Chapter 14 Casual Users

Heavy junk food eaters tend to envy the casual junk food eater. We've all met these characters: "Oh, I can go all week without fast food, it doesn't really bother me." We wish we were like that. This might be hard to believe, but no junk food eater ever enjoys being one. Never forget:

No one ever decided to become addicted to junk food, casual or otherwise, therefore,

  _All junk food addicts feel stupid, **therefore,**_

    _All junk food addicts have to lie to themselves and others in a vain attempt to justify their stupidity._

Health enthusiasts brag about how often they eat clean and want to eat clean, so why do junk food addicts brag about how little they eat junk? If that's the true criterion, then surely the accolade is not eating junk food at all, isn't it?

If someone said to you, "I can go all week without broccoli and it doesn't bother me in the slightest", you'd think you were talking to a nutcase. If I enjoyed broccoli, why would I want to go all week without it? If I didn't enjoy it, why would I make such a statement? So when a junk food addict makes a comment about surviving a week without fast food, they're trying to convince themselves — and you — that they don't have a problem. But there would be no need to make a statement if they didn't have a problem. Translated, this comment is "I managed to survive a whole week without junk food." Like every addict, hoping that after this they could survive the rest of their lives. If only able to survive a week, can you imagine how precious the junk food must have been afterwards, having felt deprived for an entire week?

This is why casual junk food eaters are effectively more hooked than heavy users. Not only is the illusion of pleasure greater, but they have less incentive to quit because they spend less money on it and are therefore less vulnerable to health risks. Occasionally, they may experience digestive issues, but are unsure what caused it and so it's blamed on other factors. Remember, the only pleasure junk food addicts get is in the dopamine rush and relieving the cravings, as has already been explained. The pleasure is an illusion — imagine the junk food craving as a near-imperceptible itch that we remain unaware of most of the time.

If you have a permanent itch, the natural tendency is scratching it. As reward circuits become increasingly immune to dopamine and opioids, the natural tendency is to binge eat, seek new flavors, try extreme portions, etc. There are four main factors that prevent users from chain-eating.

Time. Most cannot afford to.

Health. In order to relieve the itch, we have to consume all available junk food options. Capacity to cope with that kind of binging varies with each individual, and at different times and different situations in their lives. This acts as an automatic restraint.

Discipline. Discipline is imposed by society, by the person's work, friends and relatives, or perhaps even by themselves as a result of the natural tug-of-war going on in every addict's mind.

Taste Tolerance. Desensitization to flavors plays down the appeal of junk food on a subjective basis.

It's easy to think of 'non-casual' junk food addicts as weak, unable to understand why others are able to limit their 'intake'. However, heavy users should keep in mind that most casual users are simply incapable of chain-eating, which requires very strong cravings and tolerance. Some of these once-a-week users that heavy users tend to envy are physically incapable of eating more, or because their job, society, or own hatred of becoming hooked won't allow them to.

It may be advantageous to provide a few definitions.

The Non-user

Someone who has never fallen prey to the trap but shouldn't be complacent. They're a non-user only by luck or grace of goodness. All junk food addicts were convinced they'd never become hooked and some non-users keep trying an occasional indulgence.

The Casual User

Of which there are two basic classifications:

1. The user who's fallen for the trap but doesn't realise it – don't envy such users. They're merely sampling the sweetness at the entrance of the trap and in all probability will soon be heavy users. Remember, just as all alcoholics started off as casual drinkers, so too do all junk food addicts start off casually.

2. The user who was previously a heavy user, and so thinks they can't stop. These users are the saddest of all and they fall into various categories, each requiring separate comment.

The Once-A-Day User

If they enjoy their daily treat, why eat junk food only once daily? If they can take it or leave it, why bother at all? Remember, the 'habit' is — in actuality — making yourself feel worse to make the junk food seem more rewarding when you finally eat it. The once-a-day user relieves their cravings for less than an hour each day. Although unaware, the rest of their day is spent fighting cravings, doing so for most of their lives. They're eating once a day because they cannot risk health issues, or gaining too much weight. It's easy to convince the heavy user they don't enjoy it, but significantly harder to convince a casual one. Anyone who has gone through an attempt to cut down will know it's the worst torture of all, and almost guaranteed to keep you addicted for the rest of your life.

The Social User

They demand the right to indulge when out with friends, but try to eat healthy at home. Initially, they're using social occasions as an excuse, but upon taking that first bite they're trapped in a cycle of cravings, binges, and guilt. In fact, they're happy with social occasions as they provide something of an excuse. If junk food gives you so much pleasure, why not eat it all the time? Accept the truth instead. They're not even enjoying meals when they have to pretend they're being "social". At some point, they're looking for social situations to hand them an excuse to indulge.

The Diet User

Also known as, "I can stop whenever I want to. I've done it thousands of times!"

