Food is necessary for our survival, and it is an essential for our wellness. Asides the fact that food serves as a source of enjoyment and pleasure, food also provides sustenance.

There is also a gratification which food gives via smell, texture and taste. However, for some people, food addiction can be as worse as being addicted to drugs or alcohol.

For people who are suffering from food addiction, they are addicted to food which are extremely rich in sugar, fat and salt. Foods in this category usually trigger chemical reactions in the brain which produce feelings of gratification.

This reaction is compared to the response an addict who is addicted to alcohol and drugs would experience.

Food addicts rely on the pleasurable feelings which are gotten from taking certain foods, which requires a need to eat even when there are no feelings of hunger, thus resulting in a vicious cycle.

As the individual continues to eat food which produce pleasurable feelings, they over eat, and they take beyond what is needed for a balanced nutrition and satisfaction.

This can result in physical, social and emotional consequences which are unpleasant for the individual. If you have someone who is struggling with food addiction, you should be aware that there are lots of implications which could result in that aspect of their lives.

If food addiction is not tended to, it can destroy a person’s life gradually, producing both chronic and damaging symptoms. When you have a good idea of how food addiction affects the various aspects of your life, you will be motivated to seek help.

Below are some of the effects which comes with food addiction:

• Malnutrition
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• Headaches
• Stroke
• Osteoporosis
• Kidney and Liver disease
• Impaired sex drive
• Reduced self-esteem
• Depression
• Panic attacks
• Suicidal tendencies
• Anxiety
• Sadness

Food addiction help requires you to seek appropriate help and care. This would enable you to get the resources which would be quintessential in solving your addiction problem.

One of the major causes of obesity, is food addiction, making a good number of children overweight. Children who are overweight usually have “Energy Imbalance”. This suggests that they take in more calories than they use when they are undergoing any physical activity. Hence, they gain more weight, or they have weight which is higher than the conventional healthy state.

These children might not be affected by any emotional issues which influences their overeating. Their weight could come down to a healthier weight range, if they are tutored on how to eat healthy, and the benefits. Hence, they would be more physically active.

However, those who are suffering from emotional eating patterns, could have a degree of depression. Hence, the child might be eating more food than usual, as a means to catering for their emotional needs. For instance, the child could use food to bring himself comfort, he could also use food to control his mood, and feel better whenever he wants to.

Teaching your children about the gains of eating healthy is advantageous, because it helps them to have a good relationship with their diet. Children who take in too much food, are at risk of coming down with health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure and the likes.

However, it is quite hard to keep them from it because of the advert for junk food which is dominating the media.

For you to prevent food addiction, there are some steps you can take:

• Make healthy snacks handy: Always ensure that your child takes healthy snacks, such as vegetables, cheese and fruits. Always keep them in areas where your children can easily reach them.

• Do not keep junk at home: Since you do not want your children to eat junk food which could make them addicted, then it is essential that you do not bring it into your home. However, it does not imply that you make it totally absent in your home.

• Never bargain with junk food: One mistake which parents often make is, they use junk food to bargain with their children, for them to eat healthy food. This should not be the case. It is however better to encourage them to eat more of healthy food.

GETTING OVER YOUR FOOD ADDICTION

Addiction is simply the uncontrollable overdo that is put into practicing an act or taking a substance. All forms of addiction, whether behavioral or substance, all ends up in unhealthy living and adverse mental conditions. Substance addiction that refers to drugs, food, alcohol and many others are some of those that develop rapid effect on the addict.

Considering how dreadful and catastrophic the outcomes of food addiction can be, getting over it should be of top most priority and importance to the addict. However, the case is not always like that, because addicts often feel ashamed of their addictions and then keep them secret from people who can help them.

Causes of food addiction

Remedies to addiction are not always one-way directional; not all addictions are treated the same way. Most times, the environment and the people around a person could lead one to becoming addicted to food. When you tend to have people who are mentally or emotionally disturbed, who do not have the interest in checking out or getting involved in recreational activities. Persons like that could become indolent and decide to full up the time of being idle with anything. The choice of food may seem to be the best choice because eating could be a bit interesting at times.

Aside for the environmental factors, bad parenting could also be a cause. Some parents believe that they always have to satisfy their children, whatever it takes, regardless of what they ask for. In their quest of always satisfying their wards, they may find food to be always pleasant in making their kids feel good about themselves and about their parents as well. Gradually as the children grow up they may become addicted to eating, since that is what they were trained with.

Therapeutic relief from food addiction

There are methods that you can access by yourself in combating our food addiction; some of such methods are getting friends and family to know about it, procuring addiction literatures, and having an intentional desire to stop. If the addiction is still in a preliminary state, outpatient rehab could be considered for treatment.

Outpatient rehab is not available for home treatments, therefore there would be shorter treatment session, but it is still suitable for tender addictions recovery. Other extreme addictive conditions should do well to take an inpatient rehab, in other to get the best treatments for and for longer sessions.

In getting rid of food addiction, try to fix yourself up with meaningful and adventurous activities. Those idle times that are spent on food, should be diverted to things that are more rewarding and profitable.