How Your Feelings Fuel Food Addiction

There are all sorts of emotions that can affect our wellness and this includes worry, fear, anger, grief, sadness and guilt.  Feeling that you are not accepted, a personal failure or that you are being overwhelmed by large financial burdens. 

The bottom line is that who we are is always in a delicate balance between chemistry and energy and when any type of energy, even if it is just emotional, becomes blocked and we become addicted to emotional eating.

What is Emotional Eating?

Emotional eating refers to people who eat because of the way they feel rather than when they are

hungry. Many people who overeat do so because they become obsessed with overeating a certain type of food. They associated gorging on this food with nurturing oneself. Yet others eat of anger or in defiance of someone who wants them to go on a diet. Some overeating behaviours are almost vengeful; the person is “biting back” at a world that they feel is swallowing them whole. 

Stuffing Your Anger

Many people overeat because they are “stuffing your anger.”  When we are infuriated we want to fill our mouths with something warm, salty and chewy.  This relates to the primal drive in us that evolutionary biologists say goes way back to our caveman days where we associated eating raw fresh kill with comfort. It is a very primal hard-wired urge that can help soothe us when we feel deprived. Many studies have shown that people who go on diets that are too strict do not tend to stick to themIn essence, you are an emotional eater if you find yourself using the eating of food (usually too much food or fatty, sweet and salty foods) to cope with the usual stresses of life. Many people eat every time they experience a rush in adrenalin.  They will give themselves the permission to break their diet because they associate the concept of celebrating with food with achievement.  This means that even extremely happy moments can lead a person to stray from their diet.Despite the fact that there are other ways of producing these feel good chemicals in our brains such as exercising, getting out to see friends and indulging in hobbies we like, many of us still become addicted to food.  Eating fatty, salty and sweet foods are there surest ways to change our brain chemical composition so that we feel  good” However the “high” does not last long and like an addict, we eat some more to get another hit of escapism through being a foodie.

By the way, meditation and exercise can go along way towards satiating the dissatisfaction that seems to come with going on a vegan diet at first.  .So if you can, it is best to try and deal with your emotional eating disorders and issues in other ways and consult with a dietician or naturopaathic doctor who can help you with this issue, which if left unchecked can lead to all kinds of health problems.For more information or to book a consultation about anti-aging, diet and weight loss programs or any health issue you may be experiencing, visit the Pinewood Natural Health Clinic website that has a list of full services and products at www.pinewood.ca or call our Toronto Office at  (416)-656- 8100.  We also have an office in Pickering, Ontario at (905)-427-0057. You can also email us at info@pinewoodhealth.ca and we would be happy to answer any question that you have about our holistic health services.

The Fatter You Are The Hungrier You Get

Have you ever noticed that the more weight that you gain, the hungrier you get? One of the issues that can arise when you let your body fall into an unhealthy acidic state is constant hunger. That is why it is crucial for you to also correct your body’s metabolism, by putting it into a more alkaline state.  That is part of the point of embarking on the Healthy and Active Lifestyle that is offered, along with HCG loss and other strategies for weight loss here at the Pinewood Natural Health Centre. Through the use of a blood chemistry profile, you can determine what foods that you can eat so that you do not pack on the pounds because of cravings.

An Abnormal Hypothalamus Gland

A cross section of the human brain.

If your hypothalamus gland is abnormal you can experience more cravings than is normal. The hypothalamus is the body’s master gland that regulates metabolism and it controls the natural trigger response of hunger.  Constant cravings can signify that this gland has become toxic and that it needs to be reset. One of the programs that we offer at the clinic is the HCG program which has proven successful in helping people lose sixty in just a couple of months.

There are many reasons why it may be operating abnormally and there are natural treatments available to address each. These include:

• A fatty and clogged liver
• An overgrowth of candida yeast
• Lack of digestive enzymes
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Lack of fibre in the diet
• Toxic overload from sugar and especially high fructose corn syrup
• Toxic overload from artificial sweeteners and flavourings
• Toxic overload from heavy metals
• Chronic lack of oxygen
• Food allergies
• Parasites
• Too much fad dieting
• Lack of sleep

In Naturopathy there are measures that can be taken to address all or any of these symptoms.

Unusual Factors That Influence Cravings

Cravings are also worse if you eat a very bland diet. The hypothalamus thrives when it can sample all five tastes in one day including salty, sweet, sour, savoury and bitter.  The hypothalamus will also encourage you to seek out other types of stimulating sensations such as spiciness, blandness, astringency, coolness and foods with different textures and temperatures. This is why if you are on calorie deprivation diet, that it is important to use spices and also vary the temperature and textures of the foods so that you hypothalamus is always excited enough to stimulate weight loss hormones.

For more information or to book a consultation about anti-aging, diet and weight loss programs or any health issue you may be experiencing, visit the Pinewood Natural Health Clinic website that has a list of full services and products at www.pinewood.ca or call our Toronto Office at  (416)-656- 8100.  We also have an office in Pickering, Ontario at (905)-427-0057. You can also email us at info@pinewoodhealth.ca and we would be happy to answer any question that you have about our holistic health services. 

You can also read more about the Healthy and Active Lifestyle program that is offered world-wide in natural health clinics at www.hametabolism.blogspot.ca.