The Health and Wellness Show - 21 Aug 2015 - Addictive behaviors

dugdeep

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Today on the SOTT Talk Radio Network's Health and Wellness Show, we'll be looking at the mechanisms of addiction - how your brain and body become addicted to various substances or behaviors and what are the consequences of those patterns. Are you addicted to food, sugar, internet , your cell phone, Netflix? What's really going on when you engage in a behavior you just can't seem to stop, and how does this affect your overall state of health?

Join us every Friday at 10 am EST on the SOTT Talk Radio Network for the Health and Wellness Show. As always, we'll be joined by Zoya for the Pet Health Segment.



http://www.blogtalkradio.com/sottradionetwork/2015/08/21/the-health-and-wellness-show--21-aug-2015--addictive-behaviors
 
Thanks. Looking forward to this one, which I guess is on the air now. I'll burn the podcast to CD as usual. My addiction has been watching too many youtube videos. They say you only replace one addiction with another, or another healthier behavior at least. Another timely show for me.
 
Thanks for another interesting show!

I plead guilty to being one of those game addicts in the past. During my college years, there was a period of time where I started spending an increasing amount of time in front of my laptop playing games in the evening. I very quickly became addicted to the point that I would lose track of time and keep playing until 3-4am at night, all the while gorging on cookies and hot chocolate.

Back then I didn't feel like my "passion" for games was an addiction at all. I just felt like I was adapting to a new "normal way of living" to keep myself entertained.

Luckily, I slowly started to switch my addiction by surfing the net, looking for topics such as UFOs, conspiracy theories and the like. At the beginning, the material I was reading was so revelatory that it acted almost as a dopamine substitute to my previous gaming addiction. However, thanks to SOTT and this forum, that dopamine-stimulating dependence gradually transformed to a quest for truth and knowledge and what was left of the gaming addiction vanished, along with my overindulgence in sweets, thus killing two birds with one stone. :cool2:

Thought I'd share my experience, FWIW.
 
That's one heck of a transformation, Eboard10! Could be a great inspiration/motivation for others struggling with addictive behaviors/bad habits.
 
SeekinTruth said:
That's one heck of a transformation, Eboard10! Could be a great inspiration/motivation for others struggling with addictive behaviors/bad habits.

Yeh, addiction replaced by passion (quest for the Truth)
 
SeekinTruth said:
That's one heck of a transformation, Eboard10! Could be a great inspiration/motivation for others struggling with addictive behaviors/bad habits.

Thanks SeekinTruth! Yes, it was definitely a big shift for me towards a more balanced and meaningful life.

For the first time, I had found something that gave purpose to my boring and pointless student life. During this period, although I was still getting that initial instinctive urge to hit play, I would immediately repress the thought by reasoning that logging in to a game wouldn't give me back anything meaningful and that I could spend that time doing more reading or checking the forum. Even in those instances where in the end I didn't read anything, I still managed to refrain myself from playing. It was one of the first times I finally felt that I was able to exert some level of control over my instinctive drives.
 
Kasia said:
SeekinTruth said:
That's one heck of a transformation, Eboard10! Could be a great inspiration/motivation for others struggling with addictive behaviors/bad habits.

Yeh, addiction replaced by passion (quest for the Truth)

Great to hear you all enjoyed the show. Eboard10 thanks for sharing your transformative experience :) Speaking of inspiration/motivation for others struggling with addictive behaviors and bad habits I wanted to share here the information discussed in the show:

THE FOUR STEPS, PLUS ONE

Adapted from Chapter 33 of In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with
Addiction
, by Gabor Maté M.D.


These steps are an adaptation to the healing of addiction of the Four Step method
developed by Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz at UCLA for the treatment of OCD. They may be
used not just for OCD or addiction, but for any compulsive, repetitive and self deprecating,
self-harming thought pattern.

