How to help food addiction

If you struggle with food addiction, please know you are not alone, and also know there is a path to improvement. Dr. Jen Unwin and colleagues published observations from three different low carb interventions programs showing improved food addiction and mental wellness scores. Could low carb nutrition be a cornerstone to food addiction therapy? Early suggest it may.
Watch the podcast with Dr. Vera Tarman:
• Food addiction with Dr...
Subscribe to our channel if you don't want to miss any of our videos: kzbin.info...
About us:
DietDoctor.com is the world's number one low-carb site. Follow us for delicious recipes, meal plans and tools to make your low-carb and keto lifestyle simple. But this KZbin channel does not contain all our videos!

[@WilliamFluery]

I am 61 and live in the US. Soooo many are addicted to food…I was!!!! But 10 months ago, I broke free through a Ketogenic/One Meal A Day way of eating. Plus, I walk 7-8 miles every other day. I’ve lost 50 pounds, my blood test results have been the best ever and with the guidance of my doctor have eliminated 7 medications.

[@ZIRAEL517]

@Sumeria is it ? 🤔

[@allesasmart]

That's great, but isn't that like an addict ? Like being g sober...good stay on it...don't fall back

[@leonora5]

You are awesome!! SO WELL DONE

[@stadiumarcadium2351]

you know when people fast past 18+ hours and not eat the most common complaint i see is what do i do with my time? food is often seen as a reward and a thing people do with friends and family and feel left out when they dont eat, people stress eat and fill a void in their life its not just food, social media, porn, drugs and so on.

[@MaryJohanna]

I have gone off the keto wagon when I had a serious infected wound that had me take antibiotics for 15 days. During that time I could not drink electrolyte water it contained magnesium and other minerals that were limited. So I ate "regular" and now a week off antibiotics I am struggling rummaging the kitchen for carbs, especially sweets. The struggle is real, I never thought so.

[@zerocarbdoc]

You can do it, come back from the dark side the force is strong in you.

[@richardcane5682]

I find that a 1 or 2 day water only fast seems to “reset” the system and i can start again with just the foods I want to eat.

[@MaryJohanna]

@@zerocarbdoc thank you for your encouraging words. I never thought I had such a strong draw to shortcake cookies and chocolate. I am doing five days eggs now sort of detoxing.

[@stadiumarcadium2351]

2 weeks is what resets sugar cravings.

[@zerocarbdoc]

I feel a majority of the population has a food addiction. I hate to put a percentage because can't back it up with studies but feel it is close to 80% plus with sugar and fast food. We definitely have eating disorders with how frequent and how much we eat in the United States. I appreciate this as a tool to share because fortunately I have beat my addiction but definitely will share.

[@TC_Personal]

I have had pretty good success recently doing something I call "resetting". Every 2 weeks from Thurs-Sat night, I water fast. 48 hours of only water and and black cofee. This has had a "lap band" effect on my stomach and I physically can not eat as much in the days following, so I cut out a lot of previous bingeing and boredom eating issues. It's really reset my relationship with food, and being hyper disciplined for 48 hours at a time isn't as hard as trying to do it every day. I've lost about 15 lbs in the past 2 months, so it's slow and steady weight loss as well. I'll be fasting for 48 hours, twice a month, for the rest of my life probably.

[@kennedyjames007]

Thanks for this.

[@ellekay852]

I am SO grateful for this video and you revealing these very promising results of the study. Thank you ❤

[@clarissakennedy7177]

😁😁😁

[@kjb1801]

Allen Carr's book did it for me. He stopped me from smoking so I thought I'd try the 'quit emotional eating' book. It works!!!

[@ZIRAEL517]

How does it work bro ?

[@maceeo2416]

I'm struggling with this

[@susanneperband4746]

Me to, every day all the time

[@janed811]

Me too! I needed more than just a low carb food plan and a once a week support program! Thankfully I found Dr. Joan Ifland and her work! Getting the right level of support made all the difference!

