Physical Addiction

Chocolate Targets The Same Spot In Your Brain As Heroin

Although chocolate doesn’t affect you as strongly as heroin, it still affects your brain and you can still become addictive as you may well know.

On top of having opiate properties, chocolate also contains caffeine, theobromine (a strong stimulant similar to caffeine that affects the nervous system, particularly the heart), phenylethylaminphy (an amphetamine-like substance) and also traces of compounds similar to THC (the active ingredient in Marijuana).

So as you can see chocolate is full of addictive properties. But chocolate also contains sugar, milk and dairy products which also have highly addictive properties.

The best way to overcome these issues is to quit cold turkey but also to make it easy to quit cold turkey, you need to nourish your body properly. When you eat healthily and the right food you will not have intense cravings.

Chocolate can also, of course, be emotionally addictive. Like many other foods, chocolate is frequently used to comfort us.

Emotional Addiction

Emotional addiction to chocolate involves using chocolate in times of stress, boredom, depression and to cope with life.

To determine whether you are an emotional eater read this article: Are You An Emotional Eater? 6 Signs of Emotional Eating

If you still are unsure, take a few days to observe yourself and write down what triggers your cravings for chocolate. If they are related to stress or emotion, then you know you have some emotional eating tendencies at the very least!

The best way to deal with emotional eating is:

1. Become aware – by doing the observation task above you will know what your craving triggers are.

2. Learn to do something else to unwind instead of eating – To help you do this you can spend time writing a list. Sometimes having time alone to simply feel the emotions is all you need, other times you may feel a walk is more helpful to you. If you find that you are bored in the evenings and this is a time you will eat the most, then being creative or being active will better suit you. Write a list of things you have always wanted to do or activities that will satisfy your creativity. Make your lists specific to the emotions that trigger you chocolate cravings.

3. Get support – sometimes its simply not enough to work on it yourself and you may need someone to talk through your feelings to stop you reaching for food. Try to find someone supportive. Alternatively a great website for emotional eating which also has a forum is ShrinkYourself.com. ShrinkYourself.com also has lots of useful articles on emotional eating and offers a great 12 week intensive emotional eating program if you find you can’t cope alone. For more information about this program Emotional Eating Program.

Hopefully this should be enough information to get you started on your road to overcoming chocolate addiction.

Once you have admitted that you have a problem with food, that you have intense cravings or addiction and that you DEFINITELY want to give them up for good, you need to COMPLETELY REFUSE to consider them for even a second longer from that moment on.

Once you know what you must avoid (sugar, chocolate, coffee whatever it is) and what you must do to improve your health, you should start observing and be attentive to the thoughts that pass through your mind. Just as soon as you become aware that you desire some chocolate or any other food which you have chosen not to eat anymore, as that very moment dismiss it. Completely refuse to give it another second’s thought.

You must be alert here though because quickly the thought can arouse emotion in you and this can result in you becoming weak or inattentive to your decisions. You will find you start trying to rationalize having that desired food and get caught up in your feelings.

Don’t play with this desire! But don’t struggle with it. If you try to use willpower to force it out of the mind it will just accentuate it and make it stronger. You become frustrated and risk caving or you do cave. Just simply drop the thought from your attention – get on with a chore, distract yourself essentially. Give this other subject/activity your FULL attention and stay fully immersed in it until you have calmed down.

I also found simply saying to myself “I don’t really fancy that/desire that food right now” really helped to calm the craving. I know normally I am saying “I really want that” and keep obsessing over it, so to convince myself I actually don’t want it reverses the obsession. You must say it like you mean it in your head though, otherwise it doesn’t work.

Emotions are much stronger than reason – we tend to rationalize the irrational when we are caught up in them and can talk ourselves into anything. This is dangerous, so don’t play with them just divert your attention.

This is one of the first and most crucial steps to being free – Your freedom from cravings is possible but you must have self-awareness if you want to be rid of cravings for good.

