Tag Archives: fighting food addiction

Why medical detox is necessary to addicts

Understanding food addiction signs

September 28, 2016
Understanding food addiction

Understanding food addiction signs will help you have a change of mind about your life and health

Understanding food addiction signs: What do you know about food addiction?

Before you can attempt to treat the problem of food addiction, you must be well informed that is to say, understanding food addiction signs and how they can affect your health. With that said, how do we know that we are now at risk of food addictions? The following are some of the questions that can help determine if you have a food addiction. Are you able to identify any of these actions in your life? In other words do you …

  • End up eating more than planned when you start eating certain foods
  • Keep eating certain foods even if you’re no longer hungry
  • Eat to the point of feeling ill
  • Worry about not eating certain types of foods or worry about cutting down on certain types of foods
  • When certain foods aren’t available, go out of your way to obtain them

Questions in relation to the impact caused in your relationship with food on your personal life. Do these situations apply to you when:

  • You eat certain foods so often or in such large amounts that you start eating food instead of working, spending time with the family, or doing recreational activities.
  • You avoid professional or social situations where certain foods are available because of fear of overeating.
  • You have problems functioning effectively at your job or school because of food and eating.

Questions in relation to psychological withdrawal symptoms like, when you cut down on certain foods (excluding caffeinated beverages), do you have symptoms such as anxiety, agitation and other physical symptoms? Remember that these questions are not just tailored to trigger you if you are being addicted to food but also to gauge the impact of food decisions on your emotions. Therefore do these situations apply to you?

  • Eating food causes problems such as depression, anxiety, self-loathing, or guilt.
  • You need to eat more and more food to reduce negative emotions or increase pleasure.
  • Eating the same amount of food doesn’t reduce negative emotions or increase pleasure the way it used to.

Understanding food addiction signs: Help for food addiction

Even though there is evidence that food addiction is real, its treatment is still under investigation and the experts are working towards getting a scientific treatment solution for food addiction. At the moment a lot of debate around this is going on with some arguing that recovery from food addiction may be more complicated than recovery from other kinds of addictions. Alcoholics, for example, can ultimately abstain from drinking alcohol. But people who are addicted to food still need to eat. This is very interesting however while these studies are still being conducted, there are avenues of hope that you can get from experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury. All you need to do to access this help is to schedule for an appointment with her today and all your addiction concerns will be professionally addressed without any hesitation.

Understanding food addiction signs: What do you know about food addiction?

http://www.awaremednetwork.com/

 

 

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Excess sugar consumption

Healthy Foods for effective weight management

February 28, 2016

What kinds of foods are you feeding on?

Healthy foods

Healthy Foods for effective healthy weight management is the beginning of getting that lean body you seriously need.

This is a worthy question for all of us especially with the effects of addiction in most of our societies today. What we feed on counts a lot into how our health is and even the health of those around us. Like for instance when we don’t manage effectively what we eat, we are actually increasing our risks of being obese and you can imagine the health consequences of being obese or over weight. And so we ask how healthy is your food or should I say how bad is your diet? Experts are very clear in their findings that healthy foods are in themselves a good source of good health and lean weight. And for us to understand this, we spoke to experts from AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury who in her working experience of more than two decades now have been very resourceful in helping people across the globe find their place in the society by delivering natural healing to this problem of addiction.

If therefore you want to be a good manage of your weight, you must take keen interest of the food you are taking on a daily basis. We are aware that food is a substance that we need daily for the constant supply of energy but even in that good state, if we use food wrongly, it will be the very first to cause you serious health problem. But because we feed on various kinds of food stuff daily, we can use this opportunity to redeem ourselves from the scourge of food addiction by choosing only to feed on healthy food. In brief the point I am driving home is that if we work on our diet, we can be sure to reduce our weight with very minimal pain. Therefore with the right food, we are going to manage the weight problem progressively, but for now let us focus our attention on the foods to avoid for effective weight management.

All snacks with Carbs

Anytime you consume crackers, dry cereals, bread your body responds by converting the carbs into simple sugars then deposit them into your blood stream. The body then releases extra insulin which supports sugar absorption as fast as possible. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD), a weight loss expert from AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center says that the sugar absorption leads to low sugar level in the body, which makes you crave for more sugary foods and more carbs. Some sugary foods have no nutritional value to satisfy that instant energy you need. As you consume more carbs, you also consume more healthy fats as well as more protein which is difficult to digest.

