How to get rid of food addiction? Causes of food addiction

You can struggle with excess weight for years, look for a magic diet, exhaust yourself with physical exercise, visit cosmetologists, without assuming that the problem of excess weight can be solved with the help of a medical psychologist or psychotherapist. However, most people firmly believe in purely biological causes of excess weight (heredity, hormonal disorders, wide bones, etc.). But without an integrated approach, it is impossible to achieve weight loss or the effect will be very short-lived.

It should be remembered and taken into account that a person is a whole system, conditionally consisting of three aspects - biological (physiological characteristics of the body), psychological and social. Only by taking into account all these aspects can you get a positive and long-term result in the fight against excess weight.

It seems that everything is simple: eat less and move more - and the problem of excess weight will not affect you. However, experience suggests the opposite: achieving long-term results is a complex and lengthy process, which is greatly hampered by an insatiable appetite. In most cases, excess weight has nothing to do with organic disorders and the reasons for its accumulation must be sought in psychology.

Psychological causes of overeating and food addiction

General dissatisfaction with life (stress, anxiety, fear, depression, melancholy, etc.) . All people, without exception, who have problems with excess weight, experience basic dissatisfaction with life to one degree or another, which leads to an uncontrolled process of food consumption. In fact, instead of looking for the causes of dissatisfaction and resolving them, people eat away at their problems. In other words, the constant desire to eat is a hidden symptom of a neurotic disorder, which manifests itself on the physical level. Using medical terminology, this phenomenon is called food addiction . Any attempts by force of will to limit oneself in food only lead to an increase in neurotic symptoms (mood decreases, feelings of anxiety, irritability, and emotional tension increase). In this case, you cannot do without professional psychotherapeutic help, because In order for weight to normalize, it is necessary to eliminate the psychological cause of overeating. A wide variety of diets and the latest weight loss drugs do not take the above into account. Most attempts to lose weight with their help bring only temporary results, because... your efforts are aimed at combating the consequence (excess weight), while the true cause of excess weight remains. With a psychotherapist (psychologist), the deep psychological causes of food addiction are eliminated, and weight loss occurs naturally, without stress for the person.
Eating habits and social traditions In families where there is a real cult of food, excess weight is observed in all generations, and therefore it seems that the tendency to obesity is inherited. But this is not true at all. If anything is inherited, it is the attitude towards food, eating habits, and the tendency to constantly overeat. For example, many of us were forced by our parents in childhood to finish eating, despite our objections. Thus, we were taught to neglect the needs of the body and follow other principles. In such families, love is expressed through food (they encourage approved behavior with something tasty, and vice versa, they deprive you of the same tasty thing when you are guilty of something). All these eating habits that are imposed on us do not disappear, but predetermine our lives in the future. For example, few are able to refuse treats at a party out of fear that they will offend someone or that they will be treated poorly later (these fears come from childhood - parents unconsciously manipulated the loss of love if we do not eat as they demand). In general, eating behavior is a complex psycho-emotional process in which emotions play an important role. An insatiable appetite accompanies many neurotic conditions; control over the amount of food consumed, its quality is lost, and the difference between the feeling of hunger and the feeling of appetite is lost.
Dislike for yourself I would like to highlight this reason as a separate point. We all come from childhood. Most children experience a deficiency of parental love and affection, which subsequently leads to the development of neurotic disorders. And overeating is a direct consequence of these neuroses. Of course, beatings and humiliation are not present in every family, however, a lack of unconditional love is found almost everywhere. The result of this attitude of parents is the inability of a person to love himself just like that, without conditions (he does not respect himself as a person, does not accept his body, tries to “escape” from himself, and food becomes the only outlet, a kind of way of escaping from problems). A person learns to use food not for food purposes, but as a lifeline, as a kind of “pill of happiness” and stress relief.

There are many psychological reasons for excess weight. We will focus only on the main and most common ones.

Psychotropic drugs

More than 50% of medications used in the treatment of bulimia are medications containing psychotropic substances. The list of pills for bulimia is quite wide; today, antidepressants, sedatives and anti-anxiety drugs are used to a greater extent. Regular use of psychotropic medications is necessary to restore the patient’s psycho-emotional state, as well as his biorhythms, diet and sleep patterns.

