I have often had conversations like this:
Friend: Would you like to come to lunch?
Me: I’d love to come to your house, but you won’t be able to feed me.
Friend: Why not?
Me: My diet is very restricted due to food allergies and intolerances.
[I normally then have to then go into specifics to persuade this person that no matter how many hoops she’s prepared to jump through, there are still going to be problems.]
Friend: You poor thing. How awful for you!
Me: Actually, it’s a blessing.
Friend: How so?
Me: I’m not tempted to eat unhealthy food. Everybody is damaged by unhealthy food, but for most people the effects are slow so they don’t make the connection. For me, the effect is immediate. I used to have cravings and be addicted to processed food like everybody else, but now I’m free from all that. My appetite is regulated, and as long as I’m in control of my meals, I can eat good, healthy, satisfying food.
I’ve felt like this for some time. However, I’ve only recently woken up to the fact that the reason people are addicted to processed food is that the food industry plans it that way.
I found this video on YouTube: UK doctor switches to 80% ULTRA-processed food diet for 30 days BBC (see below). It’s under ten minutes, very watchable, and very informative about the processed-food-addiction trap.
In the video, a UK doctor switches from his normal 20% ultra-processed food diet to 80%. He does this for 30 and records his progress. He says the 80% ultra-processed food diet is the norm for 1 in 5 people in the UK. This is what he found:
- The ultra-processed food is hyper-palatable and it’s impossible to stop eating it once you start.
- As the weeks progressed, he felt more and more hungry and ate more and more processed food.
- He soon got constipated.
- He started waking up every morning feeling like he had a hangover.
- Then he started waking up at 4 a.m. with heartburn, a headache, and hunger pangs.
The doctor wondered what the food companies were trying to get him to taste with all the chemicals, MSG, salt and sugar. He describes one particular breakfast cereal as “an amazing bit of food engineering”.
This experiment was done under the oversight of an obesity expert. At the end of the 30 days, she went through the medical results with the doctor.
- He had gained 6.8 kg in 4 weeks.
- His hunger hormone had gone up by 30%.
- At the same time, there was a decrease in the hormone that tells the body it’s full.
- Before and after brain scans showed that the brain had made new connections. He says his body “linked up reward centres of the brain with areas that drive repetitive, automatic behaviour. So, eating processed food is something my brain simply tells me to do without me ever wanting it. Shockingly, this is something you might see in a person with addiction.”
What I wondered after watching the video (and the video didn’t tell us) was whether this doctor had problems returning to a 20% ultra-processed diet and whether he was able to shed that extra 6.8 kg.
The conclusion to this experiment is: You are addicted to processed food because the food industry planned that you would be. Just do an internet search for ‘the food industry makes food addictive’, and you will be astonished at the information you find.
Watching this video has made me rejoice even more in my food restrictions. It has also given me more sympathy for people who are unable to break their food addictions.
If you need help in this area, there are light therapy patches that reduce sugar cravings, help to regulate appetite and support fat loss. Please contact me for more information.
Please watch the video and realise you have been caught in a very clever trap laid for you by the food industry. It’s difficult but not impossible to break free from this snare. And the rewards are great.
UK doctor switches to 80% ULTRA-processed food diet for 30 days BBC
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