Healthy Foods for effective healthy management: Frozen meals and low fat foods

Food manufacturers use a lot of sodium to preserve food. Sodium naturally retains water for a longer time. So when you eat these foods, you eat sodium into your body which will cause you a lot of bloats and that will not work well with your efforts of weight loss. Besides that researchers have supported the idea of people eating low fat food. The problems however is, as a result of the removed flavor the manufacturers add sugar to the food. This added sugar is not good for weight loss campaign.

Healthy Foods for effective weight management: Artificially sweetened Drinks, grapes and fruit juice

When you want to reduce weight, you need to avoid any sweetened drinks as they are carbonated. They then make your stomach feel full, thus makes you eat less. Alongside with that many people like taking fruit juice as take aways believing that they are healthy. The truth is most of them miss out on the fact that during their preparation, a lot of sugar is added to flavor them. The consequence of that is they end up consuming a lot of sugar unknowingly. Fruit juice taken without sugar is good and is highly encouraged. And when it comes to grapes, the are sweet and of course being fruits, they are people’s favorites thinking that taking them is a good idea. The truth is, grapes add more sugar into your system since they have high sugar content which then starts craving for more sweeter stuff. If you want to include grapes in your diet, ensure you also have some protein, with low calorie to stabilize your blood sugar.

White rice, certain breakfast cereals and salted nuts

White rice does serious harm to the weight loss campaign. Unfortunately, this is something that many people do not take serious. As compared to the brown rice, it has little nutrients. It is processed very fast thereby sending your blood sugar up. This is likely to results into energy crash which comes not so long after eating the white rice. This will then prompt you to look for food in order to energize the body more. Brown rice is also more nutritious and has less craving as compared to white rice.

Bread is generally low in fat but high in sugar. Do you take bread as a healthy food? Remember that bread has sugar, and its intake translates to a lot of sugar in the body. Natural cereals high in protein can therefore be a good substitute in place of bread. Besides that nuts are good because of the protein they add to the body. However, the salted nuts add more calories into your system. Unsalted nuts on the other hand are better because there will be no consumption of salt.

 Most pasta canned and dried fruits

Many of us love pasta because of the energy it adds but what we forget is that it is simply carbs. Most carbs are not healthy foods and only add a lot of blood sugar which is quite unhealthy. As for canned fruits researchers have established that they are loaded with sugar, hence are not good for people working on their weight loss programs. Remember that too much consumption of canned fruits adds a lot of sugar to the body therefore instead of the canned fruits; you can go for the fresh fruits. On the other hand most of the dried are loaded with sugar. So, to avoid too much of sugar uptake, you must avoid dried fruits at all costs. If you eat a lot of dried fruits, you add a lot of sugar into your system which if not burned, will lead to added weight.

Healthy Foods for effective weight management: Alcohol

Amazingly enough, alcohol lovers are always ready to shell out even to the last coin, even when taxes are increased. Alcohol is harmful in nature. It adds more calories to the body, which then leads to addition of more weight. Those taking alcohol make poor decision when it comes to food. They then end up eating fried foods every time they take alcohol.

Finally the list is endless and from the discussion it is evident that most of the food items we feed do more harm than good to health. It is no wonder that for effective weight loss we must all take keen interest in balancing the foods we eat, since all of them add up to something in your body. this may pose a challenge and if that is the case then doctor Dalal Akoury will be more than willing to help you out up on scheduling for an appointment with her.

http://regenerativepotential.com/integrativeaddictionconference/

 

 

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Why medical detox is necessary to addicts

Taming food addiction to improve your health

February 27, 2016

Taming food addiction before it complicates your health: Necessary steps to take

Taming food addiction

Taming food addiction before it complicates your health is a must do for all people in this generation

Has it ever occurred to you that one of the most basic needs in life could turn into a serious health problem? Many times when you look at what you want to eat all you do is to invite appetite and begin the celebration. I am not saying that is not right however I want to bring to your attention that food may be good for the body but when not used well, could be the real nightmare we don’t want to associate with. Keep reading and find out why taming food addiction before it complicates your health is a must do thing in this generation. And like we have mention before, addiction does not necessarily have to involve an addictive substance or drug. The term addiction on the other hand can be used to describe any excessive behavior including compulsive eating. Form the various studies done to date, there are different opinions and thought about addiction but the scientific literature in the area of food addiction is still in the beginning stages of investigations and many experts believe that addiction to food really isn’t about the food.

