Kris Gunnars

Are You a Food Addict? Here Are 8 Common Symptoms

Food addiction is a common problem in Western society.

1. You Get Cravings Despite Being Full

It is not uncommon to get cravings, even after eating a fulfilling, nutritious meal.

For example, after just downing a nice meal with steak, potatoes and veggies, you may find yourself craving some ice cream for dessert.

You see, cravings and hunger aren't the same thing.

You don't actually feel "hungry" because you just finished a healthy and nutritious meal, but yet there is an urge somewhere in your brain to eat something else.

This is pretty common and doesn't necessarily mean that you have a problem. Most people get cravings.

However, if this happens often and you have real problems controlling yourself, then it may be an indicator of something else going on (2).

This craving is not about your need for energy or nutrients — it is your brain calling for something that releases dopamine in the reward system of the brain (3).

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SUMMARY: Cravings are obviously very common. Fewer than 13% of participants rarely or never experienced this.

2. You Eat Much More Than You Intended To

What harm is there in having a small slice of chocolate cake? A little bit ain't gonna kill you. Everything is good in moderation, right?

These are two remarks that people get to hear quite often when refusing an offering of unhealthy food for one reason or another.

Both of them are valid. One slice isn't going to do much harm and if you can eat cake in moderation then it's probably alright.

But for some people, there is no such thing as a bite of chocolate or a single piece of cake. One bite turns into 20 and one slice of cake turns into half a cake.

This is an "all or nothing" phenomenon that is common with addicts of all sorts. There is no such thing as "moderation" — it simply does not work (4).

Telling a food addict to eat junk food in moderation is almost like telling an alcoholic to drink beer in moderation. It's just not possible.

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SUMMARY: When giving in to a craving, over 54% of participants ate more than they intended to either frequently or all the time.

3. Eating Until Feeling Excessively "Stuffed"

Let's say you've given in to a craving.

Now you start eating, bite after bite, until you feel full — that is, if you weren't already full when you started (see symptom #1).

But it doesn't stop there, unfortunately.

You keep on eating, then you eat some more. When you finally stop, when your "urge" is satisfied, you realize that you have eaten so much that you feel completely stuffed.

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SUMMARY: Of the participants in the survey, about 36% tended to eat until feeling excessively stuffed, either frequently or all the time. In some cases, this may be classified as binge eating.

4. Feeling Guilty Afterwards, but Still Doing It Again Soon

When you do something you know isn't "right," something that is against your values, principles or previous decisions, you often feel bad about it.

This is called having a guilty conscience and is a very common feeling. It's a feeling that is both good and bad.

It is good, because it means that you do actually care. It is bad, because it feels incredibly unpleasant when it happens. It's a terrible feeling.

If you have been trying to exert "willpower" to control your consumption of unhealthy foods, giving in to a craving can lead to a guilty conscience.

You may feel that you are doing something wrong, even cheating on yourself. This may make you feel weak and undisciplined.

Yet, you soon do the whole thing over and over again.

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SUMMARY: This is apparently very common. Among the participants, only 19% never or rarely repeatedly ate foods that they felt guilty about.

5. Making Up Excuses in Your Head

When you have decided to abstain from junk food on a particular day but a craving shows up anyway, you can imagine two forces at play in your mind.

One is the logical, rational decision you made to abstain from junk food. Perhaps you decided to only “cheat” on Saturdays.

But the other force is the craving. Today is a Wednesday and you feel like having something sweet in the afternoon.

Right now you have an urge to have a piece of food that you had previously decided you weren't going to eat on this particular day.

The logical decision you made to abstain becomes "challenged" by the new idea that you should indulge today and eat whatever it is you’re craving.

At these moments, you start thinking about whether you should or should not indulge. You may come up with some excuse about why it would be a good idea to give in to the craving and have that piece of food.

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SUMMARY: This also appears to be very common. 30% do it frequently or all the time, while almost 40% can relate to doing it sometimes.

