I've been there, Heathen Girl.

When I was 220 pounds (I'm 160 now) I had an addiction specifcally to
McDonand's big mac's and then a sundae afterwards.  I would eat this
twice a day, in addition to all the other food I would eat.  I
maintained my overweight frame and would eat like an addict, shoving the
food down my throat.  Come to think of it, I don't think I actually
tasted this thing.  The smell was enough to convince me it was what I
needed, and then I inhaled it.  I was also similiarly addicted to pumkin
pie and bananas, which I ate at any opportunity.  But pumpkin pie was
clearly a dessert, so I would try to prevent myself from eating it.  Big
Mac's could be construed as a lunch, I threw the sundae into the same
category, as long as it came with the big mac, I would be ok, right?
When my IgG blood tests came back, they indicated milk, wheat, pumpkin
and bananas as reactive foods.  The people at the lab told me that
addictions to foods which produce an IgG reaction were common.  I was
impressed, they had nailed it on the head.  I stopped eating those foods
entirely, and also went on the paleo diet (I was so sick at that time
that I didn't care what happened, or how deeply I "needed" any of these
foods, I would stop eating them.  Period.  And I did.  And I'm well
now).  Now I eat bananas again, but have no special craving for them.
But I do seem to have some kind of craving for fruit in general (bananas
or not).  I will "binge" on it, but, it simply doesn't have the
destructive effects of big macs and sundaes.  I stop for a week or two,
and I lose any small weight I gained from eating too much fruit over the
last 2 months or so.  So it's simply not as much a problem.  I think to
help prevent aquiring severe addictions/allergies to any fruit, I will
increase my variety as much as possible, not eat the same fruit over and
over (the lab recommended at least a day between any given food, which I
follow.  Even if they are wrong, that's not too restrictive, and it
encourages me to keep some variety, which has other benefits).  Also I
think during the winters I will stick to no more than one fruit a day,
since I'm sure that its availiability wasn't high during the winter
anyway.  Exactly what did paleo people (european) eat during the
winter?  Was it meat, meat, meat?  Did they get any plant matter?  What
kind of plant matter?  Nuts?  Berries?  Green vegetables?  What?
Anyway, I would like more detailed information about what the paleo's of
europe ate, anyone know of a good book?

But my point is, the paleo diet recovered me from the food addictions I
had (except for the occasional fruit binge) and I feel so many times
better I can't even express how much better.  I think people were able
to avoid this situation during paleo times because #1 their variety was
much, much higher, so less of any given food #2 seasonal food
availiability meant that they didn't eat the same foods year in and year
out and #3 this is a problem with carbohydrates much more than meat, and
since meat probably constituted more than half of their diet, according
to what I've seen so far, they simply wouldn't run into this.  And even
the meat would be subject to situations #1 and #2.  The closer I model
their diet (within, unfortunately, the limits imposed by modern economy
and food production, and my finances) the less likely I will ever run
into this situation again, as I see it.

So hang in there and stick to the paleo diet as if it were your new
religion.  It helped me out of what sounds like a similiar situation and
I see no reason to believe it won't help you as well.

Erik


Heathen Girl wrote:
>
> I have been meaning to write this to the list for awhile now but I keep putting it off. Everyone has been talking about the correlation between alcohol and carb addicts and it really got me to thinking about when my own problem started. I went through a period about 6 years ago that I started drinking heavily. This only lasted for maybe 6 months to a year. I would not say I was or am an alcoholic although my husband does. I still drink occasionally and have no problems anymore. But anyway, not to get into my whole personal life here, after I got done drinking like a fish and back to the real world my eating patterns drastically changed!! Foods I previously would hate or not want to eat I was loving. These include breads, potatoes, carrots (which I HATED before), sweet potatoes (I couldn't even stand the smell of these before), corn.
>
> See and it is not just that I ate these where I would not before, because really I did eat mashed potatoes and corn before. But, the WAY I would eat them was totally different. Before they were just part of the meal like the green beans or the steak. I noticed as time went by that when I ate them I would eat them like I was starving. I would chew faster to get more in my mouth quicker. The same with desserts that before would just be good and I would eat slowly now I would shove em in my mouth and chew fast.
>
> The more I look at this behavior the more over the years I have noticed it is a food addiction and a real problem. It absolutely amazes me that I am like this for a damn potato or something. It s ridiculous. So, I guess what I am saying is how could the alcohol have triggered this change in my whole behavior or chemistry. Needless to say I have gained 60 pounds over 5 years and I am at the end of my rope.
>
> Of course, when I do lowcarb/paleo I do much better. I lost 25 pounds the first time I started this but I totally fell off the wagon. I gained about half the weight back and I have since started this all over again.  It just totally amazes me that this is such a hard thing. I mean the compulsion and cravings I have I would compare to a drug addiction.
>
> I am just very curious to see exactly why this happened and if I am basically doomed to be a carboholic for the rest of my life. After all, no one questions someone not drinking for personal reasons but buy is it hard to not eat that donut or french fry when the world is shoving them down your throat. Will I ever have normal cravings and not go nuts for these other foods?
>
> Melissa
>
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