That is to say that food is a variable that do not have addictive properties that may make someone to depend on unlike chemical substances. According to the experts from AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury MD, President and founder of the establishment, food addiction has more to do with the user, that is to say how a one behaves around food, what he think about food and how he relates or his habits with food. Doctor Akoury says that the habits are the real source of the addiction. We therefore must be careful with how we relate with food because for many food can become a way of coping with emotional matters and if this is done repeatedly, the consequences is that this coping mechanism can result into addiction. The danger comes in the sense that by using food as a means to deal with complications like anxiety, stress, grief, etc., the body is likely to become conditioned to crave that process to feel relief.

The other danger about food is that many at times people do associate pleasure with foods particularly those that contain fat, sugar and salt. Because of the vulnerabilities of these food elements, we get introduced to this at a young age when candy and soda are given as a “treat” or “reward” for good behavior, or when we have excelled in academic with good grades or during normal celebrations. Research studies have shown the reward centers of the brain to light up and release dopamine when pleasurable foods are consumed. The question that follows would be “could this be that we’ve conditioned our bodies to react this way?” Let’s respond to that subsequently as we progress into the discussion.

Taming food addiction before it complicates your health: The slippery slope of food addiction

Like we have said food is a basic need and we all need to eat to get the constant supply of energy to move. It therefore means that people do not just decide that they want to feel out of control with food. It’s often a slippery slope that leads a one into food addiction. Because of this we need to be on the alert to be safe from the temptation of being addicted to food. The following are some of the common warning signs and traits among people suffering from food addiction:

  • Rewarding/treating yourself with food
  • Thinking about food all the time
  • Restrictive dieting
  • Eating in secret or sneaking food
  • Feeling out of control with food
  • Feeling disgusted, guilty or upset after eating
  • Feeling stressed or tension that is only relieved by eating
  • Weight fluctuations and/or difficulty managing weight
  • Body dissatisfaction
  • Feeling unsatisfied even after meal times
  • Changes in mood
  • Labeling food as “good” and “bad”

Taming food addiction before it complicates your health: Overcoming food addiction

Taming food addiction is a process worth taking by everyone if we want to find lasting freedom from this condition. Doctor Akoury and her team of experts can help you redeem your-self professionally. For a full recovery you can call doctor Akoury today to help you take back the power from food so that you can achieve a full recovery. And as you consider that the following are some steps you may want to consider to help you or someone recovering from food addiction:

Healthy relationship with food – Unlike with 12-step addiction-based recovery models where individuals are encouraged to remain abstinent for healing, when it comes to food addiction, things are different because we still need to eat because food is a necessity to life. Therefore anyone struggling with food addiction must learn how to eat properly again by establishing a healthy relationship with food.

Management of consumption of unsafe foods – What we call unsafe foods is still foods and must be taken in moderation (proper management) so that we remain on a healthy by feeding on healthy food. However if for example one binges on ice cream because of a stressful situation, it’s advisable not to keep it in the house.

Structured meal plan – With a well-structured meal plan anybody suffering from an unhealthy relationship with food can bounce back on the right track of recovery. With this done the individual victim will be able to set safe boundaries with food. And alongside that the individual will feel satisfied thereby reducing the physiological need to eat. Remember that it’s more enticing to be out of control with food when there is physical deprivation.

Adopt healthy coping strategies – Address reasons for turning to food to cope by identifying much healthier coping mechanisms and strategies so that one can begin learning healthier means of dealing with emotions.

Finally taming food addiction before it complicates your health is one that will need real consultation with experts just to void making costly mistakes. Calling doctor Dalal Akoury for help will be very beneficial to you as she will professionally take you through the recovery process. And even as you consider doing that it is important to note that in order to defeat food addiction, one need to be very patient because it is a process and may not happen overnight as you may want. A registered dietitian or a licensed therapist who is specialized in the area of disordered eating will be very instrumental in offering solutions by helping you in the implement appropriate strategies and providing accountability and sound advice.

http://regenerativepotential.com/integrativeaddictionconference/

 

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Excess sugar consumption

Obesity Is An Addiction Not A Lifestyle

February 19, 2016

Why Obesity Is An Addiction Not A Lifestyle

Obesity is rapidly becoming the single biggest health risk in the world. There are over one billion obese adults worldwide, and this number is growing daily. The United States has the highest obesity rates out of all the developed countries surveyed. Estimates claim that nearly a third of all adults over the age of twenty in the U.S. are obese.

food addictionObesity can lead to many metabolic disorders, including diabetes, high blood pressure or hypertension, cholesterol-related diseases, heart disease, and osteoarthritis. The risk of cancer arising in organs such as the kidneys, gallbladder, prostrate, and breasts also increases exponentially with increased body weight.