If they think dieting helps getting them into shape, why are they even on the diet of once every four days? Nobody can predict the future, and what if an important event occurred an hour after your scheduled cheat meal? Also, if occasional treats are good to prevent binges, why not treat yourself every day? It's been proven that strict restriction isn't required for health and junk food isn't required at all. Even if that's the case, no nutrition expert who understands the addictive nature will ever recommend having regular cheat days. The truth is, the diet user is still hooked. Although they're rid of the physical addiction, they're still left with the primary problem of brainwashing. They're hoping each time they'll stop for good, but soon fall for the same trap again.

Most users actually envy these stoppers-and-starters and think about how 'lucky' the dieter is to be able to control their eating. However, they overlook the fact that the dieter isn't controlling their eating — when they're eating junk, they wish they weren't. They go through the hassle of stopping, then begin to feel deprived and fall for the trap again, wishing they hadn't. They get the worst of both worlds. If you think about it, this is true in the lives of users when allowed to have a cheat meal — taking it as entitled or wishing they didn't. It's only when deprived that junk food becomes precious. The 'forbidden-fruit' syndrome is one of the awful dilemmas for users. They can never win because they're moping for a myth, an illusion. There's only a single way they can win, stopping moping by stopping junk food!

The "I Only Eat Healthy Versions" User

Yes, everyone does this to start with, but isn't it amazing how the cravings for more intense flavors rapidly increase, and before we know it we're feeling deprived (tolerance)? The satisfaction lacks with "healthy" versions, so we pay the price for a moment of pleasure and slide down towards resentment and guilt. The worst thing you can do is try to make "healthy versions" of junk food. Why? Because in the process you're re-wiring your brain for the seeking-, searching- and reward-induced dopamine flushes. Chemically, the junk food pathway in the brain is DeltaFosB building up, so you'll find yourself having difficulties when you try to eat truly healthy food.

Another trap in this category is 'clean eating' junk food. Most are still processed and you know it, plus you're also not going to stop at the very first one that hits your taste buds, instead continuing to seek and search. Remember, it's not only fullness the brain seeks, but the novelty of the flavors that gives the food its appeal. The food quality isn't the issue — whether "clean" or processed — it's the flushes of dopamine in the brain causing build-up of tolerance and satiation. Junk food destroys normal appetite regulation, artificial flavors confusing the taste-brain response; eating floods the brain with opioids and makes the pathway easier to follow next time.

The "I've Stopped But Have an Occasional Treat" User

In a way, occasional treat users are the most pathetic of all. Either they go through their lives believing they're being deprived, or more often, the occasional treat becomes two, sliding downwards on the slippery slope, sooner or later falling back to being heavy users. They've again fallen for the very trap they fell into in the first place.

There are two other categories of casual users. The first is the type indulging in the latest food trends or viral treats hitting social media, or something that they 'carried home' from their 'accidental' exposure at school or work. These people are really just non-users, but they feel that they're missing out. They want to be part of the action, with most of us starting off this way. Next time, notice that after a while the trendy food of your desire isn't doing it for you anymore. The more 'exclusive' or 'limited edition' the food, the more frustrating the craving becomes.

The second category has been gaining attention recently, best described by outlining a case shared online.

A professional woman had been eating a small dessert every night for many years and had never eaten more or less than once each night. Incidentally, she was a very strong-willed lady. Most users would wonder why she wanted to stop in the first place — gladly pointing out that there was no risk of obesity or diabetes in her case (untrue). She wasn't even eating large portions, the desserts being far tamer than any food that they themselves eat on a daily basis.

They make the mistake of assuming that casual users are happier and more in control. They might be more in control, but they certainly aren't happy. In the woman's case, she wasn't satisfied with her meals nor with healthy food, and highly irritable when responding to her daily stresses and strains. Her nearest-and-dearest was unable to figure out what was bothering her. Even if she convinced herself to be unafraid of her usage through rationalisation, she still found herself unable to enjoy normal meals which invariably involve ups and downs. Her brain's reward centre was unable to make use of normal destressors present in life as a result of daily dopamine flooding. Subsequent downregulation of her brain's receptors had rendered her melancholic under most circumstances. Like most, she had a great fear of processed food's dark side and health impacts – before her first time. Eventually, she fell victim to societal brainwashing and tried her first convenience meal. Unlike most who capitulate and become chain eaters, upon seeing the nutritional information, she resisted the slide.

All you ever enjoy in junk food is ending the craving that started before it, whether the almost-imperceptible physical craving, or the mental torture of not being allowed to scratch the itch. Junk food itself is poison, which is why you only suffer the illusion of enjoying it after periods of abstinence. Similarly to hunger or thirst, the longer you suffer it, the greater the pleasure when finally relieved. Making the mistake of believing junk food is just habit, they think: "If I can keep it down to a certain level or only on special occasions, my brain and body will accept it. Then, I can keep eating at that level or reduce it further should I wish to."

Get it clear in your mind, the 'habit' doesn't exist. Junk food is drug addiction, with the natural tendency being to relieve cravings, not enduring them. To hold it at the level you're currently at would require you to exercise tremendous amounts of discipline and willpower for the rest of your life. As your brain's reward centre becomes tolerant of dopamine and opioids, it wants more and more, not less and less.

