42.Food addiction is a serious threat to health

By Tom O'Connell

At an educational session for staff members at Beech Hill Hospital in New Hampshire, food addiction expert Kay Sheppard reported that studies of food addiction by Florida Institute of Technology indicated almost all of the 200 food addicts surveyed had thought of suicide. In addition, 30 percent had actually attempted suicide.

"Food addiction is a life-threatening disease," explained Sheppard. "It's fatal, progressive and chronic." In alcoholism treatment, these are very familiar words, and she emphasized that they also apply to food addiction. "Depression is always an element of food addiction. The substance of food is a depressant."

Key factors seen in food addiction include--

•     Loss of control over amount eaten.

•     Obsession with food.

•     Obsession with weight.

"Food addicts know all the restaurants in the area just as alcoholics know where the bars are," Sheppard said. "Mention lunch and the food obsession takes over." She described "an underlying physiological, biochemical reaction in the body that is the basis of strong craving for refined carbohydrates and other foods." The first bite triggers the disease in food addiction just as the first drink triggers the alcoholic's disease.

Many food addicts binge, she said. Others eat from morning till night. "People who eat three huge meals don't look on it as bingeing. There's the same denial and delusion that exists with any other addiction."

Sheppard stressed that food addicts need to learn to read labels and look for sugar, wheat and starches. "Sugar has 25 different names. Most binges involve sugar and wheat products. Natural sugar in fruit is okay. It's the refinement process that causes problems." She says caution must be used with all processed foods. And caffeine is in the picture too. Since it is a mood-altering substance and an appetite stimulant, patients are expected to abstain from it.

Sheppard made a plea for "loving, supportive, encouraging treatment." Treatment elements include abstinence from sugar, alcohol and flour products, and use of the twelve suggested steps of AA. Also, it's important to share feelings with others, ask for help, get one's family educated and involved, and participate in an aftercare program..

"Moderation" is the key word in recovery from eating disorders, she explained. The goal of treatment is change, through a commitment to abstinence and appropriate food planning. In the end, each person needs to develop a healthy relationship with food.

When we're in the grip of any addiction, we impair our relationships with self, others, and God. And the impact of addiction involves body, mind, and spirit. But therapists and recovery programs are available to help people toward healthy outcomes.

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