Ellie
> > Toxins are stimulants and my food addictions were an addiction to them.

 JL
> Well, until I find a counterexample, I would say that stimulants (like
> coffee, etc) are toxins, but that the converse is not true. I don't think
> mercury, or poisonous mushrooms are stimulants.

Cocaine is pretty toxic and very stimulating I've heard. I never tried it.

In a physiological sense all toxins are stimulants, that is, they
increase metabolic rate, but I don't think when eaten they would
necessarily produce the stimulant effect that coffee or cocaine does, for
example. In a physiological sense even sedatives are stimulants. I think
it's two uses of the word 'stimulant' and I didn't make that clear.

> On the question "what is toxic", I think that, apart from deadly foods,
> there is no good definition of a toxin. Almost every food has its
> advantages and disadvantages, and a good diet is more about *balance* of
> nutrients than about avoiding toxic foods.

This makes sense to me, food doesn't equal toxin, but can contain toxins
and a balance of the nutrients and toxins is the way to go. I don't have
any great fear of toxins, but I like to chose foods that are low in
toxins, if possible.

My best, Ellie