Psychotropic drugs are sold only with a doctor's prescription. Medicines and their doses are prescribed by a specialist individually, depending on health status, age, duration of the disease, and the frequency of attacks of uncontrolled food consumption. It is impossible to purchase psychotropic drugs without a prescription, as they become the object of attention of drug addicts. Among drug addicts, pills for bulimia nervosa are in high demand. A specialist can prescribe from one to five drugs at a time.

The most common treatment for bulimia is tranquilizers. As is known, if used irrationally and not following the doctor's prescription, medications cause drug dependence. That is why they are not only not sold without a prescription, but are also taken under the strict supervision of a specialist; in no case should you increase the dosage, as well as extend the course of treatment yourself, otherwise it can develop into a dangerous and difficult-to-treat addiction.

Among the popular drugs used today for bulimic disorders is Phenazepam. It is he who is today a widely used pharmaceutical drug from the group of benzodiazepines. When fighting the disease, tranquilizers are often prescribed together with antidepressants such as fluoxetine, the irrational use of which can also lead to the development of pharmaceutical drug addiction.

Dependence on pharmaceutical drugs is quite difficult to treat, so you should not neglect the instructions for use of a particular drug and the prescription of the doctor who prescribed it. The duration of taking medications for bulimia varies from person to person; as a rule, it is about a month.

Statistics of those who applied to CZM from 2004 to 2021:

6961 people total number
754 people are currently undergoing the program
2240 people in total are in remission
297 people were formed and married couples were restored
215 children born

What do you need to pay attention to to get rid of food addiction?

Overeating (food addiction) always has psychological roots. To eliminate the causes of overeating, you need to consult a psychologist or psychotherapist, and your nutrition and weight will be normalized naturally;
It should be understood that obesity is not an aesthetic problem, but a psychosomatic metabolic disease that has serious health consequences and affects the quality of life.
Overeating is a way to relieve stress; it is one of the symptoms of food addiction. Addiction to food is exactly the same as addiction to alcohol or drugs, it is simply socially acceptable and not condemned in our society.
Without a deep psychological restructuring of yourself, changing your lifestyle, as well as eating habits, you should not count on long-term results.
It is important to find the reason that prevents you from losing excess weight. It is individual for everyone. Identifying the cause is the task of a psychologist who will help not only find it, but also eliminate it.

Over-the-counter appetite correctors

Among the main goals in the treatment of bulimia nervosa is the elimination of pathological cravings for food and overeating. In addition to dietary supplements, medications that suppress appetite are used. Along with drugs that cannot be purchased without a doctor’s prescription, there are also relatively safe ones that do not cause drug dependence, addiction, or unwanted side effects in the form of pharmacy addiction. It is important to understand that the use of these medications should also be supervised by a doctor. Self-medication can lead to dire consequences.

If a person feels hungry less often, the risks of breakdowns and gluttony are minimized. Strong medications are prescribed by your doctor, but there is a whole list of pills for bulimia without a prescription.

Turboslim is a fairly common dietary supplement in our country, positioned as a diet pill. It has a herbal composition, helps speed up metabolic processes in the body, reduce hunger and cleanse the body of toxins.
Cotton fiber (microcrystalline cellulose) swells after consumption and creates a feeling of satiety and removes toxins.
Reduxin light. Linoleic acid in this dietary supplement affects the production of enzymes responsible for fat metabolism. This helps the body get rid of subcutaneous fat and significantly reduce the need for food.
Garcinia forte is a herbal medicine that contains essential vitamins, accelerates the fat burning process, and reduces appetite;
Orlistat prevents the absorption of fats from the gastrointestinal tract and promotes rapid weight loss.
Porciola contains an active substance that, when it enters the stomach, is converted into a gel, which helps reduce appetite and eliminate the feeling of hunger. Satiety occurs quickly, which prevents gluttony.

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Treatment (correction) of food addiction at the Ember center

At the first stage (diagnostic), it is necessary to determine the degree of food addiction and, based on this data, create an individual weight loss program. The specialists of our center have extensive experience, use classical and original methods, as well as all the necessary modern methods of psychotherapy and psychocorrection, with the help of which eating habits are changed and the conditioned reflex connection between the emotional state of stress and overeating is broken.

The goal of psychotherapy is deep psychological restructuring, restoration of internal self-regulation mechanisms that provide control over appetite and eliminate bad eating habits that maintain excess weight. After psychotherapy, a strong motivation to lose weight is formed. It is impossible to say in advance how many psychotherapy sessions will be needed. Each case is unique, but changes begin to occur after the first consultation with a psychologist. Then the person goes through the process, watches how the weight goes away, and then maintains his ideal weight on his own.

