re-I used to be veg. (a mini-rant)

[Guest guest]

Here's my 2c about why anybody with a brain would ever

go back to eating meat- it's because their brain got

re-addicted to it.

 

Dairy and beef are really addictive for many people.

Why else would Americans keep eating the stuff that

kills them?. It's just like cigarettes for some folks.

It causes chemical endorphins in their brains and it's

really hard to stop eating it. I don't just mean the

associations to home and " mom " (though that is real

for many folks also). Their brain just craves the

chocolate (milk chocolate that is), the burger fries

and coke, and no matter how much veggies, grains and

fruit they eat they are not satisfied till they

eventually eat that stupid chocolate or burger. Or

worse both. Energy gets low, irritability high, till

you cave in to your cravin'.

 

Maybe the dairy addiction can explain why not all

vegetarians are vegan.

 

Maybe nobody will ever fund any such research into the

chemical addictions of food because it is all just

willpower supposedly. Also because there's just too

much easy money on all three sides. Drug

companies/authors/weight loss rip-off companies can

sell diet " cures " , food companies can push all the

buttons to make america actually eat styrofoam like

twinkies and captain crunch to make millions, and the

dairy/beef ranchers make tons off of our tonnage.

 

We are a nation of drug addicts where food is the

drug, and obesity heart disease and death are the

results. Powerful drugs like Chocolate, sugar, cola,

wheat, and combos of them in ice cream sundaes, cakes,

meatloaf, cheeseburgers (and many other combos of

wheat/beef/dairy). Just call it comfort food and it's

ok but really it's mind altering drugs.

 

I believe with my brain that vegan is the way for me

ethically, ecologically, and health wise. Dairy also

makes me sick physically with severe asthma and sinus

troubles. Knowing this for a few years now I am still

fighting it everyday like an alcoholic. Maybe for some

it's a daily battle of choices that do get easier with

practice and support.

 

How I think I envy those who can firmly say that they

had some event (learnig the truths about

farming/animals/eggs/dairy/whatever) and never went

back. Just like that. Cold tofurky. I kept waiting for

that defining moment. That epiphany of amazing

certainty that would stop me from wanting that reeses

or tin roof sundae. But there is no outside thing to

stop me. Not even an internal one-time event that is

so profound to stop me. So far not my ovarian cancer

episode, my ER visit for asthma two years ago or even

weighing 300lbs. There is only me to stop me. Every

day every choice about buying cooking eating has to be

thought out till I get the hang of eating right. So

yeah it's will power but it's also looking at the

foods that are addictive as drugs to stay off of. I

know when I stay " clean " for a week or so it isn't on

my mind so much.

 

Does anybody on this list have anything to contribute

refute disagree confirm admit deny about any of my

ideas? I'd love to hear what you think.

 

Kathy

still in Indiana

still vegan as best I can

 

 

 

 

 

 

The New Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.

http://search.

[Guest guest]

On 04/27/03, Laura Wilder <laurawilder82 wrote:

 

> Maybe nobody will ever fund any such research into the

> chemical addictions of food because it is all just

> willpower supposedly. Also because there's just too

> much easy money on all three sides. Drug

> companies/authors/weight loss rip-off companies can

> sell diet " cures " , food companies can push all the

> buttons to make america actually eat styrofoam like

> twinkies and captain crunch to make millions, and the

> dairy/beef ranchers make tons off of our tonnage.

 

perhaps you might find this article interesting - originally published

in new scientist. it's about the brain chemistry behind addiction to

high fat foods and some recent findings:

 

http://banzhaf.net/docs/newsci.html

 

--

 

steve simitzis : /sim' - i - jees/

pala : saturn5 productions

www.steve.org : 415.282.9979

hath the daemon spawn no fire?

[Guest guest]

Kathy wrote:

 

> Here's my 2c about why anybody with a brain would ever

> go back to eating meat- it's because their brain got

> re-addicted to it.

>

> Dairy and beef are really addictive for many people.

> Why else would Americans keep eating the stuff that

> kills them?.

 

<snip>

 

> Does anybody on this list have anything to contribute

> refute disagree confirm admit deny about any of my

> ideas? I'd love to hear what you think.

 

Excerpts from the article that Steve posted:

 

> " Their brain loses its ability to respond to these hormones as body fat

increases, " he says. The fatter they get, and the more leptin they make, the

more insensitive the hypothalamus becomes. Eventually the hypothalamus

interprets the elevated level as normal -- and forever after misreads the

drops in leptin caused by weight loss as a starvation warning. "

 

This seems reasonable, but I doubt that it is the reason why people want

meat instead of vegan food, or start on a path of gaining weight.

 

> " Kelley has also discovered that rats that overindulge in tasty foods show

marked, long-lasting changes in their brain chemistry similar to those

caused by extended use of morphine or heroin. When she looked at the brains

of rats that received highly palatable food for two weeks, she saw a

decrease in gene expression for enkephalin in the nucleus accumbens.

 

I'd think they could examine the brain chemistry of obese people to see if

their brains are similar to those who use morphine or heroin, instead of

relying on rats.

 

I'm betting on different theories:

 

I think that in general people wait too long to eat. Once you wait too long,

you get very hungry and want to eat the highest density, quickest food you

can find -- generally foods low in fiber. People who diet are particularly

vulnerable to this problem and find themselves bingeing on high-calorie,

low/no fiber foods.

 

In terms of meat and dairy, there also could be a craving for nutrients not

found in plant foods, or not found in large amounts. Possible nutrients are:

protein (if you're not eating enough food in general, or eating only

low-protein foods), vitamin B12, iron. I sometimes wonder about the amino

acids methionine, lysine, carnitine, or taurine. It would be great to see

some actual research done on this, but that will be very difficult.

 

If it does turn out that opiates play a big role in eating too much, it

could be due to the fact that, as a society, we do very little exercise.

Exercise causes the body to release pain-killers. I can't help but notice

that people, even young people, are usually not willing to walk up

escalators.

 

So, I think eating before you get so hungry that you go for high-calorie

foods, and exercise could solve most of these problems. (Or, are we going to

start putting overweight people on methadone?)

 

An interesting book that I found very illuminating is Breaking Out of Food

Jail by Jean Antonello:

 

http://tinyurl.com/ain8

 

As for getting people to stick with a vegetarian or vegan diet, my advice is

to encourage them to eat frequently so as not to get so hungry, take a

multivitamin, and encourage high-protein (especially beans) foods. If that

doesn't work, perhaps a teaspoon of olive or canola oil added to a food at

each meal will help. It has for some people.

 

Jack