[@RareAirTwo4]

So would you reccomend eating mainly protein and leafy greens/vegetables and eliminating bread and starchy carbs to curb appetite?

[@marnasletten3988]

For me I would recommend mostly protein and animal fats with some low carb plants. Becarefull with the plants a lot of them contain oxilates and other toxic substance.

[@clarissakennedy7177]

In our study YES this was what most participants followed who reported a decrease in food addiction symptoms and an increase in well being.

[@RareAirTwo4]

@@clarissakennedy7177 yup I tried this approach and ate carbs only before bed. I noticed I was not hungry throughout the day, eating just protein.

[@clarissakennedy7177]

@@RareAirTwo4 yes and that homeostatic pathway (physical hunger) can be a big trigger for for someone with food addiction. We are never going to prevent food thoughts as even normal eaters can experience up to 200 of them a day but when we address the physical hunger the food thoughts have less power and therefore create less emotional distress which makes them easier to address and move past. We are all so bio-individual....I don't think I have one client eating the exact same food plan. They all have different needs and food tolerances. It is usually a protein forward approach though as that works well for satiety.

[@alysononoahu8702]

Talk to your doctor

[@philipcallado5693]

I’m addicted to junk food specifically. I’m at a point where I have to treat junk food like an alcoholic treats alcohol; I shouldn’t even risk a taste because if I do I’ll inhale the whole bag of chips or box of cookies. 😢

[@allesasmart]

Me too

[@fwk8786]

If i can follow low cab diet i would thats why i search for food addiction 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

[@mrscms831]

WHERE does one go to to find support groups for Food Addiction?

[@alysononoahu8702]

Overeaters Anonymous your local hospital your health insurance clinics maybe even your community centers

[@jillnelson8746]

Please define low carb

[@clarissakennedy7177]

Hey Jill! So all we required of study participants was to eliminate ultra processed foods, sugar, and flour from their food plans. There was no minimum or maximum amount of carbohydrates they had to adhere to. If was a self directed low exposure food plan which meant it merely focused on eating real food, leaning towards a lower carbohydrate food plan. With food addiction we find that some people have a hard time tolerating fruit and some people struggle with grains/starches so at those participants chose to refrain from those for the 10 week period this study was conducted over. Hope this helps!

[@nledelnr]

Low carb is less than 20 grams of carbohydrates per day.

[@billrobinson198]

If you are addicted to it, it isn't food. You must mean carb addiction.

[@clarissakennedy7177]

Yes the study actually highlights that it is Ultra-processed Food Addiction which is refined sugar, flours, processed foods. Refined carbohydrates :)

[@wocket42]

@@clarissakennedy7177 I guess the question is: are there people who are really addicted to zero carb ultra processed foods with zero carb artificial sweeteners? Like keto fat bombs, etc. And if yes, is there a difference in the form of the addiction compared to a high carb one.

[@clarissakennedy7177]

@@wocket42 my answer would be YES 100%. Anecdotally I have seen people who are simply addicted to sweet taste. A sweet taste produces a sensation of intense reward that, in certain circumstances, exceeds those associated with drugs of abuse. The reward value of sweet taste can be confounded with the construct of “addictive potential.” Clinically I see it all the time. Clients who cannot have fat bombs in their house because it will lead to a mental obsession and a loss of control around these foods. The same goes for many zero carb ultra-processed foods.I think it's important to highlight here that addiction falls on a spectrum and it can be classified as mild, moderate and severe by using the myfas 2.0 (modified yale food addiction scale). When you fall into the severe category your chronic disease has progressed and therefore you will have to be more mindful about which foods you can include and which foods you need to abstain from. Anything that activates the hedonic pathway for you can lead to a return to use or a "slip" as we call them in the field. These substitute foods can be a slippery slope for people with food addiction especially because they come with the "health halo" effect. I have clients who are able to drop the sugar, flour, processed foods but then are still trapped in their addiction because they have simply replaced them with these other "healthier" foods. Which still have the addictive potential for them.

