Addiction Revisited

In reponse to my last post "An Addictive Aspect to Obesity?" two regular readers and fellow bloggers Sir Squishy and Kim Ayres left comments to the effect that overeating was unquestionably a food addiction.

After mulling over this hypothesis for most of the day, I find I must disagree, at least as it pertains to me.

When I think of addiction, I think of smoking - cigarettes were a requirement all the time. If I did not have a cigarette, all work, all anything, came to a halt until I got some. Whether I bummed them one at a time, or bummed a pack, or went out to where ever to buy some - work did not continue until I had a cigarette going AND knowledge that I had access to an ample supply. Working under a conditon of a limited supply was nearly as distracting as trying to work without any. I distinctly remember when airlines first started restricting all smoking on flights, the outright bans were limtied to flights of two hours or less because it was "common knowledge" that a smoker could go about two hours without a cigarette.

Contrast this to my recent visit to my brother's. He and his sons took me offshore fishing for the afternoon. Altogether, the trip was about 6 or 7 hours during which time I had one beer and bottled water. I experienced no ill effects or discomfort at all from not having any food during that time, even though I am a confirmed grazer in my natural habitat. As a three pack a day smoker I assure you I would have been a highly unpleasant fellow to be around if I had had no cigarettes for seven hours!

Or consider the following: it is an accepted fact that the average life span of a half gallon of ice cream in our house is 1.75 days. However, at no time do I ever feel that I have to go out and get ice cream to be able to work or feel relaxed, etc. In fact, I have only had ice cream twice this summer, once at the aforementioned picnic which is the only reason the ice cream was in the house in the first place.

And finally there is the Harvard School of Public Health which describes a vicious cycle in which highly refined sugars could cause some people to feel hungry even immediately after a meal, but in no way did they suggest refined carbohydrates are addictive.

I will freely admit that the only foods I feel comfortabe having in my house in unlimited quantities are fruits, vegetables, and things that need at least minimal processing (eg opening a can, microwaving, or mixing with water). Why I consume things like crackers, ice cream, cheese, etc over a couple of days when they are in the house is still a mystery to me. Nevertheless I do not feel addicted to any of these foods because without them I can continue to function just fine, thank you.

This is not to say that others don't treat some foods the way I used to treat cigarettes, and I would like to hear comments from anyone that does.