The four steps should be practiced daily at least once, but also whenever an addictive
impulse or self-undermining belief pulls you so strongly that you are tempted to act it
out—or if you are just mentally stuck in such a pattern. Find a place to sit and write:
preferably a quiet place, however even a bus stop will do if that’s where you happen to
be when the addictive urge arises. You’ll want to keep a journal of this process, so
carrying a small note book with you is an excellent aid.

Step 1: Relabel

In Step 1 you label the addictive/self-deprecating thought or urge exactly for what
it is, and not mistake it for reality.

When we relabel, we give up the language of need. I say to myself: “I don’t need to
purchase anything now or to eat anything now; I’m only having an obsessive thought
that I have such a need. It’s not a real, objective need but a false belief. I may have a
feeling of urgency, but there is actually nothing urgent going on.” Or, “it’s not true that
I’m a weak person,” or “it’s not true that I can never succeed, it’s just a belief,” or, “it’s
not true I am responsible for everything, it’s only an idea in my mind.” Or, “it’s not true
that I’m unworthy…” etc.

Essential to the first step, as to all the steps, is conscious awareness. It is conscious
intention and attention, not just rote repetition that will result in beneficial changes to
brain patterns, thoughts and behaviours. Be fully aware of the sense of urgency that
attends the impulse and keep labeling it as a manifestation of addiction rather than any
reality that you must act upon. “In Relabeling,” writes Dr. Schwartz, “you bring into play
the Impartial Spectator, a concept that Adam Smith used as the central feature of his
book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments. He defined the Impartial Spectator as the
capacity to stand outside yourself and watch yourself in action, which is essentially the
same mental action as the ancient Buddhist concept of mindful awareness.”

The point of Relabeling is not to make the addictive urge or compulsive thought
disappear—it’s not going to, at least not for a long time, since it was wired into
the brain long ago. It is strengthened every time a person gives in to it—and also
every time one tries forcibly to suppress it. The point is to observe it with conscious
attention without assigning the habitual meaning to it. It is no longer a “need,” only a
dysfunctional thought. Rest assured, the urge will come back—and again you relabel it
with dogged determination and with mindful awareness. “Conscious attention must be
paid”, Jeffrey Schwartz suggests. “Therein lies the key. Physical changes in the brain
depend for their creation on a mental state in the mind—the state called attention.
Paying attention matters.”

Step 2: Reattribute

“In Reattribute you learn to place the blame squarely on your brain. This is my
brain sending me a false message.” This step is designed to assign the relabeled
compulsion to act or think in a certain way to its proper source.

In Step 1 you recognized that the compulsion to engage in the addictive behaviour or
self-damaging thought pattern does not express a real need or anything that “must”
happen, only a false belief. In Step 2 you state very clearly where that urge originated:
in neurological circuits that were programmed into your brain long ago, when you were
a child. It represents a dopamine or endorphin “hunger” on the part of brain systems
that, early in your life, lacked the necessary conditions for their full development. It also
represents emotional needs that went unsatisfied.

Reattribution is directly linked with compassionate curiosity towards the self. Instead of
blaming yourself for having addictive thoughts or desires, you calmly ask why these
desires have exercised such a powerful hold over you. “Because they are deeply
ingrained in my brain and because they are easily triggered whenever I’m stressed or
fatigued or unhappy or bored.” The compulsion says nothing about you as a person; it
is not a moral failure or a character weakness, just the effect of circumstances over
which you had no control. What you do have some control over is how you respond to
the compulsion or negative belief in the present. You were not responsible for the
stressful circumstances that shaped your brain and worldview, but you can take
responsibility now.

Step 3: Refocus

In the Refocus step you buy yourself time.

Although the compulsion to open the bag of cookies or to turn on the TV or to drive to
the store or the casino is powerful, its shelf life is not permanent. Being a mindphantom,
it will pass and you have to give it time to pass. The key principle here, Dr.
Schwartz points out, is this: “It’s not how you feel; it’s what you do that counts.”
Rather than engage in the addictive activity or indulge in the negative self-talk, find
something else to do. Your initial goal is modest: buy yourself just fifteen minutes.