Stop Cravings

No matter whether you crave a little or a lot, chocolate is addicted and targets the same area of your brain as heroin does. On top of having an opiate like effect on your brain, chocolate also contains caffeine, theobromine (a stimulant similar to caffeine), phenylethylamine (an amphetamine-like substance) and also traces of compounds similar to THC (the active ingredient in Marijuana). So you are fighting a physically addictive substance here and it shouldn’t be taken so light heartedly!

On top of physically craving chocolate, chocolate is also a comfort food used by many us. Of course it isn’t the only one – other junk foods are also commonly used to emotional numb us, take away boredom and relieve us from stress. However the physical addiction of chocolate as well as the emotional addiction can lead to disaster and can make it almost impossible to overcome.

So what do you do when cravings hit? Here are 5 tips to help you overcome the physical cravings to chocolate.

1. Eat a nutritious satiating breakfast.

Eating a good breakfast will not only help you overcome cravings but if help you fight them off later in the day. I know if I don’t have a good breakfast I can get intense cravings very easily in the afternoon. Be careful what you choose to eat also. Whole foods are the best type of food to eat in the morning as they will give you the energy you need and won’t have been stripped from nutrients, so try to consume plenty of fresh fruit with your breakfast. Dr Neal Barnard in his book Breaking the Food Seduction, sites a study stating that when volunteers ate regular oatmeal over instant oatmeal they snacked 35% less during the day. This shows you how important it is to eat a less refined breakfast and one that is nutritious and will sustain you.

2. Eat regularly.

Try not to leave a huge gap between meals or leave time for you to start feeling too hungry. Being too hungry can lead to uncontrollable cravings.

Eat regularly to avoid getting overly hungry. Five mini-meals spaced out throughout the day may work best. But if that is too hard to accomplish go for three main meals with two healthy snacks.

3. Don’t even have a little chocolate.

Many people advocate giving yourself a little “treat” now and then. I think that to have only a small treat of something you crave so much is dangerous and always leads to eating more. That has always been the case for me. I don’t eat it now and haven’t for a long time. I don’t miss it either! So be strong. Your cravings will diminish completely after a few days or so.

4. Identify what triggers your cravings.

Do you crave chocolate when you are bored, stressed, angry? Find out what triggers your cravings and find something else to overcome the feelings you are having. This can be as easy as allowing yourself time alone to feel the emotion and let it pass, to going for a walk or talking to someone.

5. Wait it out.

Sometimes cravings only last a few minutes. So you can try waiting it out. If you find it doesn’t subside and are still craving badly have some water or eat some fruit. Don’t stock chocolate in your house either as this makes it easier for you to get a hold of and more likely you will cave.

For more tips and information about chocolate cravings:Stop Craving Chocolate

Although chocolate doesn’t stimulate opiate receptors to the degree heroin or other narcotics do, it is addictive and does affect your brain. Its also probably not helping you stay on a healthier diet!

So how to stop chocolate cravings? Well there are two things that need to be addressed when it comes to chocolate cravings. The physical craving as described above and also the emotional craving. Chocolate can also be an emotional comfort and many of us, especially women, use it in that way.

First to overcome physical cravings, one needs to nourish the body properly. You need to make sure you are starting your day with a nutrient rich breakfast. Breakfast WILL help overcome cravings in the afternoon. I know if I don’t have a decent breakfast, I can get intense cravings later on in the day. You can also help cravings but eating plenty of fruit before meals. Learn about nutrition and what other things you need to do to overcome food addiction.

Second you need to overcome your emotional attachment to food, if you have one. When you get the physical addiction of chocolate out of the way by providing the body with the proper nutrients, then you can focus on just the emotional addiction you have. Observe yourself through the day and see what triggers your cravings for chocolate. If an emotion like boredom or stress triggers your cravings, note it down. When you know what triggers your cravings for chocolate you can better equip yourself. You can start making a list of things that you can do instead of eat chocolate and that will better nurture you and your feelings. Sometimes giving yourself the time to feel is enough.

These are the two key steps to overcoming chocolate cravings.

For more information on how to stop cravings Stop Chocolate Cravings.