Why Food Addiction Isn't Real

Jared here. Here's a mini food addiction report that really quickly looks at the scientific underpinnings of this notion of food addiction

And I just want to share with you why food addiction is actually not real

I know it might seem incredibly like it is real. I work at an eating disorder center. I've been through eating struggles myself

I know the feeling of being addicted to food. I know the cravings don't go away

And I know that can seem like addiction. So it's easy to understand why you might think you're addicted

I get it. Let's quickly look at a rat study that will flip your notions of food addiction on its head

Back in the early days, rats were put in a cage. They were given water or water laced with cocaine

The scientists found that the rats would drink the cocaine water until they died

They would stop eating their other food. They would just drink the drug water

They would die. Scientists then said, this is proof that these rats, this substance cocaine is so addictive

that it will kill you. And this is how we roughly think about addiction in our society today

There's these substances that you have no control over that cause you to basically die

And this notion is just 100% false. There's a link in the report that links to a TED Talk with over 16 million views that

talks about a different lab study. See, in the first lab study with mice, the mice were put in a dark cage

They had no friends. They were miserable rats. I mean, I feel bad for these rats

they were in an isolation tank for days weeks of course they drank the cocaine water but they did this similar experiment where they gave rats sunlight They gave rats toys to play with They had their friends around them

They had lots of the, um, that fluffy, uh, sand, not sand stuff, bark stuff, shaving, wood shavings

And the rats didn't even touch the cocaine water. So the notion that there's an addictive substance

that can cause you to have addiction, it misses the underlying states of deprivation

Okay. Deprivation, there's this underlying deprivation. An emotional need is not being

met. A physical need is not being met. In the rat's case, they were physically deprived of food

They're emotionally deprived of friends, sunlight. Humans are the same way. If you feel that you're

a food addict, then there's some sort of deprivation going on underneath that. And this is such an

empowering perspective because no longer are you a victim. It might feel like you're a victim

but this gives you direction. Previously, the only advice you're really given is either to pray

or to avoid, right? And does avoidance really work? It gives you two bad choices when you

believe that there are substances that cause you to be addicted. But when you kind of see that

there's these underlying states of deprivation, you can then begin to concentrate on meeting those

states of deprivation so you're no longer deprived. The foundation for food addiction then disappears

Now down below, okay, so you can check out the report down below for more information

And please just feel free to leave a comment. I'd love to hear like, I know food addiction

There are smart people who disagree and love to hear your perspective

So that's my perspective. And with that being said, we'll call it a day

Namaste