F L O U R + S U G A R = E V I L

Some of us are as addicted to food as an alcoholic is to alcohol. Kay Sheppard wrote a great book about this, entitled Food Addiction: The Body Knows. I am especially interested in how addiction to flour and sugar leads to depression, anxiety, over-exercise, distorted body image, lethargy, irritability, PMS, weight obsession, and strained relationships, and by extension, how recovery can heal these conditions.

Here is her questionnaire for self-diagnosis:

1. Has anyone ever told you that you have a problem with food?

2. Do you think food is a problem for you?

3. Do you eat large amounts of high calorie food in a short period of time?

4. Do you eat to overcome shyness?

5. Do you eat when you are disappointed, tense or anxious?

6. Can you stop eating without struggle after one or two sweets?

7. Has your eating ever interfered with any part of your life?

8. Has being overweight ever affected any part of your life?

9. Do you weigh yourself once or more per day?

10. Do you eat more than you planned to eat?

11. Have you hidden food so that you would have it for yourself?

12. Have you felt angry when someone ate food you saved for yourself?

13. Do you worry that you can't control how much you eat?

14. Have you ever felt frantic about your size, shape or weight?

15. How many of these methods of weight loss have you tried in the past?

• self-induced vomiting
  
• laxatives
• diuretics
• fasting
• compulsive exercise
• amphetamines
• cocaine
• OTC diet pills
• sorbitol
• chewing and spitting food
• acupuncture, acupressure
• hypnosis
• urine shots
• special foods, drinks & supplements
• weight loss programs: how many? how often?

16. Have you ever felt so ashamed of the amount you eat that you hide your eating?

17. Have you ever been so upset about the way you eat that you wished you would die?

18. Do you overeat more than twice/week?

19. Do you invent plans in order to be alone to eat?

20. Do you seek out companions who eat the way you do?

Next time... stages of food addiction and how to recover, with the latest thinking from Dr. Mark Hyman, MD, and data on the role of dopamine in the food addict's brain.