6. Repeated Failures at Setting Rules for Yourself

When people are struggling with self-control in one way or another, they often try to set rules for themselves.

For example, only sleep in on the weekends, always do homework right after school, never drink coffee after two in the afternoon. Sound familiar? For most people, these rules almost always fail.

There are few things that are as hopeless as setting rules about eating, especially for those who have problems with cravings.

Examples include one cheat meal per week, two cheat meals per week, one cheat day, only eat junk food at parties, birthdays or holidays, etc. I've personally tried all of these rules, along with a dozen others.

They failed, every time.

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SUMMARY: About 80% of the participants had at least some history of failures to set rules about their food consumption. For 49% of people, this happened frequently or all the time.

7. Hiding Your Eating From Others

People with a history of rule setting and repeated failures often start hiding their consumption of junk food from others.

They may prefer to eat alone, when no one else is at home, alone in the car or late at night after everyone else has gone to bed.

I used to drive to the store, buy junk food and eat it alone in the car. If I was home alone, I would eat it there, but I made sure to throw away and hide the packaging so that no one would be able to see what I had done.

I felt ashamed of it and I didn't like the idea of my loved ones realizing how weak I was and what I was doing to myself.

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SUMMARY: Apparently hiding food intake is fairly common. About 26% of participants did it frequently or all the time, while almost 25% of people admit to doing it sometimes.

8. Unable to Quit Despite Physical Problems

There is no doubt that the foods you eat have a significant effect on your health.

In the short term, junk food can lead to weight gain, acne, bad breath, fatigue, poor dental health and other common problems.

But in the long term, after years and years of continued abuse to the body, things can start to go really wrong.

A lifetime of junk food consumption can lead to obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer's, dementia and even some types of cancer.

Someone who experiences any of these physical problems and knows that they are directly related to their intake of unhealthy foods, but is still unable to change their habits, is in serious trouble.

Many people know that the junk foods are harming them, but are still unable to control their consumption.

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SUMMARY: Of the 870 individuals who answered this question, 54% (476 people) answered that they agreed or strongly agreed.

More Details About the Survey

Interestingly, most of the participants were women.

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However, the pattern was very similar for males and females.

The age of participants:

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It’s important to point out that most of those who participated were looking for weight loss information when they signed up to the mailing list.

This means that the sample may not be quite representative of the general population.

The word “addiction” was not used in the survey, but it was mentioned that it was about people’s relationship with food.

Are You Addicted to Junk Food?

The DSM-IV is a guide used by health professionals to diagnose mental disorders.

If you look at the criteria for substance dependence, you can easily see that many of the 8 symptoms above fit in with medical definitions of addiction.

If you are wondering whether you have a problem with food addiction or not, then you only need to ask yourself this one question:

Have you repeatedly tried to quit eating or cut back on your consumption of junk food, but you can't?

If you can relate to that, then sure thing — you do have a problem and you better do something about it.

Whether you are a full-blown "addict" that fits in with medical definitions of addiction doesn't matter, in my opinion.

The key point here is that deep in your heart you want to quit, but you can't.

If that is the case, then it is time for action.

This article was originally published by Healthline. Reprinted with permission.

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Top 11 Biggest Lies of the Junk Food Industry

There is no decency in the way junk food companies do their marketing.

1. Low-Fat or Fat-Free

One of the side effects of the "war" on fat was a plethora of processed products with reduced amounts of fat.

These products typically have labels saying "low-fat," "reduced fat" or "fat-free."

The problem is that most of these products are not healthy at all.

Foods that have had the fat removed from them typically do not taste as good as the full-fat versions. Few people want to eat them.

For this reason, food producers load these products with added sugar and other additives (1).

It is now known that fat has been unfairly demonized while growing evidence has been revealing the dangers of added sugar.

What this means is that "low-fat" foods are usually much worse than their "regular" counterparts.