Choose something that you enjoy and that will keep you active: preferably something
healthy and creative, but anything that will please you without causing greater harm.
Instead of giving in to the siren call of the addiction or sinking into the familiar despair
of negative self-belief, go for a walk. if you “need” to drive to the casino, turn on the TV.
If you “need” to watch television, put on some music. If you “need” to buy music, get
on your exercise bike. Whatever gets you through the night—or at least through the
next fifteen minutes. “Early in therapy,” advises Jeffrey Schwartz, “physical activity
seems to be especially helpful. But the important thing is that whatever activity you
choose, it must be something you enjoy doing.”

In the case of self-deprecating thought patterns, you may wish to refocus on what is
loving and alive in your life, on possibilities you have fulfilled or have glimpsed, on what
you have contributed to yourself or to others, on people you have loved or have offered
you love.

The purpose of Refocus is to teach your brain that it doesn’t have to obey the
addictive call. It can exercise the “free won’t.” It can choose something else.
Perhaps in the beginning you can’t even hold out for fifteen minutes—fine. Make it five,
and record it in a journal as a success. Next time, try for six minutes, or sixteen. This is
not a hundred-meter dash you have to win, but a marathon you are training for. The
successes will come in increments.

Once again, with self-negating thought patterns, refocus by recalling (and writing
down) aspects of your life where you have honoured yourself, times when you have
stood authentically in your true power, when you have spoken your truth, when you
have acted out of genuine regard for yourself and/others.

Step 4: Revalue

This step should really be called Devalue. Its purpose is to help you drive into
your own thick skull just what has been the real impact of the addictive urge or
self-demeaning thought in your life: disaster.

The addicted mind has been fooled into making the object of your addiction the
highest priority. Addiction has taken over your attachment/reward and incentive/
motivation circuits. Where love and vitality should be, addiction roosts. The distorted
brain circuit shave you believe that experiences that can authentically only come from
genuine intimacy or creativity or honest endeavour will be yours for the taking through
addiction. In the Revalue step you devalue the false gold. You assign to it its proper
worth: worse than nothing.

What has this addictive urge done for me, you ask. It has caused me to spend money
heedlessly, or to stuff myself when I wasn’t hungry, or to be absent from the ones that I
love, to take on tasks that have stressed me, or to expend my energies on activities I
later regretted. It has wasted my time. It has led me to lie and to cheat and to pretend
—first to myself, and then to everyone close to me. It has left me feeling ashamed and
isolated. It promised joy and delivered bitterness. The real “value” of my addictive
compulsion has been that it has caused me to betray my true values.

Be conscious as you write this out—and do write it out, several times a day if
necessary. Be specific: what has been the value of the urge in your relationship
with your wife? Your husband? Your partner, your best friend, your children, your boss,
your employees, your co-workers? What happened yesterday when you allowed the
urge to rule you? What happened last week? What will happen today? Pay close
attention to what you feel when you recall these events and when you foresee what’s
ahead if you persist in permitting the compulsion to overpower you. Be aware. That
awareness will be your guardian.

Do all this without judging yourself. You are gathering information, not conducting
a criminal trial against yourself. Jesus said: “If you bring forth what is within you,
what you have will save you.”1 That is true in so many ways. Within you is knowledge
of the real value of the impulses you have up until now obeyed. To quote and
paraphrase Dr. Schwartz, the more consciously and actively you come to revalue the
addictive drive in light of its pernicious influence on your life, “the more quickly and
smoothly you can perform the Relabel, Reattribute and Refocus steps and the more
steadily your brain’s ‘automatic transmission’ function returns. Revaluing helps you
shift the behavioral gears!”

