The term “addiction” is thrown around pretty casually these days. If you suspect you have a real addiction, you should seek help from a professional who knows how to break food addiction. If you simply live with a cycle of cravings, this article might help you decide what to do about it.
What Drives Cravings?
Cravings may be caused by a number of things including:
Habits
Blood sugar swings
Social situations and more
Certain foods may even affect the brain in ways that makes resisting them seem impossible. Sweets and salty junk foods may be prime examples. Medical studies have shown neurobiological evidencefor food addiction, which shares the same neurotransmitters and causes some of the same symptoms as the drug addiction.
Is There an Emotional Component?
While some foods — sugar, for instance — can affect the brain in ways that make us crave them, there may also be an emotional component. You’ve certainly heard about emotional eating. If you’ve ever eaten the wrong things or gone on a binge due to stress, sadness, grief, or even joy, then you’ve eaten emotionally.
If you have Trapped Emotions, it makes sense to say that they may trigger emotional eating repeatedly, until they’re resolved. If you want to know how to break food addictions or cravings, it may help to use muscle testing to see if any Trapped Emotions are involved.
Common Symptoms
If many of the following situations ring true to you, then you may have addiction-like habits with food.
Frequent cravings for certain foods, even when you’re full
Feeling out of control around certain foods
Eating much more of a food than you intended
Trying to set rules about those foods — unsuccessfully
Eating past the point of fullness, to where you may even feel sick
Feeling guilty about eating certain foods but craving them again soon after
Justifying in your mind why it’s okay to eat these foods
Hiding what you’re eating from others
What Can I Do?
How to break food addiction — especially if it’s a true addiction — is complicated and may require professional help. But if you’re simply trying to break bad habits, there are a lot of things you can do. For example:
Use The Emotion Code™ to determine if Trapped Emotions are playing a role in causing you to eat.
Use The Body Code™ to identify potential imbalances or nutrient deficiencies that may be driving your cravings.
Identify and avoid “trigger foods” that you tend to binge on or seem to cause further cravings. Have a close friend or family member help you be accountable.
Once you know your trigger foods, choose non-eating activities to replace them. Brush your teeth, go for a walk, or call a friend when that craving hits. Breaking bad habits may be easier if you fill that void with something else.
Don’t go on a diet! While this may seem counterproductive, going on a diet to try and break food addictions may be too much for you at once. Tackle the addiction-like behavior first, without adding any other restrictions. You can always make other changes later if you need to.
Don’t Give Up
All these methods can help you break unhealthy habits and kick cravings. But it’s not an easy battle! You may have a few “false starts” or failures before you succeed, and that’s okay. If you need a counselor or support group to help you, be sure to seek that help. You can break the cycle and be healthier and happier because of it.