SUMMARY: If a product has the words "low-fat" or anything similar on the label, it probably contains added sweeteners. Keep in mind that these processed foods are not necessarily a healthy choice.

2. Trans Fat-Free

Processed foods often have "trans fat-free" on the label. This doesn't necessarily have to be true.

As long as a product contains fewer than 0.5 grams of trans fats per serving, they are allowed to put this on the label (2).

Make sure to check the ingredients list. If the word "hydrogenated" appears anywhere on the label, then it contains trans fats.

It's actually not uncommon to find hydrogenated fats in products that are labeled trans fat-free.

SUMMARY: Avoid everything that contains the word "hydrogenated." Food products labeled trans fat-free may actually contain up to 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving.

3. Includes Whole Grains

Over the past few decades, consumers have been led to believe that whole grains are among the healthiest foods they can eat.

I agree 100% that whole grains are better than refined grains, although there is no evidence that eating whole grains is healthier than no grains at all.

That said, processed foods like cereals often claim to include whole grains. The problem is that whole grains aren't always "whole." The grains have been pulverized into very fine flour (3, 4).

They may contain all the ingredients from the grain, but the resistance to quick digestion is lost and these grains might spike your blood sugar just as fast as their refined counterparts (5).

Plus, even if a product has small amounts of whole grains in it, chances are that it contains a ton of other very harmful ingredients like sugar and high-fructose corn syrup.

SUMMARY: Most processed food products containing whole grains aren't really "whole" — they've been pulverized into very fine flour and spike blood sugar levels just as fast as their refined counterparts.

4. Gluten-Free

Eating a gluten-free diet is very trendy these days.

Around 1.5% of Americans are currently eating gluten-free or actively trying to restrict gluten. One-third of those haven’t been diagnosed with celiac disease (6).

Just so we're clear, I fully support a gluten-free diet. There is evidence that in addition to full-blown celiac disease, a proportion of people may be sensitive to gluten or wheat.

However, processed products labeled as "gluten-free" and made to replace gluten-containing foods are generally not healthy. They are also much more expensive (7).

These foods are usually made from highly refined, high-glycemic starches, like corn starch, potato starch and tapioca starch, and may also be loaded with sugar.

Eating gluten-free should be about ditching the refined cereals and replacing them with real, whole foods.

SUMMARY: So-called "gluten-free" products are often loaded with unhealthy ingredients. Avoid them and eat real food instead.

5. Hidden Sugar

Unfortunately, most people don't read ingredient lists before making a purchase.

But even for those who do, food manufacturers still have ways of disguising the true contents of their products (8).

On ingredient lists, the components are listed in descending order by amount. If you see sugar in the first few spots, then you know that the product is loaded with sugar.

However, food manufacturers often put different types of sugar in their products. A food may contain sugar, high-fructose corn syrup and evaporated cane juice, which are all different names for the exact same thing — sugar.

This way, they can have some other, healthier-sounding ingredient as number one on the list. Nevertheless, if you were to add up the amounts of these three different types of sugar, sugar would be at the top.

This is a clever way to mask the true amount of refined sugar in processed foods.

Here’s an article on the 56 most common names for sugar.

SUMMARY: Make sure to check whether a product contains more than one type of sugar. If that’s the case, sugar may really be among the top ingredients.

6. Calories per Serving

The real calorie and sugar content of products is often hidden by saying that the product is more than one serving.

For example, a manufacturer can decide that a chocolate bar or soda bottle is two servings, even though most people don't stop until they have finished the whole thing.

Food producers can use this to their advantage by saying their products contain only a certain amount of calories per serving.

When reading labels, check the number of servings the product contains. If it contains two servings and there are 200 calories per serving, then the entire thing is 400 calories.

For example, a 24-ounce (.7-liter) bottle of cola may contain 100 calories and 27 grams of sugar per serving. If the entire bottle contains three servings, the total amount is 300 calories and 81 grams of sugar.

I don't know about you, but back in my cola-drinking days, I could easily down 24 ounces (or more) in one sitting.

