I’m looking for a good addiction.
But the evil feel-good evolutionary trio – dopamine, endorphins and seratonin – are holding me back. Broccoli doesn’t thrill me, quinoa sends me to sleep.
It must have seemed like a good idea at the time, back in the day, to hook us on sugar, salt and fat. Plus anything that will get us high. We were sorted for survival. But somehow it hasn’t worked out. Not in this plague of plenty.
Do people in developing countries have any idea how stressful it is living in a wealthy country? We have to be so self-disciplined every moment of the day. Sometimes it seems the choice is either shop, eat, drink or snort something to keep the economy going, or sign up for Volunteer Service Overseas.
But back to that dirty word, ‘addiction’. Why is it a dirty word? Why doesn’t it have the same warm ring about it as ‘habit’? Habit can also be good. Addiction? No chance. It’s the word that tells us we’re not as smart as we think we are. We don’t even need to think. Something else is doing it for us.
Researchers aren’t sure why we don’t all go after the same hook. So when you look at what people get addicted to there’s quite a list. It’s certainly not all booze, drugs and perfect bodies (tanning also gets you high apparently).
Take Lip balm – yep, hard to believe but there is an online chat site for people who can’t stop greasing their gobs. You could suspect they are just missing a good kissing. More likely they are missing their thumbs. Or a friendly breast.
Have you noticed how often it comes back to the mouth? Craving the taste not the waist. Sadly, they generally travel in a pair. Although not if you have an addiction to chewing ice. It’s even got a name – pagophagia – and it’s not fattening. But, good news, it gives us a buzz anyway. We get the buzz and the superiority complex. Two addictions in one.
I exchanged my fondness for wine (and its close friend, fatty liver) for a fondness for chocolate. I sure didn’t see that coming. Naturally, I only eat 85% organic fair trade. But it’s still chocolate. And if we run out? It makes my cigarette addiction of yesteryear leap out of the cage and bite me.
Here’s an idea. Do try this at home.
Before you leave your bed in the morning, choose your menu for breakfast. Begin to work your way through the biggest and most gluttonous feast you can possibly imagine. As you shower, decide to have an extra sausage or slice of bacon. While you are dressing, add another slice of bacon. Imagine how delicious it is. Go on, have another slice. And what about another sausage? Why stop there? Follow it with pancakes and maple syrup. Eat with your fertile mind until you can’t fit in another morsel.
And when you finally reach the breakfast table, see how hungry you feel. Good luck. You can always go to the gym later.
Border Lines 