Dr. Schwartz advises what he calls the two A’s: Anticipate and Accept. Anticipate
that the compulsive drive to engage in addictive behaviour will return. There is no
final victory—every moment that the urge is turned away is a triumph. Anticipate
relapse, and accept that the addiction/recurrent thought form exists “not because
of yourself, but despite yourself.” You never came into life asking to be programmed
in this way. It’s not personal to you—millions of others with similar experiences have
developed the same mechanisms. What is personal to you is how you respond to
it in the present. Keep close to your impartial observer.

Step 5: Re-create

Life, up until now, has created you. You’ve been acting out of ingrained mechanisms
wired into your brain before you had choice in the matter, and its out of those
automatic mechanisms and long-ago programmed beliefs that you have created the
life you now have. It is time to re-create: to choose a different life.

You have values. You have passions. You have intention, talent, capability. In your heart
there is love and you want to connect that with the love in the world, in the universe. As
you relabel, reattribute, refocus and revalue you are releasing patterns that have held
you and which you have held onto. In place of a life blighted by your addictive need for
acquisition, self-soothing, admiration, oblivion, meaningless activity: what is the life you
really want? What do you choose to create?

Write down your values and intentions and, one more time, do so with
conscious awareness. Envision yourself living with integrity, being able to look
people in the eye with compassion for them--and for yourself. The road to hell is
not paved with good intentions. It is paved with lack of intention. Re-create.
Are you afraid you will stumble? Of course you will: that’s called being a human
being. And then you will take the four steps--plus one--again.
 
A new study has been published which relates to the topic discussed on this show, tying higher insulin levels to increased dopamine release, the neurotransmitter that regulates the pleasure centre of the brain. The findings showed that a rise in insulin activity in rodents led to a net increase in dopamine released in their brain, despite a concomitant increase in dopamine reuptake. As outlined in the study, eating a high-carb meal stimulates the reward and pleasure centre of the brain through increased dopamine levels and is the reason why mice, and likely humans, would choose it over a lower calorie meal; it's basically addictive.

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-10-role-insulin-hormone-brain-pleasure.html

Insulin, the hormone essential to all mammals for controlling blood sugar levels and a feeling of being full after eating, plays a much stronger role than previously known in regulating release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centers, new studies by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center show.

"We found that when there's more insulin in the brain, there will be more dopamine released, not less," says study senior investigator and NYU Langone neuroscientist Margaret Rice, PhD. Her team's new findings from laboratory and behavioral studies with rodents are set to appear in the journal Nature Communications online Oct. 27.

Rice says the experiments she and her colleagues conducted not only reaffirm that insulin helps trigger the reuptake of dopamine when insulin levels rise, but also are the first to show that the net effect is a rise in dopamine levels. The results may also be the first to demonstrate that insulin's role in the dopamine pathway may affect and explain food choices.

In one set of experiments, Rice and her colleagues recorded a 20 percent to 55 percent increase in dopamine released in the striatal region of the rodent brain (where dopamine's effects on the brain are felt and which governs the body's response to getting a reward). The rise occurred along the same timeframe as the rise in insulin activity needed to process any food sugars the mice and rats ate. And this occurred despite the reabsorption, or reuptake, of dopamine that in other regions of the brain tells an animal that its appetite is satisfied.

Rice and study co-principal investigator Kenneth Carr, PhD, also conducted separate experiments with rats in which they found that animals fed low-calorie diets had a 10-fold greater sensitivity to increasing insulin levels in the brain (meaning that it took only a tenth of a rise in insulin levels as seen in rats on a normal diet to spur dopamine release). By contrast, rats on high-calorie diets lost all striatal-brain insulin responsiveness. In addition, rats offered a choice between a drink reward that was paired with either an insulin antibody injection to block hormone signaling or a mock placebo injection always favored the drink-injection combination that led to intact insulin signaling (and more dopamine).

