Originally Posted by Stella:
I really don`t think that you can be addicted to genuine (e.g. natural whole-) food although I quite believe that you can be addicted to eating.

Good work !
Very cool, looking great so far. Keep going, I wanna see it finished!;)

12 step programs are spriritual but belief in God is not required for membership.

The higher power (HP) you embrace is up to you. For some, the "act as if method" is used in choosing God as your HP. But when I was active in OA I knew people who used the following as their HP: a door knob (because that is what they used to pull themselves up off the floor after eating so much they made themselves sick), a toilet (because that's where they ended up after they over-ate, binged, or purged), the largest piece of clothing they owned (because they never wanted to have to buy anything larger), the OA meeting itself, the AA big book, a loving supportive friend or significant other, a journal.

Who/what your HP is is totally up to you and no one but you needs to know who/what it is.

The only requirement for membership in a 12 step program is the desire to stop the compulsive behavior.

Also, OA is not just for people who are overweight. It is for anyone with food issues.

One aspect of food addiction/cravings/overweight that doesn't get discussed very often is food sensitivity/intolerance. Paradoxically we crave the foods that we're most sensitive to - most common are wheat, gluten, dairy etc.

You can either eliminate the offending food or eliminate the intolerance and it will have a massive impact on managing craving/bingeing cycles.

There are a few ways you can determine intolerances. There is an elimination diet which isolates and reintroduces the most common offenders. There is also a blood test called an ALCAT.

Personally I chose a holistic allergist who used biofeedback and then a technique called Bioenergetic Intolerance Elimination. I had done this for my evironmental allergies and the results were pretty amazing (i.e. had developed an allergy to my dog that's completely gone, no suffering through ragweed season this year). The quack sites call it BS but since there are no needles and it worked for me I don't give a rat's *** lol.

When I was tested for food intolerances I was shocked - SO MANY :(

I've done treatments for everything from wheat to turkey to cherries and they've made not only a huge impact on my once emotionally-driven cravings enabling me to stick to my plan, but also my asthma and um, regularity.

I'd highly recommend anyone with 'trigger foods' check for underlying intolerances.

Originally Posted by Boomcha:
One aspect of food addiction/cravings/overweight that doesn't get discussed very often is food sensitivity/intolerance. Paradoxically we crave the foods that we're most sensitive to - most common are wheat, gluten, dairy etc.

You can either eliminate the offending food or eliminate the intolerance and it will have a massive impact on managing craving/bingeing cycles.

There are a few ways you can determine intolerances. There is an elimination diet which isolates and reintroduces the most common offenders. There is also a blood test called an ALCAT.

Personally I chose a holistic allergist who used biofeedback and then a technique called Bioenergetic Intolerance Elimination. I had done this for my evironmental allergies and the results were pretty amazing (i.e. had developed an allergy to my dog that's completely gone, no suffering through ragweed season this year). The quack sites call it BS but since there are no needles and it worked for me I don't give a rat's *** lol.

When I was tested for food intolerances I was shocked - SO MANY :(

I've done treatments for everything from wheat to turkey to cherries and they've made not only a huge impact on my once emotionally-driven cravings enabling me to stick to my plan, but also my asthma and um, regularity.

I'd highly recommend anyone with 'trigger foods' check for underlying intolerances.

Food sensitivities and intolerances are so difficult to explain to others. It has really taken me two different doctors, years of research and trial/error to really understand the extent of my sensitivities. I have systematic candida related complex. I am severely intolerant of corn, wheat, dairy, mold, chemicals, preservatives...not to mention the yeast feeds on any kind of sugars which eliminates all types of sugar (natural and real), fruit, and very starchy vegetables. It's actually scary the hold these foods, especially the sugar can have. When I cut it out, I get physically ill...the cravings are terrible and the yeast gets angry.

I heartily second the recommendation of David Kessler's book. I read it, and felt like I knew intuitively everything that he was saying, but it was good to read it coming from a well respected research scientist. There are many references to studies in the book that can lead you to further reading.

Here is another scientific study: http://www.isi.uu.nl/Research/Public...ew.php?id=1273

And an abstract of another study with other references: http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/abstract/139/3/620

I can't find it right now, but I remember seeing pictures of fMRI scans of cocaine addicts and "food addicts" and the parts of the brain that were lit up were identical.

Mel

Originally Posted by WildThings:
Food sensitivities and intolerances are so difficult to explain to others. It has really taken me two different doctors, years of research and trial/error to really understand the extent of my sensitivities. I have systematic candida related complex. I am severely intolerant of corn, wheat, dairy, mold, chemicals, preservatives...not to mention the yeast feeds on any kind of sugars which eliminates all types of sugar (natural and real), fruit, and very starchy vegetables. It's actually scary the hold these foods, especially the sugar can have. When I cut it out, I get physically ill...the cravings are terrible and the yeast gets angry.

Food intolerances can manifest in so many ways. For me, I never would have associated food as an underlying cause of my asthma or sneezing/itchy watery eyes allergy attacks. I assumed food allergies would only cause digestive pain and upset, which it does for some people. Other people have skin problems like eczema or acne, or migraines, or arthritis or chronic candida. They can cause a variety of systemic and chronic problems.

That's why I went for BIE rather than an emlination diet - which would have left me miserable with very few choices and high probability of non-compliance. Rather than manage around intolerances, I got rid of them.

Now I don't have to worry about where gluten or yeast lurks. I can eat a piece of pizza without worrying about immune response or the cascading (and lasting) carb craving effect.

It's been almost a year since I started this thread, and I feel like I finally "get it". I did end up reading David Kessler's "The End of Overeating" in addition to "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan and "Mastering Your Metabolism" by Jillian Michaels. It has really helped me to have a better understanding of how different components of food, and chemicals added to food, affect the brain and body. I started following the advice from these different books, along with learning to be more attuned to my body, and I've started losing weight. I mainly just try to eat as few processed foods as possible, and try to eat more whole foods. I also try to keep all of my meals balanced with protein, carbs, and fruits/veggies. It's easier for me now to tell when I feel physically full, and I don't have the extreme cravings for food that I had before. Now that my body is getting used to eating "real foods" again, I sometimes get sick if I try to eat fast food. The other day I was in a rush getting to school and I grabbed a meal at Burger King. I ended up feeling semi-nauseous and sluggish after eating it.
So I do want to keep up my new-found way of eating, and I want to start posting in the forums somewhat regularly for support because I think it will help me even more. I don't really know where I should post. I would like to join a group, but which one?