Just as the nicotine content in cigarettes is increased to ensure addiction, processed foods are full of sugar (which is addictive in itself), high fructose corn syrup, MSG, synthetic flavors, chemicals and salt, in order to cause you to become addicted to them.
When rats were fed a high sugar diet, they showed all the signs of drug withdrawal when researchers attempted to remove the sugar. The study clearly showed a link between the brain’s pleasure chemicals (called opioids) and cravings for sweet, fatty and salty foods. The changes in the rats’ brain chemistry were the same as those of drug addicts!
You can be addicted to certain foods. In fact, refined, white sugar is more addictive than cocaine! And if you read labels carefully, it is a major ingredient in just about every packaged food – even ones you would never expect.
If you eat a diet composed of mostly high sugar, processed foods, you stimulate areas of your brain that cause you to cancel out your built-in self-control and create an addiction. As I mentioned in the first June newsletter – if you eat these overly sweet, salty and chemically altered “foods,” real, fresh, nutrient-dense whole foods seem tasteless to you.
The most destructive result of eating these foods is the negative impact on insulin levels. It’s believed that the positive result of breaking this addiction to processed foods would actually have a greater impact than if everyone who smokes quit, simply because elevated insulin levels underlie every chronic disease.
So, what’s the answer?
I know I probably sound like a broken record, but the more fresh, whole foods you eat, the healthier you will be. Your body craves living food. Life begets life! When you continually feed on fake, synthetic, dead “food” (I use the term loosely!), what do you think happens to the cells in your body that are crying out for real nourishment?
Scientist have proven that the more sunlight a food is able to store, the more nutritious it is. Naturally grown fresh vegetables and sun-ripened fruits, are rich in this light energy. The capacity a food has to store this energy is an indication of the quality of that food. The more light energy it stores the more nutritious it is.
This will impact your DNA, production of enzymes and hormones and every process of your physical body. So my suggestion if you are eating a lot of processed foods is to begin to gradually phase them out of your diet. Take baby steps – but begin today to eliminate them from your diet.
It will take some time, but once you have eliminated them your body and taste buds will begin to reset. Real food will begin to taste good again! Those cravings you used to have will be a distant memory and your enthusiasm and energy will overflow. It takes some effort and discipline – but it is more than worth it.
Source by Ann Musico
