It is now apparent to me that these excessive hunger and craving issues are natural and perhaps a chemical issue or hypersensitivity to something, not necessarily in the food but may also be in the food. Endorphin and exorphins come to mind as the most likely, since wheat, nuts and dairy products seem to drive the hunger, cravings, and urges.
Food addiction is real, and is the topic of my other blog, just to keep food addiction and food issues separate. It reality, these cannot be separate. It is the over driven desire to eat that is the problem. Many recovery programs suggest it is a addictive behavior, or habit, but, consider that it may be natural, genetic, a physical characteristic, not anything learned. That explains my early eating problems also.
A human instinct, like any instinct, varies with the individuals, not just the family. That is why artists must do art, mechanical people deal with the real world items, and some people think, why not some small tail of the population distribution be natural overeaters. Have you ever tried to train a husky to fetch... It just ain't go'na happen, but to run and pull, that is no problem, just try to stop them; and there are those Labs that just eat until the food runs out. So why not some people.
All the addiction treatment say that craving will go away with time, and yet I still crave, so I am calling bull shit on that. Horvath, Peele, and there smart crew are out to lunch on that point. We may be just the toe of the population, but those of us who have battled the bulge all our lives will attest to the ongoing cravings that drive the problem. Oh well, shit happens, and now how to we learn to live with the cravings without overeating.
Realizing that it is not a addiction, but a physical problem may cause a difference in self treatment. Rigorous self honesty, what. So now I must go against my nature. How does one do that? But I have been doing that all my life. I was never designed to write, yet, as a geotechnical engineer, writing was basically how I made a living all these years, that and solving problems.
Oh well, shit happens, what do I know.
i just have the nagging suspicion that something in your diet is toxic to you STILL. :-( i'm sure you've done extensive elimination trials, though, being an analytical kind of person....
ReplyDeleteplease accept my sympathy, and best wishes for progress!
There is nothing left in my diet. farm eggs, pastured beef, greens. anything else makes the condition worse.
ReplyDeleteI have come to the conclusion, there is nothing but natural desire left. Why not a natural toe of the curve, almost any human characteristic yet studied has a normal distribution, so why not appetite. Sure there are many things that could make it worse, but what if it is natural? Now I need to understand how to modify nature. It is starting to make sense why it is so difficult to fight. There are a whole bunch of driving factors, but why is everyone so against it being a natural characteristic?
There is nothing left in my diet. farm eggs, pastured beef, greens. anything else makes the condition worse.
ReplyDeleteI have come to the conclusion, there is nothing but natural desire left. Why not a natural toe of the curve, almost any human characteristic yet studied has a normal distribution, so why not appetite. Sure there are many things that could make it worse, but what if it is natural? Now I need to understand how to modify nature. It is starting to make sense why it is so difficult to fight.
There are a whole bunch of driving factors to overeating, but why are so many so against it being a natural characteristic? Is it because it is then beyond our control, and they cannot blame the obese anymore? I will bet that those who object have control issues.
From an evolutionary point of view, maybe people with heightened appetite were more motivated to find food. However, eating anything and everything wouldn't have served them well; carnivore liver and certain plants are toxic. Taking major risks while hunting likewise wouldn't have ended well.
ReplyDeleteDo any contemporary hunter-gatherer individuals have food addiction? If they don't, it suggests that the addiction is a disease of civilization. If they do, it suggests that they're natural outliers. Or perhaps they had an illness or injury.
It looks like there's going to be a wave of gut-brain books out there soon. Maybe they'll have some answers.
What I am talking about is different from food addiction, as is compulsive overeating, as is impulsive overeating, as is emotional comfort overeating. What I am talking about is a genetic drive to overeat. Where there are records, there has been a few large/obese people, perhaps 1-2 percent of the population, and there have been a few who would not eat, and died off thin.
ReplyDeleteIn 20th century, there have been many more, and in my family, on both sides, there were mostly large people. My grandfather (1849-1914) on father(1901-1991) side was two axes tall and one wide, according to my father and uncle, bigger than Gus,(1881-1965) an great uncle on mothers side who was 6-5, and massive neck, and very powerful, even at advanced years. He did chin up and push up to the day he died. I was 16 when he died.
Roman / early christian times there were "gluttons", after all gluttony was a "sin". But is glutton a moral issue or a chemically drive issue? So was being gay, and it is now recognized as a chemical issue by all but the head up there ass religious people. There are none so blind as those who will not see. So if it is internal chemical, which one, and is there any treatment? Julia Ross seems to think there is.
ReplyDelete"I will bet that those who object have control issues." :-) if you find someone to take your bet, see if he'll take mine, too -- makes perfect sense. as also does your born-overeater hypothesis, in my opinion.
ReplyDelete