Overcoming Your Food Addiction
Marlenea La Shomb, N.D., LMT
July – August 2022 • Vol 3, No 122
Dear Dr. Ma,
Please help me! I will eat, but I know I’m not hungry, yet I still crave more food. It’s become a problem. My friends tell me I’m a food addict. What can I do?
— Betty
Dear Betty,
You are not alone! 90% of the American public eat for every reason you can think of, but not out of actual, real hunger. We eat for an end-of-the-workday reward, social pressures, time with our friends and family, for holidays and celebrations, when it’s an overcast and depressing day, missing a loved one, childhood seasonal memories, tension and stress, anger or happiness, I’m lonely, at the movies, on a date, stuffing my emotions, or for no reason at all. You name it—we eat for it.
Is there a way off this roller coaster ride? The answer is yes! As you said, it’s become a problem, more than likely affecting your health, which in turn, affects your whole life, from work to play, relationships, and most importantly, how you feel about yourself. Your friends have told you that you’re a food addict. Let’s look at the flip side of this coin.