[@laralilyLaraMaljevac]

​@@clarissakennedy7177what about fruit . Is fruit still addictive ?

[@sabby123456789]

A high protein low carbohydrate diet failed to treat my food addiction. I still keep coming back for more nuts and seeds.

[@jenswalks]

Try eating BBBE (Beef, butter, bacon and eggs) only for 30 days. Where possible, make sure the meats are fatty. If your meat is lean then add lots of butter. The fat/protein combo is satiating and you won't feel the need for nuts and seeds. Get all other foods out of your house while doing BBBE. This approach comes from Dr Ken Berry, who has many You Tube clips on keto and carnivore diets.

[@sabby123456789]

@@jenswalks But I have the ApoE4 allele and mutations in my ABCG5/8 transporter genes, so I cannot eat saturated fat or cholesterol according to Dr. Steven Gundry and Dr. Tom Dayspring.

[@mollypainschab226]

I think we believe nuts and seeds are high protein/low carb but they are carbs and fat and can be an addictive combo for some people.

[@carolynerdman9804]

@@mollypainschab226 stay away from them.

[@allesasmart]

I thought seeds and nuts where healthy

[@chrisdawson3859]

I went carnivore and lost my cravings. That was physical COVID shit downs came and I went off the wagon. That was psychological. I went back to the carnivore and shortly thereafter I had a diverticulitis attack. The doctor told me to drink probiotic yogurt. There was enough sugar in them to make me totally crave sugar again. The struggle is real The addiction is powerful.

[@user-vq3dy9jf3q]

Why cant they just come to the point?

[@connie7851]

I have been clean and sober for 40 years and six months......haven't smoked in 40 years..... I do know that children who crave sugar in all it's guises are prone to be future alcoholics.... sugar is substituted for alcohol.... When I abstained from alcohol, then went back to sugar with a vengeance... starch and sugar are highly addictive substances... just like cocaine.... most people are totally oblivious at how they are destroying their health and quality of life because it does not happen right away.... it takes years....and it is NORMALIZED..... I have friend's who think Type 2 diabetes is normal and all you need to do is take the pills.... wow

[@donnak9952]

The keto diet made my food addiction worse!

[@djdadbod]

How so? I’m genuinely curious.

[@robyroby1902]

Maybe I understand what you mean.... Maybe trying to follow rules, no matter which ones, cause stress and raise the attention to what we eat, should eat, shouldn't... , Must eat, don't have to eat.... In other words it triggers even more obsession about food. Personally, as I put on a couple of kilos during the summer vacations, at first I tried to do too many things all together such as keto, reduce calories intake and I.F. that on a regular basis should work BUT having all these thoughts about food made me feel worse and I didn't loose anything so 10 days ago I decided to follow only one rule at once and I decided to eat keto and have little carbohydrates strictly from vegetables. So I don't care about I.F., doing Omad etc... I simply avoid bread pizza pasta etc.. I haven't lost yet the 2 extra kg but I feel so good 😊 I'm relaxed and I don't have cravings at all. Little by little I want to reduce the portions and then the eating window..... Little by little.

[@djdadbod]

@@robyroby1902 I get what your saying, I went to my in-laws last week and she offered me a soda and before I said anything she said oh wait you can’t have that can you? I replied I can have anything I want I’m just choosing not to, I have to reframe it in a positive way, I’m the one in control

[@robyroby1902]

@@djdadbod exactly! In this case it's a matter of reframing. Not having a soda is YOUR choice and you are ok with yourself no matter what others say. The problem, in my opinion, is when we choose to respect too many rules due to all the things we listen and see..... And it's difficult if not impossible so we end up breaking the "rule" and maybe doing even worse..... I had this idea 💡 of follow only the keto rule and at least I'm feeling good

[@donnak9952]

@@robyroby1902 Yes! You hit the nail on the head!