Deadly duo: Foods can become addicting

Some days I hate my job. When Covid hit, my business as a Health Coach and Holistic Nurse Practitioner floundered.  As we were all sheltering in place in a time of great uncertainty, many of us felt paralyzed and highly stressed.

So, to maintain my sanity, in April of 2020, I started delivering groceries to seniors with chronic conditions, who really should not be out in public shopping.

I was stunned to see the amount of “junk food”

I was delivering to people with chronic conditions such as

heart disease and diabetes: chips and dips, bacon,

pizza and sugar-laden cereals.

For 20+ years, my career has been focused on good nutrition to prevent, arrest and reverse chronic disease, and now I was delivering harmful, unhealthy food straight to their house!!

 

Had their Health Care Providers not warned them to not eat

these foods that are contributing to

being overweight, high blood

sugar and high cholesterol???

 

BUT WHY
do we love these fattening foods????

 

Even if we know that they’re probably not the best thing for us to be eating??

 

Partly, it’s the way our brains are wired. The “old” part of our brain craves sugar and high-fat foods as a survival mechanism: 3,000 years ago, food was scarce and we had to scavenge for it. But, sad to say, in 2021, with large supermarkets and fast food places on every corner, there are so many temptations all around us. AND, our brain still works the same way–urging us to eat these foods.

Highly processed and sugary foods stimulate the pleasure center in the brain. And, the more we eat, the more we crave these foods.

And, the food industry has capitalized on this and created processed foods that are not only delicious, but “hyper-palatable,” that is to say, they taste extra delicious and are super addicting. Food scientists are paid tens of thousands of dollars to create foods that we crave and therefore want to buy more and more of.

A recent study of 518 people, conducted at the University of Michigan, found that certain foods– that are considered to be a “staple” in the Standard American Diet– are shown to be very addicting, or contribute to “addiction-like eating behaviors.” This means that if these foods are eaten repeatedly, people then crave these foods, and have strong urges to eat them again and again.

 

The top of the list of foods we crave?

–Pizza

–Chocolate

–Ice cream

–French fries

–Cheeseburgers

–Regular soda

 

And, of course, many of the fast food establishments have the “trifecta” sold as a combo meal: cheeseburger, French fries and a soda.

 

I said earlier that my career is focused on healthy eating to prevent, arrest and reverse chronic disease.

 

What processed foods can I help you give up by “swapping” them out for healthier choices? My 20+ years experience as a Nurse Practitioner and my step-by-step process can help you change your eating habits to reverse disease and reduce/eliminate medications. Act now to schedule your FREE 20-minute phone consult . Schedule here.

 

HEALTH IS WEALTH!!!

 

To your good health,

 

Karen