A person is judged to be obese if their BMI (Body Mass Index) exceeds 30. The calculation for BMI is kg/m2, or weight in kilograms divided the square of the height in meters.

To many observers, obesity is an indication of laziness or lack of personal care. A Recent study into this subject has shown that many factors are responsible for the meteoric rise in obesity rates over recent years. Possible causes include sedentary lifestyles, the prevalence and convenience of fast food, and highly processed meals containing high levels of fats and sugars. Also, overweight people tend to marry other overweight people and pass the genes that predispose them to gain weight on to the next generation. The poor eating habits of the parents are also passed on to the children through imitation and observation.

There are also heightened stress levels experienced by many people in today’s society, and the response to this stress is often over indulgence in “comfort foods”.

There is now also evidence that supports the theory that obesity is an addiction. Studies using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) show that obese people experience the same chemical response to eating as drug addicts do to narcotics. There is also evidence that dopamine levels are increased by eating, inducing a feeling of euphoria and well-being that can only be replicated by eating more.

In The Canadian Medical Association Journal, researcher Dr. Valerie Taylor writes: “The concept of addiction is complex, and the delineation of its defining characteristics has fostered considerable debate. Despite a lack of consensus, researchers nevertheless agree that the process involves a compulsive pattern of use, even in the face of negative health and social consequences.”

It used to be believed that behavioral addictions such eating, sex, and gambling were not true addictions, because the need for these behaviors was psychological rather than physiological, as in the case of narcotics and alcohol which perceptibly alter and affect the brain chemistry. However, it has come to be proven that these behaviors cause the same chemical changes in the brain as substances such as drugs.

As with other addictions, the user becomes accustomed to the addicting substance, in this case, food, with the result that ever-increasing quantities are required to elicit the same response. And as with other addictions, food addicts can suffer withdrawal symptoms when the food is restricted, as when dieting.

There are other parallels in patterns of behavior between overeaters and substance abusers. They will attempt, unsuccessfully, to “quit” the addiction, and their eating habits can affect their social interactions and other activities. As with drug and alcohol addicts, overeaters continue the pattern of socially and self-destructive behavior despite knowing the effects of such behavior on their bodies and the lives of those around them. Substance abusers and overeaters also share some psychological traits, and some studies have shown that food addicts also have other dependencies.

One obstacle in the treatment of food addiction is that food is necessary to sustain life. It is impossible to go “cold turkey”, for simple reasons of survival.

Addiction therapies such as twelve step programs and pharmacological treatments can be applied to overeating in the same way that they are to alcohol and drug abuse, and have shown to yield good results.

Preventing food addiction in children is easier than curing it in adults. Educating children in healthy eating habits and the benefits of a healthy meal plan can help to prevent the occurrence of overeating in later life.

Check out our Integrative Addiction Conference 2016 being held in Austin, Texas

 

Viewing obesity as an addiction and applying similar treatment methods can improve results in those individuals where previous weight-loss efforts yielded no result. It has been found that the traditional weight loss methods of improved diet and exercise will not solve the problem if the underlying issue is a psychological one. While they may show initial improvements, most obese people will not maintain weight loss unless a holistic treatment is implemented to address the addictive behavior.

At the Integrated Addiction Conference to be held later this year, the relationship of obesity to addiction will be explored in greater detail by expert speakers. Register now at http://regenerativepotential.com/integrativeaddictionconference/ for access to the conference and to learn more about the program and other topics that will come under discussion.

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Keeping healthy and lean weight during vacation

September 25, 2015

Keeping healthy and lean weight during vacation: Don’t bring back extra pounds as your token

Keeping healthy and lean weight during vacation

Healthy living will go along way in keeping healthy and lean weight during vacation and after. We must all embrace changes in our lifestyle if this is to be achieved.

