On Techno-Food Addiction
The author of “What Cookies and Meth Have in Common,” (New York Times), psychiatrist Richard A. Friedman brilliantly and compassionately summarizes the biochemical trap that most Americans have now fallen into when it comes to food. In The Craving Cure, I call that trap Techno-Food addiction. Like all of today’s other diet theorists and enthusiasts, Dr. Friedman is stumped by what to do about the problem. He suggests that lowering stress would help, yet acknowledges that life stressors can’t always be avoided. He ends up hoping, sadly, that we can somehow avoid the addictive commercial foods that surround us. Other authors are much harsher in condemning us for “not trying harder,” but all dodge the reality: The addictive process, whether it includes cookies or meth is a fierce fact of brain wiring – a neurochemical imperative that strips us of will power.
That’s where The Craving Cure comes in. It offers a simple means of rewiring the brain’s pleasure centers nutritionally. Our natural appetite is thereby restored to us, our inborn will power is permanently returned to us, and we no longer have to fight the cravings.
