Calling All Addicts!
Friday 07 February 2025
Try not to walk past this headline. Chances are you're an addict, or you've been an addict, or you'll become an addict at some time in your life. And the chances also are that you don't even realise it. We're not talking here about dangerous-grade, illegal drugs, that's another subject entirely. Simply take a closer look at what you eat and drink.
Some might say, for example, that they're addicted to food. They know they're overweight, and they know they love food, but can't seem to cut it down or permanently change their diet. But it is actually very difficult to be addicted to food, and they're probably looking in the wrong place. It is more likely that it's what's been added to natural food that they're addicted to. Take one of Britain's most famous takeaway food, fish and chips. Fish and potatoes? Doesn't sound particularly special. But how many customers don't sprinkle on the salt and vinegar liberally? These are just two ingredients that stimulate the taste buds. Stimulants enable you to eat more food - but it's the stimulants you crave, and you'll use the food to get at them. Even if you're one of those who don't add salt and vinegar, but still love your fish and chips, it's probably the crispy batter you're craving, and those delicious, heavily-fried chips.
The French ae renowned for tasty food. But their real skill lies in the success of the sauces they've invented. Ironically, dishes formulated by once-poor countries, who had to work with inferior-quality meat, were made more edible with the application of sauces. We relish those meals to this day.
Food manufacturers and processors are very aware of the techniques of 'tickling the taste buds', and have made a science of it. In addition to preservatives (many of which are addictive in their own right), they add all kinds of chemicals, other stimulants and colourings to make their food 'delicious'. Rather than need it, you want it.
The solution is both radical and simple. Eat fresh - unpackaged, untinned, unprocessed. In other words, in its natural state, as though you had picked it, dug it up, or butchered it yourself. And then try not to overreach for the condiments, or cover your fresh food with sauces concocted from the very ingredients you've just avoided by buying fresh!
Below are four common addictions:
Carbohydrates
Sugar and starch. Refined sugar, often nicknamed 'white death', has no nutritional value. It stimulates plenty of energy, of course. When kids get temporarily exhausted, give them a chocolate bar and in no time they'll be shouting once more, running around with their eyes on stalks But high-carb intake is a temporary high. Insulin is released into the bloodstream to deal with it, you get low, and you want another fix. This can make you anxious and irritable. What's more, the body's ability to break down its fat stores deteriorates, increasing retained body fat. More seriously, sustained abuse moves you towards diabetes.
Salt
Your body can't exist without some salt intake. But unless you're just eating garden salad, you're unlikely to need to shake the salt pot over your food - bread, cheese and biscuits, for example, will already contain a plentiful supply of salt. Processed food manufacturers and junk-food retailers are aware of the addictive properties of salt, and add it liberally to their produce. Too much salt can raise your blood pressure, and increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes (and no, these are not just the diseases of old people!).
Caffeine
Caffeine is in coffee, almost everyone knows. You'll also find it abundant in tea and cola. It stimulates the central nervous system, and can be highly addictive. It is the most widely used psychoactive drug in the world. And for those who don't like the bitterness of coffee, and add plenty of sugar, this becomes doubly addictive. True, it can give you a buzz, 'keep you going', but it can also keep you awake at nights. It will tend to increase heart rate. And many who go 'cold turkey' often complain about weeks of migraine and brain fog.
Alcohol
We're not talking here about Alcoholics Anonymous, or the archetypal drunk reeling around and shouting at everybody. It's as much about habit rather than getting excessively drunk that produces the alcoholic who has no idea they're addicted. Take a couple, for example, who religiously add a bottle of wine to every dinner and, say, at the weekend also share a bottle at lunchtimes. The likelihood that they are alcoholics is high. Does it matter? It's their business, isn't it? The answer, of course, is yes, always provided it isn't affecting anyone else. But if they don't realise that they could be alcoholics, they perhaps have no idea what they're doing to their bodies and their brains.
Unconscious addiction only gets recognised when you try and give it up, and you find something has got a hold on you. It can be an unsettling discovery. But this is not a moral lecture. And as the old music-hall star, Marie Lloyd, famously sang, A little of what you fancy does you good
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You're in charge. Just don't let something else take charge of you.