The time to leave behind alarm buzzers, nagging bosses and household chores is here with us and all the plans have been concluded to set off. Unfortunately, one thing just won’t go away that is your worry of packing on some weight in your let lose moments. Doctor Akoury gives a very sincerely comment that “traveling can be very synonymous with ditching your diet willpower and the motivation to exercise, causing you to bring back some unwanted weight gain along with that tan.” This is everyone’s concern during such times and it is what we want to focus on even as we take some time to discuss the essential of keeping healthy and lean weight during vacation. Professionally doctor Dalal Akoury makes emphasis that it is not always a must that when you leave on vacations, then you will be careless to drop all your previous efforts of losing weight progressively. That is not the case because you can actually make this your vacation to be the best and perfect time to keep lean and healthy. Take a moment and reason with yourself comparing this time and other busy times while at work. You will realize that during vacations you are more relaxed, you sleep well and because of being free, you have adequate time to move around exploring your new environment. If you have not noticed then we want to let you know that the additional walk time, comfort sleep and relaxation are very good tools of keeping fit and healthy. In other words you can keep the fire of losing weight burning even during vacation. All you need to do according to the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center is to balance your usual healthy habits with a bit of extra indulgence. Therefore to keep you on the move, our team of top nutrition and fitness experts shares with you some of the best and most realistic ways to enjoy your getaway without totally wrecking your diet.

Keeping healthy and lean weight during vacation: Packing with you healthy snacks

To avoid wasting calories on hotel vending machine food or unhealthy airport fare, bring your own nutritious snacks to keep on hand and only chose hotels where fitness expert and trainer are experienced enough to help you continue with your exercise even when away from your home town. Being smart in this area would mean keeping a stash of protein bars in your luggage so that you can resist the temptation of potato chips at the airport snack shops. By bringing food stuff that’s non-perishable like little baggies of nuts and dried fruit or fruit that can last a few days out of the fridge like the bananas and apples you will be ensuring that you are keeping distance with all temptations that may compel you into unhealthy feeding. It is important that you keep such food items within reach like for instance you could stuff them in your bag when you’re at the beach or sightseeing this way you can eat every few hours if not, you’ll wind up starving and may overdo it at your next meal. Another good tip is to stock up only healthy snacks for the day, like a box of whole-grain cereal or fresh fruit, from your hotel breakfast buffet.

Keeping healthy and lean weight during vacation: Work out at the Airport

Normally you realize that your airline will indicate about 90 minutes before departure time and I want to ask, if you were discipline and followed the directions and got to the airport 90 minutes before your flight what do you do with that free time at the airport? This is a very good opportunity for you to do some mini exercise. Like for instance instead of burying your head on a novel seated in those unhealthy seats, you could use the long hallways to your advantage to speed-walk back and forth around the terminal. While doing this remember the safety of your luggage which you could entrust in the care of your family, and take turns stretching your legs. This may look waste of time but the benefits far-outweigh the inconveniences you may be thinking of. As you continue engaging in the work take a look around the place and if you spot any set of stairs whose destination is not restricted, waste no second, climb those to add some intensity to your mini-workout. The power walk will also help you avoid pigging out on airport snacks and give you an energy boost to start your vacation on a healthy note.

Keeping healthy and lean weight during vacation: Bring your workout with you

You don’t need to spend hours a day working out, but squeezing in some form of daily exercise gives you a cushion to enjoy that extra appetizer or beachside cocktail. If your vacation spot lacks a good hotel gym or places to get in exercise outdoors, plan ahead and pack equipment you can use in the comfort of your hotel room before you head out for the day or during the downtime between your daily activities and dinner. A jump rope can fit into any suitcase and provides a great power workout for you wherever you will go. Incorporate it as part of the following circuit workout: Alternate a minute of jumping rope after a minute each of crunches, push-ups, and lunges. Repeat a few times for a travel-ready express workout. Exercises DVD’s that can be played on a laptop in your room are another great way to squeeze in a workout whiles you are away.

Keeping healthy and lean weight during vacation: Take advantage of the hotel’s facilities

When making you hotel bookings it is important that you make enquiries about their gym facilities. It will not be advisable to assume that the hotel gym is going to be inadequate because you may be pleasantly surprised to find state-of-the-art equipment and televisions to help pass the time. Remember that these days most gyms facilities have extended hours and some are even open 24 hours daily meaning that you can work out when it’s most convenient for you. Besides that, doctor Dalal Akoury further recommends calling the hotel before you arrive to see if they have partnerships with local gyms (a great way to experiment with new classes) or can recommend other nearby opportunities, like yoga or Pilate’s studios or hiking or biking paths. There’s also the hotel pool and it is always advisable to do this first thing in the morning before the pool is open for kids. With all these guidelines taken up you are likely to keep healthy, lean and well balanced weight during your vocations.

Keeping healthy and lean weight during vacation: Don’t bring back extra pounds as your token

 

 

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