America’s #1 Addiction
The reward center in the brain (the pre-frontal cortex) is extremely sensitive to any stimulation that even makes you think of the foods you’re addicted to, and dopamine (a neurotransmitter that’s associated with reward, gratification and pleasure) is released in the brain. What ends up happening is that the brain can’t process the high amount of dopamine, so the receptors “down-regulate” so you don’t get overwhelmed — which means it turns off some receptors. So people who have an addiction end up having fewer receptors, meaning they don’t feel as much reward, and continue to need more.
Here are some questions to ask yourself to see if you have a food addiction (and, as Dr. Peeke says, “This is America. If you didn’t have some kind of issue with food, it’d be un-American. I think all of us can relate to this.”)
• When life gets hard, is it your first impulse to eat?
• Do you stockpile emergency snacks in your desk, closet or nightstand?
• Do you have to know where your next meal or food source is going to be at all times or you feel nervous, panicky, or “off”?
• In times of high emotion, do you find yourself eating even when you feel no physical hunger at all?
• Does your relationship with certain foods cause you to have feelings of shame, guilt, disgust or self-loating?
• Is food your best friend and your worst enemy?
With the birth of epigenetics (the study of how your environment and lifestyle can change your genetic code), Dr. Peeke realized there’s a very strong food-gene connection. This means you have control over gene expression. Your DNA is not your destiny — your lifestyle choices are. What you eat and how you live can change the script completely.
