try eating more fruits and vegetables.

And watch the video meet your meat.

2007-07-11 22:58:47 by Lisa k

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okay, so im 5 foot 9 and 15 stone. i LONG to be thinner but i cannot limit what i eat, hard as i try.
i have like, withdrawal symptoms when i dont eat.
can anyone help me get over this scary obsession?

Why do you eat?

Do you eat because you are actually hungry or just because you are bored or emotional? If the latter, you need to change your habits so that you are bored less or react to emotion in a healthier way than reaching for the doritos.

If you enjoy feeling full, change the foods you are eating so that they are lower in caloric density. You can stuff yourself with vegetables but still consume relatively few calories.

2009-02-04 04:02:06 by Georgia E

Price: $16.00

I think I'm addicted to food, particularily sugary food. I'm not overweight
(5' 7" and 145 lbs.) But i share similar symptoms as alcoholics such as excuses to use, spending all my money on it, going to incredible lengths to use, bad school work, troubled social life and other such symptoms.
I think I use because I have some personal issues such as parental divorce and sequential dating, low self-esteem and lonliness.
How can i beat this addiction?? PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's called systematic desensitization. The idea is that you gradually lower your intake of whatever you are addicted to by pairing it with something that is slightly aversive. So, when you indulge in something sweet, set up a punishment system for yourself. Something paying a tax each time you take something sweet. Eventually you should wean yourself from your addiction.

2009-01-29 20:38:39 by Keegzz

Price: $14.00

I debated this issue with my co-workers: they think that a person can be addicted to food because there are people who constantly eat to fill a void. If that person stops eating something, they have "withdrawal" symptoms (according to one co-worker).

I am reluctant to agree with them. I think that addiction is a physical/physiological dependence on a substance. Just because a person is an over-eater, doesn't mean that they are going through withdrawal symptoms because they are trying to "kick" the doughnut habit they are on.

However, I (like my co-workers) am not a psychologist or an addiction specialist. Therefore, I would like to hear from professionals in addiction who can give me a definition of addiction and explain how a person can be dependent on food the same way a drug user can.

Also, do you believe that the word "addicted" is over-used? Do you think that it makes people weaker than what they really are?
I agree that many people have a psychological dependence to certain things--be it food, gambling, sex, etc. However, to me, addiction is also defined by a physiolgical dependence, which would have been developed by that person's consumption or use of the thing that makes them addicted. True, there are some people who can use drugs and not become addicted, but that is done on a recreational level. Give that person enough time and enough opportunities to do it on a regular basis and they will be addicted. The proof is in their physical withdrawal. However, with food, it is, in my opinion, more psychological.

There are two words that are often misused and confused, addiction and habituation.

An addiction is a physiolgical process characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal. Tolerance is the physiological process of needing a progressively greater amount of a substance of abuse to get the same effect. For example, while one used to get a good buzz on after four beers, now he or she needs eight beers to get the same effect. Physiological withdrawal symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, profuse sweating, muscular tremors, pain and cramps, agitation, delusions, and halluscinations,

An habituation is a psychological process, a learned pattern of behavior. Exposure to a substance or experience may become psychologically rewarding but not necessary for maintaining physical health. In the extreme, this pattern may take on qualities of an obsessive-compulsive (OC) disorder. In OC disorders, one usually experiences a growing anxiety until the pattern can be completed. Afterward, the person experiences a rewarding sense of relief as the anxiety is dissipated. Tolerance and withdrawal are not parts of habituation.

Now, to the specific issue of overeating. There can be a number of explanations for overeating including a learned habit, a physical disease process such as metabolic disorders, nutritional deficiencies, intestinal paracites, or trauma to certain areas in the brain involved in regulating metabolism or sensing when a sufficient amount of nutrition has been consumed.

In the technical sense, overeating is more accurately described as a matter of habituation if there are no medical causes. Psychologically, a person may learn to associate food or the process of eating with emotional comfort, satisfaction, security, etc., or even simply a cultural tradition. Lack of access to food leads to a sense of emotional deprivation and anxiety which is relieved by eating. The physiological processes of tolerance and withdrawal are not involved.

I hope this helps to clear the fog.

2009-02-19 06:10:29 by Stankonia

Three days ago I switched to decaf coffee and tea. This is in response to my realization that I had developed an addiction and the caffeine is overstimulating my pituitary which is presenting in various symptoms. I started with a headache two days ago that will not go away. I'm also feeling generally lethargic and having withdrawal symptoms.

Any suggestions for minimizing these symptoms? How long will this last?

FYI... I am not a soda drinker. I drink lots of water and I eat a whole foods diet. I also excercise daily.

I gave up all sugar/caffeine drinks 3 months ago. The best thing I can tell you is just stick it out. I know the headaches suck try something over the counter some pain killers like Excedrin have small amounts of caffeine in them so if you think it would help to " ween " yourself off that would be the way to go. However I just took Tylenol for the headaches and the withdraws only lasted 7 - 10 days. Hope it helps. Stick with it believe it or not I have more energy now than ever.

2007-05-21 05:22:00 by Dear Prudence