SUMMARY: Make sure to check the number of servings on a label. Multiply the total sugar and calorie content by the number of servings to find the true total amount.

7. Fruit-Flavored

Many processed foods have a flavor that sounds natural.

For example, orange-flavored Vitaminwater tastes like oranges. However, there are no actual oranges in there.

The sweet taste is coming from sugar and the orange flavor is coming from artificial chemicals.

Just because a product has the flavor of real food doesn't mean that any of it is actually in there. Blueberry, strawberry, orange, etc. — these are often just chemicals designed to taste like the real thing.

SUMMARY: Just because a product has the taste of some natural food does not mean that there is even the slightest trace of that food in the product.

8. Small Amounts of Healthy Ingredients

Processed products often list small amounts of ingredients that are commonly considered healthy.

This is purely a marketing trick. Usually, the amounts of these nutrients are negligible and do nothing to make up for the harmful effects of the other ingredients.

This way, clever marketers can fool parents into thinking they're making healthy choices for themselves and their children.

Some examples of ingredients often added in tiny amounts and then displayed prominently on the packaging are omega-3s, antioxidants and whole grains.

SUMMARY: Food manufacturers often put small amounts of healthy ingredients in their products to fool people into thinking that the products are healthy.

9. Hiding Controversial Ingredients

Many people claim to have adverse reactions to certain food ingredients and therefore choose to avoid them.

However, food manufacturers often hide these controversial ingredients by referring to them with technical names that people don't know.

For example, in Europe MSG (monosodium glutamate) may be called E621 and carrageenan may be called E407.

The same can be said for many types of sugar, such as "evaporated cane juice" — it sounds natural, but it's really just sugar.

SUMMARY: Food manufacturers often hide the fact that their products contain controversial ingredients by calling them something else.

10. Low-Carb Junk Foods

Low-carb diets have been pretty popular for the past few decades.

Food manufacturers have caught up on the trend and started offered a variety of low-carb products.

The problem with these foods is the same as with the "low-fat" foods — that they're not necessarily healthy.

These are usually processed junk foods filled with unhealthy ingredients. Look at the ingredients list for products like Atkins low-carb bars. This isn't food!

There are also examples of low-carb breads and other replacement products that contain many more carbs than the label claims.

SUMMARY: "Low-carb" products are often highly processed and made with very unhealthy ingredients.

11. “Organic” Unhealthy Ingredients

Although organic food can have some benefits, many food manufacturers use the word “organic” to mislead people.

For example, when you see “raw organic cane sugar” on an ingredient list, this is basically the exact same thing as regular table sugar.

Just because something is organic does not mean that it is healthy.

SUMMARY: Many foods contain unhealthy ingredients that happen to be organic. This does not mean that they are any healthier than their non-organic counterparts.

The Bottom Line

Of course, it is best to just limit processed foods altogether and eat real, whole foods instead. That way, you don't have to worry about labels and ingredient lists.

Real food doesn't even need an ingredients list. Real food IS the ingredient.

This article was originally published by Healthline. Reprinted with permission.

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13 Health Benefits of Coffee, Based on Science

Coffee is actually very healthy.

Coffee can help people feel less tired and increase energy levels (1, 2).

This is because it contains a stimulant called caffeine, which is actually the most commonly consumed psychoactive substance in the world (3).

After you drink coffee, the caffeine is absorbed into the bloodstream. From there, it travels into the brain (4).

In the brain, caffeine blocks an inhibitory neurotransmitter called Adenosine.

When that happens, the amount of other neurotransmitters like norepinephrine and dopamine actually increases, leading to enhanced firing of neurons (5, 6).

Many controlled trials in humans show that coffee improves various aspects of brain function. This includes memory, mood, vigilance, energy levels, reaction times and general cognitive function (7, 8, 9).

BOTTOM LINE: Caffeine blocks an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, which leads to a stimulant effect. This improves energy levels, mood and various aspects of brain function.

