I recently came across a Nightline segment that discusses
food addiction. At first, I thought it was going to be yet another excuse for
people to use when discussing their health issues. But, the more I watched the
more I understood the point Dr. Mike Dow was trying to make.
Dr. Mike Dow, the author of Diet Rehab, explains that by
slowly replacing addictive foods with “booster foods” your brain will actually
begin to crave a healthier diet. “Booster foods” are things like grapes,
yogurt, whole grains, and vegetables. Now, to me this doesn’t seem like a new
concept. If you eat real food, odds are you will feel healthier, have more
energy, and probably maintain a healthy weight. However, the idea of changing
the way your brain responds to food is new to me.
Dr. Dow attempts to tackle food addiction by making you
follow a twenty-eight day plan. With in the twenty-eight day you will overcome
your food addiction. Week one is focused on eating as you would, but add one
booster meal and one booster activity daily. Week two gets tougher, you will
start to eliminate addictive foods and add even more booster foods. As the weeks pass you add healthier food
options to your diet and work out more.
I don’t feel like Dr. Dow brings any sort of new light to
the dieting world; however, he did design a very simple plan that anyone can
follow. He even offers a number of online resources to make the transition
easier. For example, you can follow Dr. Dow on his twitter page or facebook.
Here, he consistently loads helpful tips and new recipe ideas. Diet rehab isn’t
going to change your life over night, but if you stick to the plan I can
definitely see a persons dieting habit would change.
I actually think this topic is very interesting. I did my blog this week on how exercise can be addicting and there was a video on my link that led to a doctor explaining how when you are drinking or eating addictive things like fatty foods, wine, sugar, etc., or exercising, dopamine is release from the sensory center of our brains.
ReplyDeleteI think it’s interesting because I think of myself and foods that I feel I get addicted to. It takes me awhile to stop eating those foods because I crave them for awhile. Right now, my secret addictions are Cheetos and Otter pops. Lately I cannot stop eating these items! It’s frustrating.
I also think of my sister and how she had to wean herself off of sugary foods. When she was visiting me in Arizona in January, I saw her constantly going into her bag to eat a handful of sugary items like Sour Patch Kids and Sweet Tarts.
Hmm.. what an interesting concept. Like you, I would have thought that it would have ended with just another excuse when it comes to health issues, but I think that Dr. Dow's idea that you can change your junk food cravings into healthy cravings is quite interesting.
ReplyDeleteI have a bad Diet Coke addiction that even I think is a problem. Maybe I will have to put some of Dr. Dow's tips into my diet and see if even the biggest diet coke addict can overcome my addiction to delicious Diet Coke. But for now... all this talk is making me crave Diet Coke!