From Cravings to Addictions

From cravings to addictions ...

Often during a diet people battle with their food addictions and cravings. There are several techniques that enable you to overcome all sorts of unwanted emotional feelings, not only feelings from cravings to addictions, but also fear of failing with the next diet or everything involved in emotional eating .

But what is the difference between food addictions and cravings anyway? For both, addictions and cravings, you want to eat, triggered by certain circumstances, your favorite food because you are used to it. It is a learned behavior very much like Pavlov’s drooling dogs, who responded with producing saliva to the sound of a bell as this was the sign that food was to arrive every moment.

The same happens to us, we just do not recognize these patterns. In cravings, this behavior is not so much pronounced as in addictions and can be overruled by willpower. In addictions that is almost not possible as also physical aspects play a role. But the transition from cravings to addictions is diffuse and can not be clearly defined.

In both, addictions and cravings, a new behavior must be learned, but in addictions, you also have to treat the body, not only the mind. This does not necessarily mean to take medication but rather to eat whole foods or even going on a raw food diet for a while, taking vitamin and mineral supplements and giving yourself a rest from too much stress.

Also supplements like l-glutamine are helpful as it is known to help with food and even with alcohol addictions. To conquer all unwanted feelings, from food cravings to addictions regardless of the severity, it is necessary to become aware of the fact that you are dealing with a learned behavior, and that there also exist methods to unlearn this behavior and set up a new pattern.