As junk food begins to gradually destroy your metabolism, energy and impulse controls, you become increasingly unable to resist reducing the interval between each indulgence. This is why, in the early days, we can take it or leave it. If we get a sign of something amiss mentally or physically, we just stop. Don't envy this woman — when you eat junk only once every twenty-four hours it appears to be the most precious thing on earth, turning junk food into a 'forbidden fruit'. For many years this poor woman had been at the centre of a tug-of-war.

Though unable to stop eating junk food, she was frightened to escalate to larger portions. For twenty-three hours and ten minutes of every one of those days she had to fight the temptation and lack of satisfaction from healthy food. It took tremendous willpower to do what she did, eventually reducing her to tears. Such cases are rare, but look at it logically: either there's a genuine crutch or pleasure in junk food, or there isn't. If there is, who wants to wait an hour, a day, or even a week? Why should you be deprived of the crutch or pleasure in the meantime? If there's no genuine crutch or pleasure, why bother eating junk food at all?

Here is another case of a once-in-four-days man, describing his life as follows:

"I'm forty years old, I've suffered digestive issues with regular food and even when eating junk food, which is most of the time. It's been a while since I had a normal appetite. Before going on the once-in-four junk food diet, I used to sleep soundly through the night after my meal. Now I wake up every hour of the night and it's all I can think about. Even when asleep, I dream about my favorite foods. On days after my scheduled cheat meal I feel pretty down, the diet taking up all of my energy. My family would leave me alone because I'm so bad-tempered and if they can't leave, they won't have me in the house. I go for walks outside but my mind is obsessed with it.

"On the scheduled day I begin planning earlier in the night, getting very irritated if something happens against my plans. I'd back out of conversations and give in (only to later regret) at work and home. I'm not an argumentative guy, but I don't want the topic or conversation to hold me down. I remember occasions when I'd pick silly fights with my family. I wait for dinner time and when it arrives my hands are shaking uncontrollably. I don't start eating right away — as there are new menu items that have been added — and 'shop around'. My mind tells me that since I've starved myself for four days I deserve a 'special' meal that has to be worth the time spent choosing. Eventually I settle for one or two items, but want it to last so that I can 'survive' through the next four days, so I take more time to finish the meal."

In addition to his other troubles, this poor man has no idea that he's treating himself to poison. First, he's suffering 'forbidden-fruit syndrome' and then forcing his brain to flush dopamine. Comparatively, his dopamine receptors aren't as damaged, but he's reinforcing the junk food pathways, seeking, searching for bigger portions, novel combinations, variety, and extreme flavors in order to survive the next four days. You probably picture this man as a pathetic imbecile, but this isn't so. As a former athlete and marine sergeant, he didn't want to become addicted to anything. However, upon returning from war he trained as an IT technician in a veterans' rehab program.

When entering the civil workforce, he was a well paid IT professional in a bank, and had easy access to delivery apps on his work computer. It was the year that famous food chains launched their viral menu items and there was much talk about it. He then got hooked, spending the rest of his life paying through the nose and ruining himself physically and mentally. If he were an animal, society would have long since put him out of his misery, yet we still allow mentally and physically healthy young teenagers to become hooked. You may think this case and notes are exaggerated, but this case — while extreme — is far from unique. There are tens of thousands of similar stories. Can you be sure that none of his friends and acquaintances envied him for being a once-in-four man? If you think this couldn't happen to you, stop kidding yourself.

IT'S ALREADY HAPPENING.

Like other addicts, junk food addicts are notorious liars, even to themselves. They have to be. Most casual users indulge far more times and on far more occasions than they'll admit to. Many conversations with so called 'twice-a-week' users will admit they've eaten junk food more than three or four times that week. Read online diet forums and weight loss stories from casual users, and you'll find they're either counting calories or waiting to fail. You don't need to envy casual users, and you don't need to eat junk food either, life is infinitely sweeter without it. Take the following log:

"It started with a simple challenge to not eat processed food for a day and being unable. I don't think about junk food anymore, it doesn't cross my mind. That is possible, I promise you. The riches that await those who are able – they're incredible."

Teenagers are generally more difficult to cure, not because they find it more difficult to stop, but because they don't believe they're hooked or are at the initial stages of the trap, generally suffering from the delusion that they'll automatically have stopped before the second stage.

Parents of children who loathe junk food shouldn't have a false sense of security. All children loathe the unhealthy aspects of junk food before becoming hooked. At one point, you did too. Don't be fooled by scare campaigns either, the trap is the same as it always was. Children know that junk food is engineered to be addictive, but they also know that one 'meal' or 'taste' won't do it. At some stage they may be influenced by a friend, classmate, or work colleague.

Please do not become complacent in this matter. Society's failure to prevent adolescents from becoming addicted to junk food and other drugs is perhaps the most disturbing facet of this addiction. Adolescent brains are significantly more plastic, and it is necessary to educate and protect them. If you're unsure where to start, good resources include books on food addiction to educate yourself on the neuroscience. Even if you suspect your teenager might be already hooked, understanding the science provides foundational understanding in helping someone to escape. Otherwise, recommend this book!