"Our work establishes what we believe is a new role for insulin as part of the brain's reward system and suggests that rodents, and presumably people, may choose to consume high-carb or low-fat meals that release more insulin - all to heighten dopamine release," says Rice, a professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at NYU Langone and a member of NYU Langone's Druckenmiller Neuroscience Institute.

Rice says this finding is important because chronically elevated insulin levels and lowered insulin sensitivity in the brain are closely tied to obesity and type II diabetes, both very prevalent in the United States.

Rice says the team plans further experiments on how insulin influences the mammalian brain's control over food motivation and reward pathways, and whether changes in insulin sensitivity brought about by obesity can be reversed or even prevented.

"If our future experiments prove successful," says Rice, "it could confirm our hypothesis that when people refer to an insulin-glucose rush, they may really be referring to a dopamine reward rush. And there are healthy ways to get that by making smart food choices."
 
Link to the full paper from the previous post (my comments in italics):

http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/151027/ncomms9543/full/ncomms9543.html

Insulin activates insulin receptors (InsRs) in the hypothalamus to signal satiety after a meal. However, the rising incidence of obesity, which results in chronically elevated insulin levels, implies that insulin may also act in brain centres that regulate motivation and reward. We report here that insulin can amplify action potential-dependent dopamine (DA) release in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and caudate–putamen through an indirect mechanism that involves striatal cholinergic interneurons that express InsRs. Furthermore, two different chronic diet manipulations in rats, food restriction (FR) and an obesogenic (OB) diet, oppositely alter the sensitivity of striatal DA (dopamine) release to insulin, with enhanced responsiveness in FR (low calorie/carb diets), but loss of responsiveness in OB (high carb diets). Behavioural studies show that intact insulin levels in the NAc shell are necessary for acquisition of preference for the flavour of a paired glucose solution. Together, these data imply that striatal insulin signalling enhances DA (dopamine) release to influence food choices.
 
Very interesting, Eboard10. Thanks for posting. I've been going through a very stressful couple of weeks and have found myself reaching for the dark chocolate a lot more frequently (when I'm not stressed I find I can take or leave chocolate, but when the stress is on, my consumption becomes compulsive!). This could definitely be explained by the study you mention here.

Looks like it would be beneficial to find alternate ways of dealing with this stress, rather than looking for another dopamine hit :-[
 
dugdeep said:
Very interesting, Eboard10. Thanks for posting. I've been going through a very stressful couple of weeks and have found myself reaching for the dark chocolate a lot more frequently (when I'm not stressed I find I can take or leave chocolate, but when the stress is on, my consumption becomes compulsive!). This could definitely be explained by the study you mention here.

Looks like it would be beneficial to find alternate ways of dealing with this stress, rather than looking for another dopamine hit :-[

Yes, found this interesting as well. As it has been said in this session:

Session 26 July 2014 said:
Q: (dugdeep) I've got a whole paragraph here about diet, but I'll just break it down. [Regarding the paleo/keto diets], is it more about spiking insulin than it is about total carbs and protein?

A: Yes.

I could be wrong (hope to be wrong!), but the way I understand it is that unfortunately, almost everything we eat that makes us feel particularly good/high/joyful and 'eases our pain' isn't good for us, and we can't even bring in the excuse "oh, but it has only so few carbs!". I guess if that's true, we really have to go Spartan.
 
luc said:
Yes, found this interesting as well. As it has been said in this session:

Session 26 July 2014 said:
Q: (dugdeep) I've got a whole paragraph here about diet, but I'll just break it down. [Regarding the paleo/keto diets], is it more about spiking insulin than it is about total carbs and protein?

A: Yes.

I could be wrong (hope to be wrong!), but the way I understand it is that unfortunately, almost everything we eat that makes us feel particularly good/high/joyful and 'eases our pain' isn't good for us, and we can't even bring in the excuse "oh, but it has only so few carbs!". I guess if that's true, we really have to go Spartan.