Antidepressants without a prescription

Effective, potent over-the-counter antidepressants cannot be purchased in a pharmacy in Russia, and it is illegal to sell drugs without a prescription. They are used today to treat eating disorders as part of a comprehensive recovery course. However, you can buy affordable mild antidepressants at a pharmacy without a prescription. Over-the-counter antidepressants are vitamin-mineral complexes and dietary supplements (anti-anxiety).

Among them:

Novopassit (herbal medicine containing valerian, St. John's wort, lemon balm) eliminates anxiety and has a sedative effect;
Neurofulol (contains vitamins and an amino acid that is involved in the synthesis of brain neurotransmitters, for example, serotonin, which improves a person’s mood) eliminates anxiety, insomnia, and depressive states;
Glycine (nootropic) normalizes blood circulation in the brain, eliminates emotional stress, and stimulates the central nervous system.

Case study of recovery from food addiction

Maria, 33 years old, weight 83 kg and height 162 cm.

I came to the Ember center on the recommendation of friends. At an initial consultation with a medical psychologist, it turned out that Maria grew up as a chubby child from childhood, raised by her mother and grandmother, for whom food was a cult, and it was impossible to leave the table unless the plate was empty. So that the child would eat everything to the end and not be capricious, Masha’s mother bought Masha a plate with a picture of a little girl on the bottom. And when Maria didn’t eat well, her mother said: “Well, eat quickly, otherwise the little girl will drown.” Thus, the habit of overeating has developed, eating for speed and no matter what. In the process of getting rid of food addiction, Maria realized her deepest reasons for overeating, lost 28 kg and continues to maintain the weight to this day.

Sign up for a consultation with a psychologist or psychotherapist by phone or fill out the application form on the website.

Emotional mood plays a very important role in overcoming desires.

Promise yourself that in 5 minutes, while you distract yourself in every possible way, the craving for sweets will pass. And during this time, try to do something fun so that all the negativity dissolves. Do something nice for another person, listen to your favorite music, or just vent to a friend.

If you feel like your willpower is depleted, remind yourself why you decided to stop eating sugar, stimulate yourself constantly. If the reason is excess weight, take a photo of yourself and keep all the photos, then a clear example will always be before your eyes.

Abruptly giving up sweets may seem impossible, but it is quite possible and effective. After a few weeks, your taste buds will recognize food differently and what you like now will no longer seem as appetizing. Dr. Tharman says, “Freedom tastes great—freedom from obsession.”

Recovery

To restore a weakened body after an illness, it needs to take vitamin and mineral complexes. During the recovery period, a balanced diet is important, since during illness people eat everything, junk and high-calorie foods: pizza, hamburgers, sandwiches, sweets, buns, candies, etc. Such food helps to quickly fill up and reduces discomfort during forced cleansing of the stomach and intestines.

People susceptible to bulimia most often develop a deficiency of vitamins A, B, C, K, D, PP and C. Regular provocations of vomiting and diarrhea lead to disruption of the body’s water-salt balance and dehydration. The leaching of elements such as magnesium, potassium and calcium leads to spasms, convulsions, and heart rhythm. To replenish the reserves of useful substances in the body and speed up its recovery, patients take vitamins and minerals, and they are also injected intramuscularly with ionic solutions.

Where does stress come from?

It can be difficult for them to adapt to the rhythm of the modern world, especially in big cities, where everything happens on the run, at lightning speed. When such people are pushed, for example, forced to do work quickly, in a short time, this causes them enormous stress. Because by nature they are leisurely, they do everything conscientiously, ideally. As a result, the speed of work may suffer. And if done hastily, they will not have a feeling of satisfaction from the work done.

This is how the unrealization of innate properties increases, as a result of which stress appears in the anal vector. A person does not always understand the true reasons for his conditions: why exactly he is so worried. Doesn't know how to solve this problem.

Therefore, all sorts of “plugs” of spiritual emptiness are used. And eating up problems is far from low on the list of “solutions.” Food becomes a saving refuge from stress and problems, a way to make up for the shortcomings that arise in the vector. Dependency arises. And food, instead of solving the problem, creates a new one, which also needs to be gotten rid of.

This happens due to the fact that a person is not aware of his desires, does not understand what he really wants from life and what he lacks right now.