Clari Rose

Food Addiction and Meditation

Every addiction arises from an unconscious refusal to face and move through your own pain
(Eckhart olle!" #e all have an understanding of what addiction is" #ith our society$ addiction can %e
found more predominately now than ever %efore" he most common and most physically noticea%le is
our addiction to food" &n the 'nited (tates more than ) in * adults are considered to %e overweight or
o%ese (#eight+control &nformation ,etwork!" For years people have tried to come up with some sort of
solution to this growing pro%lem" Many have proved themselves unsuccessful$ ineffective$ and even
dangerous" -owever$ people are starting to reali.e the power meditation has to help overcome food
addiction" &n the article$ he Meditation /iet0 -ow & 1ost 234l%s" 5y (avoring$ 1eo 5a%auta says$ &ts
a method that6s thousands of years old (5uddha did it$ among others!$ and yet it is so at odds with our
current society that most people won6t even consider it" &t works"

As this idea of mindfulness meditation has slowly grown$ it has %een discovered that practicing
mediation while eating your food is key to not only portion control %ut to healthy thinking patterns"
/iets are things that people associate with the word$ restriction" his one unmotivating word doesn6t
%ring peace of mind to those who apply it to their diets %ecause they are only thinking a%out what they
can not have" &t also applies to those who eat mindlessly" hey don6t dare go on a diet %ecause they
think it will %e to hard to resist the temptation of certain foods$ so they eat to distract themselves from
their emotions" Again this doesn6t %ring peace of mind" 1eo goes on to say$ & use eating as a form of
meditation" his is the opposite of mindless eating+ its a way to practice complete mindfulness$ focus$
awareness of thoughts and emotions$ gratitude for the food i6ve %een given" here is something
ama.ing a%out simply paying attention to your %ody and food while you eat" 7ou %egin to address the
emotions around your eating and you eat less %ecause you6re not mindlessly eating" hese are great
%enefits that can improve your health and life8
o %egin testing this out$ it re9uires you to know how addiction works" he human %rain works
on a reward system" 'nfortunately many of us use food as a reward when its not really necessary" (ince
the %eginning of time foods purpose is to keep us alive$ to survive" Constantly changing our
environment creates a cushion and ro%s us from %eing truly mindful a%out what we put into our
mouths" Convenience takes priority over 9uality now a days" #hen you eat your %rain releases certain
amounts of dopamine making you feel good" -owever$ when you eat more than you need to$ your
%rian can6t handle the tsunami of dopamine" :ver stimulated and organically desta%ili.ed$ it reacts %y
decreasing the total num%er of dopamine receptors" (ays /r" ;eeke$ author of he -unger Fi<" his
makes you want even more food" &t6s a continuous cycle"
hrough practicing mindful meditation you can help the %rain recover and develop new thought
patterns" he prefrontal corte< is in charge of moderation" &t helps us say yes and no when we need to"
hose who have an addiction to food don6t have a strong ;FC" ;racticing meditation affects the ;FC
and helps it get stronger" his is how meditation is a%le to give us results and solutions" /r" ;eeke goes
on to say$ &f your reward center has %een hi=acked$ the solution is to reclaim your %rain$ specifically
the ;FC" &t engages our %rain and has us pay attention to whats happening to our %odies and how its
making us feel"
reatment For Addiction suggested that mindfulness operates on a num%er of levels %ecause it$
Makes us more a%le to notice cravings %efore they take hold of us"
(trengthens our muscles of attention making it easier for us to let go of sticky
thoughts of chocolate cake$ cigarettes$ or cognac if we need to"
Makes us more a%le to e<perience cravings without having to react to them"
Makes us a%le to cope with stress$ which makes us less likely to turn to pleasure as a
crutch in the first place"
o gain all of these %enefits you have to start small$ practicing once a day for only a few minutes" ;ick
a meal and mindfully meditate on it while you eat" 7ou will automatically feel a difference"
Mindfulness is all a%out noticing or %eing aware of yourself" ;aying little attention to the things that are
distracting such as > shows and music"
?oing %ack to the 9uote %y Eckhart olle$ Every addiction arises from an unconscious refusal
to face and move through your own pain" he reason why most have a food addiction pro%lem is
%ecause they don6t want to deal with negative emotions" Food is the most a%used an<iety drug" #e turn
to food %ecause it makes us feel good$ %ut too much of a it is %ad for you" 5eing self aware of how food
makes us feel we %egin to understand why we turn to it" 'sing it as an emotional supplement doesn6t
%ring you peace of mind$ meditation %rings all your emotions in front of you" &t helps you to feel them
so you can get past them" &t6s challenging at first %ut if you continue to practice it introduces you to a
%rand new world of self awareness$ one that does %ring you peace of mind"

#orks Cited
he -unger Fi< %y0 /r" ;am ;eeke
M 5log
he Meditation /iet0 -ow & lost 234 l%s" 5y (avoring" %y0 1eo 5a%auta
reatment For Addiction$ getsomeheadspace"com
Mindfulness meditation can help reduce addiction relapse rates0 sutdy$ @oin together staff"