[changemeohyah]

I realized today that i run to food alot to fight my depression. its to the point i dont even think about it, i just get up and go to the store to get 3 bags of chips, cookies, cakes and i eat it all at the same time. A lot of times i dont realize i ate that much until i am done and feeling sick. i am really ready to change but its like i use to being here (depress), ugh something is always holding back . today i just signed up for a 12 step program for food addiction. so im hoping and praying this all works.

[Suki22]

yes, I know what the emotional eating can be like. good luck on joining the twelve-step and you should also check out the Overeaters section of Psych Central in the Addictions section. please keep us updated on how it's going for you...

[sunangel803]

Good luck! It's actually quite common to want sugar and carbs when depressed. They help to temporarily raise your serotonin levels. I know when I'm feeling depressed I crave sugar and can't get enough of it.

[changemeohyah]

Originally Posted by sunangel803

Good luck! It's actually quite common to want sugar and carbs when depressed. They help to temporarily raise your serotonin levels. I know when I'm feeling depressed I crave sugar and can't get enough of it.

Yesss I realized that too, its some kind of comforter but after i eat i feel bad for eating and just eat more and more. ughh

[KeepGoing8]

Hi changemeohyah, I just posted a response to your "depression is a spirit" post about the health risks of fasting at the onset of depression (hypoglycemia). I caution against fasting because of the self-destructive thought processes that develop in a human brain deprived of Glucose (the "good" form of sugar that our body needs to survive!) As sunangel wrote, our bodies crave sugar and carbs when we are depressed, and it is precisely because our Glucose levels are probably low. Unfortunately, the sugars we crave most: the cakes, cookies, and chips, are most often made with high-Fructose corn syrup and/or Sucrose...Too much of these sugars can actually mess up your body's ability to absorb and utilize Glucose. You crave and may eat any sugar...but your body really needs Glucose, and oddly, eating sweet foods is not the best way to get glucose into your system.
This site has a good write-up on Hypoglycemia:
http://www.chronicfatigue-help.com/five.htm
"The result is a state of low blood sugar which can cause an alarming number of distressing symptoms -fatigue being only one of them. Other symptoms include headaches, dizziness and feeling faint, irritability, depression, difficulty in remembering, blurred vision and in most cases an overwhelming craving for something sweet or a stimulant such as tea or coffee." *
"If you are hypoglycemic, you are essentially addicted to sugar and you are fighting something which can be as difficult as an addiction to cigarettes or alcohol. If you do slip, pick yourself up and start again. The first week or two is the hardest in starting a low-sugar diet that's when the cravings will be at their most intense. Eating even a small amount of something sweet can actually trigger a full-blown binge because of the way your body reacts to sugar."
Read it all! It has some really good tips