Cravings

The many ways food fills our lives.

by Susan McQuillan

To Indulge or Not to Indulge

How food addicts and compulsive eaters break the habit.

Published on March 26, 2008 by Susan McQuillan, M.S. in Cravings

There are two ways to deal with compulsive overeating: Avoid your favorite binge foods, or embrace them.

Researchers who support the notion of food addiction suspect that some people get a biochemical brain reward from eating foods high in fat or sugar, escalating the urge to eat in a way that’s similar to other forms of substance abuse. When food cravings lead to overeating, weight gain, or all-out binges, it’s time to seize control. Unlike someone with a drug or alcohol addiction, however, the goal of a food addict or compulsive eater obviously can’t be to give up food. Instead, the goal is to get healthy by getting your eating habits under control.

For many self-described food addicts, conventional wisdom says the only way to battle out-of-control eating is to resist temptation from the get-go. There are a lot of “don’ts” attached to this approach. Don’t keep indulgence foods around the house. When you’re in the mood to binge, don’t go food shopping. Stay away from grocery stores and fast fooderies until you’re in a more stable emotional state. Distract yourself until the urge to eat fades away. Take a walk, clean the bathroom, chew cool-mint gum, do whatever you can to keep your hands off food for a while. If your hunger is psychological, rather than physiological, it should subside within minutes and you might be able to put off eating until your next meal.

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But some experts take a different line of attack. Lora Sasiela, L.C.S.W., B.C.D, a therapist with offices in New York and New Jersey who specializes in substance abuse and eating disorders, takes an anti-deprivation approach toward food. She helps some of her clients “legalize” all their food choices so they can walk into a grocery store, pick up fresh vegetables and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, and feel comfortable buying and eating both types of food.

Compulsive eaters and food addicts in recovery have a lot on their bio-psycho-sociological plates. In addition to unearthing and resolving underlying emotional issues and possibly coping with enabling brain chemistry, anyone trying to overcome disordered eating behavior must also relearn how to shop for, prepare, and eat food in moderation. Although strict weight loss diets backfire on most people, a balanced, calorie-controlled diet plan can serve as a guide to more healthful eating. Once you understand how to eat well, and healthier eating habits become your norm, you can possibly throw away the limited plan and trust yourself to eat just about anything you want.