Good dot connecting, luc. It's funny, when I asked that question in the session, I was only thinking about the detrimental effects of insulin spiking in terms of physical damage, like glycation etc. But this paired with a rise in dopamine brings in another element and maybe gives a glimpse of why carb bingeing can be addictive in and of itself. "Comfort food", indeed!

I think it really comes down to minimizing dopamine spikes, whatever the triggers might be (carb bingeing, orgasms, viddeo games, drug use etc.). It's not that dopamine is bad, per se, but it seems that levelling out the spikes is more beneficial than looking for big hits, OSIT. Its the difference between doing something pleasurable versus relying on these things as a coping mechanism.

When I'm in a funk, I'll look for things that give me that "big hit" as a way of getting myself out of it. But I think a better strategy would be looking for things that put me in a better mood without that hit. Maybe social interaction, meditation (EE), posting on the forum or accomplishing something that needs doing, particularly something that will help others.

This may all be rather obvious, but I feel like this has made a connection in my brain that maybe wasn't there before. Very interesting indeed.
 
dugdeep said:
luc said:
Yes, found this interesting as well. As it has been said in this session:

Session 26 July 2014 said:
Q: (dugdeep) I've got a whole paragraph here about diet, but I'll just break it down. [Regarding the paleo/keto diets], is it more about spiking insulin than it is about total carbs and protein?

A: Yes.

I could be wrong (hope to be wrong!), but the way I understand it is that unfortunately, almost everything we eat that makes us feel particularly good/high/joyful and 'eases our pain' isn't good for us, and we can't even bring in the excuse "oh, but it has only so few carbs!". I guess if that's true, we really have to go Spartan.

Good dot connecting, luc. It's funny, when I asked that question in the session, I was only thinking about the detrimental effects of insulin spiking in terms of physical damage, like glycation etc. But this paired with a rise in dopamine brings in another element and maybe gives a glimpse of why carb bingeing can be addictive in and of itself. "Comfort food", indeed!

I think it really comes down to minimizing dopamine spikes, whatever the triggers might be (carb bingeing, orgasms, viddeo games, drug use etc.). It's not that dopamine is bad, per se, but it seems that levelling out the spikes is more beneficial than looking for big hits, OSIT. Its the difference between doing something pleasurable versus relying on these things as a coping mechanism.

When I'm in a funk, I'll look for things that give me that "big hit" as a way of getting myself out of it. But I think a better strategy would be looking for things that put me in a better mood without that hit. Maybe social interaction, meditation (EE), posting on the forum or accomplishing something that needs doing, particularly something that will help others.

This may all be rather obvious, but I feel like this has made a connection in my brain that maybe wasn't there before. Very interesting indeed.


Thanks for breaking it down like that Luc and Dugdeep, i found the show really interesting and have noticed in myself tendencies to go to the fridge when I'm stressed, doing something I find difficult, near menstruation, or even just at home where there is no limitation on when I can eat. Take today for example, I'm transcribing a show and I've literally got up about 5 times to go and eat because I haven't said no and had the dicipline to stop myself, even now although I'm full I'm thinking about it! I think there's definitely something going on in me in regards to dopamine highs.

That being said I think it would be beneficial (edit: for the mind body and spirit) to try and do what you suggested Dugdeep and do the things that are better for oneself long-term rather than opting for the short-term gratification
 
dugdeep said:
Good dot connecting, luc. It's funny, when I asked that question in the session, I was only thinking about the detrimental effects of insulin spiking in terms of physical damage, like glycation etc. But this paired with a rise in dopamine brings in another element and maybe gives a glimpse of why carb bingeing can be addictive in and of itself. "Comfort food", indeed!

I think it really comes down to minimizing dopamine spikes, whatever the triggers might be (carb bingeing, orgasms, viddeo games, drug use etc.). It's not that dopamine is bad, per se, but it seems that levelling out the spikes is more beneficial than looking for big hits, OSIT. Its the difference between doing something pleasurable versus relying on these things as a coping mechanism.