2. Coffee Can Help You Burn Fat

Did you know that caffeine is found in almost every commercial fat burning supplement?

There's a good reason for that... caffeine is one of the very few natural substances that have actually been proven to aid fat burning.

Several studies show that caffeine can boost the metabolic rate by 3-11% (10, 11).

Other studies show that caffeine can specifically increase the burning of fat, by as much as 10% in obese individuals and 29% in lean people (12).

However, it is possible that these effects will diminish in long-term coffee drinkers.

BOTTOM LINE: Several studies show that caffeine can increase fat burning in the body and boost the metabolic rate.

3. The Caffeine Can Drastically Improve Physical Performance

Caffeine stimulates the nervous system, causing it to send signals to the fat cells to break down body fat (13, 14).

But caffeine also increases Epinephrine (Adrenaline) levels in the blood (15, 16).

This is the "fight or flight" hormone, designed to make our bodies ready for intense physical exertion.

Caffeine makes the fat cells break down body fat, releasing them into the blood as free fatty acids and making them available as fuel (17, 18).

Given these effects, it is not surprising to see that caffeine can improve physical performance by 11-12%, on average (20, 29).

Because of this, it makes sense to have a strong cup of coffee about a half an hour before you head to the gym.

BOTTOM LINE: Caffeine can increase adrenaline levels and release fatty acids from the fat tissues. It also leads to significant improvements in physical performance.

4. There Are Essential Nutrients in Coffee

Coffee is more than just black water. Many of the nutrients in the coffee beans do make it into the final drink.

A single cup of coffee contains (21):

Riboflavin (Vitamin B2): 11% of the RDA.
Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5): 6% of the RDA.
Manganese and Potassium: 3% of the RDA.
Magnesium and Niacin (B3): 2% of the RDA.

Although this may not seem like a big deal, most people are drinking more than one cup per day. If you drink 3-4, then these amounts quickly add up.

BOTTOM LINE: Coffee contains several important nutrients, including Riboflavin, Pantothenic Acid, Manganese, Potassium, Magnesium and Niacin.

5. Coffee May Lower Your Risk of Type II Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is a gigantic health problem, currently afflicting about 300 million people worldwide.

It is characterized by elevated blood sugars in the context of insulin resistance or an inability to secrete insulin.

For some reason, coffee drinkers have a significantly reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The studies show that people who drink the most coffee have a 23-50% lower risk of getting this disease, one study showing a reduction as high as 67% (22, 23, 24, 25, 26).

According to a massive review that looked at data from 18 studies with a total of 457,922 individuals, each daily cup of coffee was associated with a 7% reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes (27).

BOTTOM LINE: Several observational studies show that coffee drinkers have a much lower risk of getting type II diabetes, a serious disease that currently afflicts about 300 million people worldwide.

6. Coffee May Protect You From Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia

Alzheimer's disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease and the leading cause of dementia worldwide.

This disease usually affects people over 65 years of age.

Unfortunately, there is no known cure for Alzheimer's.

However, there are several things you can do to prevent the disease from showing up in the first place.

This includes the usual suspects like eating healthy and exercising, but drinking coffee may be incredibly effective as well.

Several studies show that coffee drinkers have up to a 65% lower risk of getting Alzheimer's disease (28, 29).

BOTTOM LINE: Coffee drinkers have a much lower risk of getting Alzheimer's disease, which is a leading cause of dementia worldwide.

7. Caffeine May Lower The Risk of Parkinson's

Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, right after Alzheimer's.

It is caused by death of dopamine-generating neurons in the brain.

Same as with Alzheimer's, there is no known cure, which makes it that much more important to focus on prevention.

In studies, coffee drinkers have a much lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease, with a reduction in risk ranging from 32-60% (30, 31, 32, 33).

In this case, it appears to be the caffeine itself that is causing the effect. People who drink decaf don't have a lower risk of Parkinson's (34).

