If You're So Smart, Why Are You So Fat?
Just Hold On A Bit...
If it’s so simple, why do so many of us have so much trouble doing it?
Why, in spite of the huge amount of information showing that high-glycemic carbohydrates (sugar) contribute directly to weight gain, cancer and also heart disease, do so many of us continue to binge on the very foods that make us tired, sick, depressed and fat? Why, in fact, do we continue to overindulge in cookies, chips, pasta, candies, ice cream, donuts and cereal, while ignoring the truth about them? Why do we keep finding these foods irresistible? And why do we ignore all the known facts about them, just as a cigarette smoker ignores the connection between lung cancer and tobacco?
You probably also already know that insulin “the fat storage hormone”—is produced by our bodies in response to elevated blood sugar levels. These elevations in blood sugar are created, whenever you wolf down carbohydrates—particularly the high-glycemic, high-sugar processed carbs we all love so much. The solution is easy, right? Simply cut out the carbs!
The Fact Is, Your Brain has Been Hijacked...
All the “pleasure centers” in your brain have literally been hijacked.
We have lost control of a primitive biological switch buried deep in the recesses of our brains that control what we pay attention to, how we act and most importantly, what we eat. This the “impulse control switch” I like to call it and for most of us, it’s gone completely haywire and we find ourselves eating precisely the things we know we should avoid at all cost.
A recent workshop conducted in Southern California, one woman described her own struggles with junk food: “I’d find myself obsessing about Haagen-Dazs,” she said. “I wasn’t hungry. I didn’t even want the ice cream. But I got excited about driving to the supermarket and buying it. The anticipation turned me on. The ice cream was almost an afterthought.”
This woman illustrates a very important point: eating and the desire to eat are two completely different things and involve separate mechanisms in your brain. How this happens, is simple, It’s all controlled by a brain chemical called dopamine. Dopamine controls pleasure and contributes to your brain’s “reward circuitry” for food and any other desirable thoughts.
Why, in spite of the huge amount of information showing that high-glycemic carbohydrates (sugar) contribute directly to weight gain, cancer and also heart disease, do so many of us continue to binge on the very foods that make us tired, sick, depressed and fat? Why, in fact, do we continue to overindulge in cookies, chips, pasta, candies, ice cream, donuts and cereal, while ignoring the truth about them? Why do we keep finding these foods irresistible? And why do we ignore all the known facts about them, just as a cigarette smoker ignores the connection between lung cancer and tobacco?
You probably also already know that insulin “the fat storage hormone”—is produced by our bodies in response to elevated blood sugar levels. These elevations in blood sugar are created, whenever you wolf down carbohydrates—particularly the high-glycemic, high-sugar processed carbs we all love so much. The solution is easy, right? Simply cut out the carbs!
The Fact Is, Your Brain has Been Hijacked...
All the “pleasure centers” in your brain have literally been hijacked.
We have lost control of a primitive biological switch buried deep in the recesses of our brains that control what we pay attention to, how we act and most importantly, what we eat. This the “impulse control switch” I like to call it and for most of us, it’s gone completely haywire and we find ourselves eating precisely the things we know we should avoid at all cost.
A recent workshop conducted in Southern California, one woman described her own struggles with junk food: “I’d find myself obsessing about Haagen-Dazs,” she said. “I wasn’t hungry. I didn’t even want the ice cream. But I got excited about driving to the supermarket and buying it. The anticipation turned me on. The ice cream was almost an afterthought.”
This woman illustrates a very important point: eating and the desire to eat are two completely different things and involve separate mechanisms in your brain. How this happens, is simple, It’s all controlled by a brain chemical called dopamine. Dopamine controls pleasure and contributes to your brain’s “reward circuitry” for food and any other desirable thoughts.
When Your Impulse Control Switch Gets Flipped in the Wrong Direction...
Dopamine’s role is to keep you totally focused on getting things that are critical for the survival of the species – likesex, food and shelter. We feel intense pleasure when we go after those things – this is fueled entirely by dopamine.
There is only one problem that we’ve discovered, we have developed a few sneaky ways to trick our brains into releasing dopamine to get a fake chemical “high”... for example, with alcohol and cigarettes or drugs. This so called “rush” you get from these things is also fueled entirely by dopamine. It’s the biological reason you get hooked.
As it turns out, the dopamine factories that get ignited when you drink a cold beer or inject heroin are exactly same ones that fire up when you eat sugar or high-sugar foods! In fact, some studies are showing that sugar is MORE addictive than cocaine. This startling fact was recently discussed by Dr. Oz on his show.
In today’s world with highly-addictive food everywhere, our dopamine factories light up like Christmas lights, our brains are hijacked and we become totally helpless to resist that mouth-watering plate of deep fried, golden french fries that’s calling our name!