When I'm in a funk, I'll look for things that give me that "big hit" as a way of getting myself out of it. But I think a better strategy would be looking for things that put me in a better mood without that hit. Maybe social interaction, meditation (EE), posting on the forum or accomplishing something that needs doing, particularly something that will help others.

This may all be rather obvious, but I feel like this has made a connection in my brain that maybe wasn't there before. Very interesting indeed.

Interestingly, I kind of understood the exchange during the session in a similar way to the article linked here, i.e. 'insulin spike = dopamine rush', I don't know why exactly really, maybe it's just that I'm not that knowledgeable on the health front and got confused. Anyway, thank you for putting it so well - for me too, doing something useful can be of great help in overcoming cravings (and depressive states) of all kinds. Also, I noticed lately that eating treads just doesn't cut it anymore, that it really doesn't 'fill that hole' and the only solution is to do something useful. But I also know that this is still a fluctuating state, and the cravings and dissociative behaviors have a tendency to come back. It's not easy!

Thorn said:
Thanks for breaking it down like that Luc and Dugdeep, i found the show really interesting and have noticed in myself tendencies to go to the fridge when I'm stressed, doing something I find difficult, near menstruation, or even just at home where there is no limitation on when I can eat. Take today for example, I'm transcribing a show and I've literally got up about 5 times to go and eat because I haven't said no and had the dicipline to stop myself, even now although I'm full I'm thinking about it! I think there's definitely something going on in me in regards to dopamine highs.

That being said I think it would be beneficial (edit: for the mind body and spirit) to try and do what you suggested Dugdeep and do the things that are better for oneself long-term rather than opting for the short-term gratification

I know exactly what you mean and I have similar tendencies. What I do sometimes is that I try to substitute the food for something else that is useful - you know, getting up to wash some dishes, chop some wood, do some paperwork or whatever. But it's really hard and I guess the only way to really defeat the predator mind is when we have such a fire within, driven by our conscience, that we can DO for hours and everything else is under the command of conscience. I'm not there yet, so the struggle continues...
 
luc said:
Interestingly, I kind of understood the exchange during the session in a similar way to the article linked here, i.e. 'insulin spike = dopamine rush', I don't know why exactly really, maybe it's just that I'm not that knowledgeable on the health front and got confused. Anyway, thank you for putting it so well - for me too, doing something useful can be of great help in overcoming cravings (and depressive states) of all kinds. Also, I noticed lately that eating treads just doesn't cut it anymore, that it really doesn't 'fill that hole' and the only solution is to do something useful. But I also know that this is still a fluctuating state, and the cravings and dissociative behaviors have a tendency to come back. It's not easy!

I also understood the exchange in the show in the same way, that insulin spikes lead to increased dopamine release which is the reason for our cravings of certain foods and other addictive behaviours. On top of that, wheat is even worse due to a peptide in gluten called gliadin which binds to the opiate receptors of the brain, producing an additional sense of reward. So you are really getting a double whammy of cravings when eating foods containing wheat.


http://www.sott.net/article/244288-Wheat-The-Addictive-Opiate
This opiate, while it binds to the opiate receptors of the brain, doesn't make us high. It makes us hungry.

This is the effect exerted by gliadin, the protein in wheat that was inadvertently altered by geneticists in the 1970s during efforts to increase yield. Just a few shifts in amino acids and gliadin in modern high-yield, semi-dwarf wheat became a potent appetite stimulant.


http://www.sott.net/article/237148-Doctor-Says-Whole-Wheat-Packs-on-Belly-Fat-And-Has-a-Lot-in-Common-with-Opiate-Drugs
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health found that polypeptides in gluten have the ability to penetrate blood-brain barriers. Once they gain entry into the brain, wheat compounds bind to the brain's morphine receptors, the same receptors to which opiate drugs bind, producing a sense of reward or mild euphoria.
 
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