BOTTOM LINE: Coffee drinkers have up to a 60% lower risk of getting Parkinson's disease, the second most common neurodegenerative disorder.

8. Coffee Appears to Have Protective Effects on The Liver

The liver is an amazing organ that carries out hundreds of important functions in the body.

Several common diseases primarily affect the liver, including hepatitis, fatty liver disease and others.

Many of these diseases can lead to a condition called cirrhosis, in which the liver has been largely replaced by scar tissue.

It turns out that coffee may protect against cirrhosis. People who drink 4 or more cups per day have up to an 80% lower risk (35, 36, 37).

BOTTOM LINE: Coffee drinkers have a much lower risk of developing cirrhosis, which can be caused by several diseases that affect the liver.

9. Coffee Can Fight Depression and Make You Happier

Depression is a serious mental disorder that causes a significantly reduced quality of life.

It is incredibly common and about 4.1% of people in the U.S. currently meet the criteria for clinical depression.

In a Harvard study published in 2011, women who drank 4 or more cups per day had a 20% lower risk of becoming depressed (38).

Another study with 208,424 individuals found that those who drank 4 or more cups per day were 53% less likely to commit suicide (39).

BOTTOM LINE: Coffee appears to lower the risk of developing depression and may dramatically reduce the risk of suicide.

10. Coffee Drinkers Have a Lower Risk of Some Types of Cancer

Cancer is one of the world's leading causes of death and is characterized by uncontrolled growth of cells in the body.

Coffee appears to be protective against two types of cancer... liver cancer and colorectal cancer.

Liver cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the world, while colorectal cancer ranks fourth (40).

Studies show that coffee drinkers have up to a 40% lower risk of liver cancer (41, 42).

One study of 489,706 individuals found that those who drank 4-5 cups of coffee per day had a 15% lower risk of colorectal cancer (43).

BOTTOM LINE: Liver and colorectal cancer are the 3rd and 4th leading causes of cancer death worldwide. Coffee drinkers have a lower risk of both.

11. Coffee Does Not Cause Heart Disease and May Lower The Risk of Stroke

It is often claimed that caffeine can increase blood pressure.

This is true, but the effect is small (3-4 mm/Hg) and usually goes away if you drink coffee regularly (44, 45).

However, the effect may persist in some people, so keep that in mind if you have elevated blood pressure (46, 47).

That being said, the studies do NOT support the myth that coffee raises the risk of heart disease (48, 49).

In fact, there is some evidence that women who drink coffee have a reduced risk of heart disease (50).

Some studies also show that coffee drinkers have a 20% lower risk of stroke (51, 52).

BOTTOM LINE: Coffee may cause mild increases in blood pressure, which usually diminish over time. Coffee drinkers do not have an increased risk of heart disease, but a slightly lower risk of stroke.

12. Coffee May Help You Live Longer

Given that coffee drinkers are less likely to get many diseases, it makes sense that coffee could help you live longer.

There are actually several observational studies showing that coffee drinkers have a lower risk of death.

In two very large studies, drinking coffee was associated with a 20% lower risk of death in men and a 26% lower risk of death in women, over a period of 18-24 years (53).

This effect appears to be particularly strong in type II diabetics. In one study, diabetics who drank coffee had a 30% lower risk of death during a 20 year study period (54).

BOTTOM LINE: Several studies show that coffee drinkers live longer and have a lower risk of premature death.

13. Coffee is The Biggest Source of Antioxidants in The Western Diet

For people who eat a standard Western diet, coffee may actually be the healthiest aspect of the diet.

That's because coffee contains a massive amount of antioxidants.

In fact, studies show that most people get more antioxidants from coffee than both fruits and vegetables... combined (55, 56, 57).

Coffee is one of the healthiest beverages on the planet. Period.

This article was originally published by Healthline.

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Are You a Food Addict? Here Are 8 Common Symptoms

Top 11 Biggest Lies of the Junk Food Industry

13 Health Benefits of Coffee, Based on Science

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