We crave carbs. Period.

We want them in the morning as soon as we wake up. We crave them in mid day and in between meals, and sometimes even in the middle of the night!

Some people sneak out to have just one small bag of Doritos, or brownies before lunch, afraid to be judged or questioned by their skinny friends, who, no doubt will make them feel guilty. Others simply shrug it off thinking,  oh well, I had cookies last night, what’s the point in stopping now? Even worse, whenever the conversation about food, nutrition orobesitycomes up-as it invariably does- we avoid it like it’s taboo.

Why is this so? why is there  a stigma surrounding the obesity trend we face here in the US, as well as in much of the rest of the world?

Consider these facts: Smokers are avoided and shunned out of restaurants, for tons of good reasons; alcoholics and other substance abusers are also discriminated and criticized-admittedly again, for valid reasons; carb lovers who- not surprisingly-  tend to be on the heavy side, also end up feeling guilty in some way or another, about their obvious inability to curve their appetites.

The answer to my question:

Because The Real Causes Of Weight Gain Related Issues Are Seldom Addressed.

With so much information about How To lose weight, very little emphasis has been placed on the REAL cause of the problem.

We are told over and over, how to do this diet, burn the fat, limit our portions, take this pill, walk 5 miles to work, be more discipline, be committed and on and on, but here’s the truth…

Losing Weight Is Not Just About Willpower

We are addicted to carbohydrates, the bad- for-  you type of carbs, the pizza, pastas, white breads, etc, much in the same way smokers are addicted to nicotine, or alcoholics are addicted to alcohol. And like these toxic substances, carbs are legal too, which makes the habit just as hard to break, and like with all addictions, addicts are looked down upon by society.

Carbohydrate lovers know what they are doing to themselves. They see themselves in the mirror everyday (or avoid it altogether!) and everywhere they go they hear about all the reasons why they need to stop…but does it make them stop? Hardly. Substance abuse rehabilitation experts offer support and talk about how addicts could stop using if they really wanted to; failing that, they gather family for support and intervention, as the trend seems to be nowadays. Over-eaters Anonymous follow similar guidelines as well…but the addicted brain does not want a change

It’s Also A Brain Chemical Imbalance

More often than not, most of these efforts, (time, energy and financial resources)  are wasted because the real biological, chemical brain alteration that the addict has undergone over the course of his/her life has not been properly addressed, much less treated correctly.

Granted, drug junkies are hardly ever sober enough to analyze their options, and when under treatment, they are usually eager to end it so they can get high again; carb junkies, though clear headed and able to rationalize their options don’t receive the help they really need because they don’t even know they have an addiction problem in the first place! With millions of overweight people all over the world, the tendency to feel normal or doomed because of heredity or a myriad of other reasons, makes it even more difficult to take any kind of action toward recovery.

Another issue not usually addressed either is why the food industry continues to mass produce simple, junk carbohydrates the way they do-overprocessed and empty of nutrients- and what exactly do they add or remove that makes us so addicted to them in the first place?  

Is There Hope?

Once we all, as a nation acknowledge and recognize obesity as a disease much in the same way addictions are, and do a much better job at treating it by healing the brain first, addressing the biological damage at cellular level, damage which cannot simply be undone with group therapy, or counseling or nutritional guidelines, or with any amount of boot camp training; until this happens, the current obesity epidemic with its devastating effects is here to stay for a long time.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Luz Laureano

Tags: Fitness And Nutrition, Healthy Eating Habits, Losing Weight, Obesity

This entry was posted on February 11, 2011 at 5:16 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Body Mind Health Health Nutrition Weight Control by Luz Laureano No Comments Yet