There is only one problem that we’ve discovered, we have developed a few sneaky ways to trick our brains into releasing dopamine to get a fake chemical “high”... for example, with alcohol and cigarettes or drugs. This so called “rush” you get from these things is also fueled entirely by dopamine. It’s the biological reason you get hooked.
As it turns out, the dopamine factories that get ignited when you drink a cold beer or inject heroin are exactly same ones that fire up when you eat sugar or high-sugar foods! In fact, some studies are showing that sugar is MORE addictive than cocaine. This startling fact was recently discussed by Dr. Oz on his show.
In today’s world with highly-addictive food everywhere, our dopamine factories light up like Christmas lights, our brains are hijacked and we become totally helpless to resist that mouth-watering plate of deep fried, golden french fries that’s calling our name!
Have You Been Attacked by a Dopamine Bomb?
Addiction experts refer to things that create these “dopamine bombs” as “super-stimuli”.
The everyday things that flood your brain with feel-good dopamine, are things like drugs, alcohol, skydiving, the internet, "adult" videos, and sugar, are literally super-sized versions of everyday experiences. If you do them often enough you eventually become desensitized to anything that doesn’t produce that same massive dopamine rush.
Your brain becomes re-programmed in a very bad way and leaves you wanting – in fact, needing – more and more of these dopamine-spiking substances to get the same high effect. What this means, is that your cravings for refined carbs, for sugar and all of the other things that make you sick and fat, go right through the roof and becomes almost impossible to resist!
Here’s the catch – for just about everyone, When you are repeated exposed to them, it disables the behavior control switch that says “enough!”
That means that even when you don’t see yourself as an “addict” with an addictive personality, you can and will still suffer the same consequences of being attacked by dopamine bombs, whether from drugs, alcohol and more especially, food.
The everyday things that flood your brain with feel-good dopamine, are things like drugs, alcohol, skydiving, the internet, "adult" videos, and sugar, are literally super-sized versions of everyday experiences. If you do them often enough you eventually become desensitized to anything that doesn’t produce that same massive dopamine rush.
Your brain becomes re-programmed in a very bad way and leaves you wanting – in fact, needing – more and more of these dopamine-spiking substances to get the same high effect. What this means, is that your cravings for refined carbs, for sugar and all of the other things that make you sick and fat, go right through the roof and becomes almost impossible to resist!
Here’s the catch – for just about everyone, When you are repeated exposed to them, it disables the behavior control switch that says “enough!”
That means that even when you don’t see yourself as an “addict” with an addictive personality, you can and will still suffer the same consequences of being attacked by dopamine bombs, whether from drugs, alcohol and more especially, food.
Can One Really Be Addicted to Food?
The same impulse control switch that drives many people to cocaine addiction also works to make you obsess over rewarding foods.
IMPORTANT: Don’t, for one second that this doesn’t apply to you because you are not an “addict”. This applies to every single human being without you even knowing it! That’s exactly why so many people can’t understand why they cannot keep their weight off for good.
The more tasty and pleasurable a food, the more attention you give it and the more attention you give it, the more passionately you seek it out. Unfortunately, these rewarding foods are exactly the ones that spike your blood sugar, which causes your insulin to soar, and ultimately flip off your fat-burning hormonal switch, and that's when you become sick and fat.
It’s the dopamine which fuels your drive to go out and make a grab for the Haagen-Dazs or a Cinnabon and it’s also responsible for making you feel like nothing else will satisfy you. That's one seriously powerful brain chemical ...
Pair the delicious, palatable food with a powerful emotional stimuli—say, that wonderful memory of eating your mother’s pecan nut pie—and those powerful associations release so much dopamine that your reward circuits become totally and utterly hijacked and your willpower doesn’t stand a chance.
IMPORTANT: Don’t, for one second that this doesn’t apply to you because you are not an “addict”. This applies to every single human being without you even knowing it! That’s exactly why so many people can’t understand why they cannot keep their weight off for good.
The more tasty and pleasurable a food, the more attention you give it and the more attention you give it, the more passionately you seek it out. Unfortunately, these rewarding foods are exactly the ones that spike your blood sugar, which causes your insulin to soar, and ultimately flip off your fat-burning hormonal switch, and that's when you become sick and fat.
It’s the dopamine which fuels your drive to go out and make a grab for the Haagen-Dazs or a Cinnabon and it’s also responsible for making you feel like nothing else will satisfy you. That's one seriously powerful brain chemical ...
Pair the delicious, palatable food with a powerful emotional stimuli—say, that wonderful memory of eating your mother’s pecan nut pie—and those powerful associations release so much dopamine that your reward circuits become totally and utterly hijacked and your willpower doesn’t stand a chance.
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