The monkey on my back...

To have a monkey on one's back is to have a huge problem that follows you around, and is very very difficult to get rid of.


The monkey on my back is that of food addiction.

I mentioned in an earlier post about chocolate, that I had traded one addiction (chocolate) for another (grapes), and also how that addiction got the better of me a few days ago when I scoffed a bag of Chico's.

A couple of things you need to know.

1. Addiction is a disease, not just a bad habit that's hard to break - this means alcoholics, 'druggies' etc.  
2. People can inherit a pre-disposition to addiction.  This doesn't mean they will  become an addict, but that they have a significantly greater chance  of doing so than the average person.
3. I hail from a very  long line of alcoholics on both sides of my family.  In fact I had a grandfather who once owned 2 pubs, he went broke because he quite literally drank away the profits.  I am pleased to say though, that I am not  an alcoholic - but I doubt it would take much...

I reckon that I've inherited this pre-disposition to addiction.  But instead of using alcohol, I use food as my drug of choice.  I think that knowing the high risk of alcoholsim is what drove me to food in the first place, I learned to dull my pain with a block of chocolate, instead of a shot of bourbon.

It got me thinking about a couple of things.  Firstly addiction, specifically food addiction, and secondly, the science that the food industry use to get us hooked on their food, and trust me it is a science.

Yale University in the US have developed a test, the Yale Food Addiction Scale, that professionals can use to help diagnose a food addict.  This scale is being used in several projects around the world.

There are numerous studies and research projects that have identified 3 key ingredients that can trigger food addiction.  They are:  Sugar, salt, and fat.  They are what is known as highly palatable foods, and when mixed in the right amounts, are absolute dynamite.  Sugar for example, creates a chemical reaction in your brain that is exactly the same as that of a heroin addict or a cocaine addict, and in the same place, when they use drugs.  That is scary stuff.  Like any other addiction, it only takes one hit to become addicted, and pretty soon you need more and more just to get the same buzz.  Then at some point, it stops feeling good, and you eat just so you don't have the cravings, so you don't have the headaches, the nausea, the shakes...

It's not the same as overeating - even though that's what you're doing.  You don't have the 'switch' inside that tells you when you've had enough the sugar took care of that.   It's a compulsion, an irresistible compulsion to eat, and to continue to eat.  Some foods you put in your mouth with the intention of only having a little bit, but as soon as you taste it, something changes and you suddenly can't get enough of it, even when you want  to stop, you just can't.  So you eat and eat and eat until you are basically sick from it.  You become lethargic, depressed, sneaky...  you are addicted.

Scientists and food engineers are closeted in their labs concocting different ways to get even more of us even more addicted than we already are.  They pat themselves on the back for having created a monster that is now so out of control, and done so much damage, that it's doubtful that it can ever be stopped.

Food addiction is not a popular topic.  People see it as just another excuse that fatties use to justify their weight, and I can totally see their point of view, sometimes I feel that way myself.  But the science is there.  My experience with the Chico's the other night was more than a little unsettling, it scared me, but now it makes perfect sense.

If you're an alcoholic, part of your recovery is to abstain from alcohol, if you are a drug addict you abstain from illicit drugs, if you're a smoker you quit.  Those people never have to do those things again, ever.  I can't do that...





It has been said that beating addiction is like caging a tiger - you put the tiger in the cage, turn your back and walk away.  My tiger is in the cage... but I have to take it for a walk 3 times a day.