Why Deciphering Addictive Tendencies Is Important
Addiction draws a different picture to mind for everyone. What many often think of as the definition of addiction is often a less complicated version of the truth. The problem is addiction is more common than most realize.
We often cope with stress in ways that reduce our weaknesses and exaggerate our strengths. It is much easier to be dishonest with ourselves than come face to face with our habits. This is a coping mechanism in response to stress.
Insight from Dr. Sara Gottfried, MD:
“Food used to lie to me, especially when it came to flour, sugar, and quantities. Or more to the point, chocolate, wine, and French fries. Food would tell me I deserved it, that I had been working so hard and needed a break, that it would ease my discomfort. It was an old, maladaptive coping mechanism rooted in childhood. The full truth was those foods provided very short-term comfort and long-term problems: leaky gut, brain fog, blood sugar swings, insulin problems, a greater risk of breast cancer, and weight gain.
Alcohol used to lie to me. It told me I’m immune to the weight gain, brain fog, and other downstream consequences. It told me I could have one more glass, no big deal. It told me I’m a scintillating conversationalist and a fantastic dancer. The full truth is that I’m much better at dialogue and dancing when I’m sober. And much more resourceful. While I’m not an alcoholic, it doesn’t matter. I’m no longer interested in the type of person that I became on alcohol. I love the freedom and leaner body of a sober person. Sober by choice.
Fortunately, food and alcohol no longer call to me, no longer tell me lies or half-truths. I got rid of the things with which I used to have a sticky relationship.”
We overvalue fun and undervalue the cost we pay for it. When another glass of wine or a cupcake is present, it can be hard to recognize the consequences of wanting more.
Important statistics:
- Alcohol affects women in a different way than men [1].
- Women take opioids more often than men and are more likely to face addiction [2].
- Women escalate from casual use to addiction faster, show more marked withdrawal symptoms, and are less successful in treatment compared to men [3].
- Give or take 5-10 years, women tend to run low in progesterone starting in perimenopause, and research has shown that oral progesterone reduces cravings. In fact, it helped women, but not men, to experience less negative emotion and a more relaxed mood when provoked by stress [4].
Women are more vulnerable to heightened states of stress due to the fight-flight-freeze instinct. Hyperarousal leads to insomnia, anger, outbursts, panic, anxiety, irritability, and destructive behaviors like addiction. Food and alcohol seem like a solution but they rob us of exactly what we are after - internal and external peace.
The final root cause is biochemical. Addictive tendencies show dopamine receptors are out of whack in the brain’s reward center. When you deny the craving for food, alcohol, even technology the dopamine levels drop. When you relapse, dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine activity soars. If we flip this faulty physiological setting to restore homeostasis, we get off the ride.
A revolution of women who do not use self-destruction to face discomfort in life needs to happen. Women need to heal hypervigilance and use lifestyle medicine. It is a choice to make in each moment. It is possible to reset the stress response with other methods, not by what we are eating and drinking.
One thing many women struggle with is sugar cravings.
If you find yourself reaching for sweets at the end of the night or craving carbs, then you might benefit from CRAVE CONTROL.
Dr. Sara’s Reset360 Crave Control is formulated with the essential “neuro-nutrients” to support the brain’s crave control functions while promoting a serotonin and dopamine production for a feeling of well-being. It also supports brain function with the minerals needed to naturally balance control for food cravings, appetite, mild anxiety, mood swings, and food addictions*.
An important (yet often ignored) key to weight management is ensuring a diet that encourages healthy brain function, which can then help with managing cravings*.
Check out CRAVE CONTROL here or click the button below.
