Re: OA

[Guest guest]

Gillian,

Would you mind saying a bit more about the relationship between simple

carbs and serotontin levels. I'm interested in what you have to say

about physiological sugar cravings.

I agree with what you say about the practicality of abstaining from

sugar and white flour. I abstained from sugar for over a year, and

even then it wasn't 100%. It's just very difficult to do if you eat

any processed foods at all.

Sohni

Gillian Hood-son wrote:

This is a

great question. I have some very

strong opinions about this, but I do believe everyone must decide what

is right

for them. I went to OA one time and had a bad experience that only

involved one

person. But at the time I was quite vulnerable and I decided I was

never going

back, even to a different group. On the other hand, I have heard of

people who

believe they were saved by OA (just as I believe I was saved by IE!).

And there

are people in this group that go to OA and do fine using both the OA

approach

and IE.

It’s my

belief that food issues are

not an addiction. We had a big discussion about this on a professional

intuitive eating board a while back and it was really interesting to

see all

the different opinions, which I completely respect. The reason I don’t

like

to use the word addiction is first, it has a social stigma attached to

it and

what we say to ourselves can become reality. So if you say you are

addicted to

food, you will have a harder time overcoming it. Again, just my beliefs

from my

own personal and professional experiences. I know the 12 step approach

works

very well for many situations. But those situations are actual

addictions. You

must abstain from the thing you are addicted to, and where many get

stuck is

how can I abstain from food? I’ve heard people in OA say you must

abstain

from your binge foods. Given that most of us binge on white flour and

white

sugar items, abstinence is not the greatest option, we live in a world

of

convenience and that includes products with white sugar and white

flour. And

emotions drive us to eat, and very often the body craves sugar and it’s

a

physiological thing, the brain wants simple carbs to help with the

levels of serotonin

in the brain (one of the neurotransmitters that affect anxiety and

depression).

IE tells us we can eat what we really want and we no longer have to

live with

deprivation. Over time, when all foods become truly permissible, the

cravings

or strong desire for certain foods lessens and you can eat those foods

when you

want, but you no longer binge on them or even overeat on them. For me,

it’s

just a saner way to go. J

Tribole actually addressed this

question on her blog a while back. She did a great job and was able to

remain

neutral, basically saying the same thing I did, that you need to find

what is

right for you. You can read her post, and more great info, at http://nutrition-info-411.evelyntribole.com/2010/01/16/what-do-you-think-about-overeaters-anonymous.aspx.

I hope this

is helpful!

Thanks!

Gillian

Gillian

Hood-son, MS, ACSM

Get your

report, "The 6 Steps

to Guilt-Fr*e Eating" at http://www.HealthierOutcomes.com

Follow

me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/gillianhood

From:

IntuitiveEating_Support

[mailto:IntuitiveEating_Support ] On Behalf Of kasdc

Sent: Monday, April

12, 2010 5:00

PM

To:

IntuitiveEating_Support

Subject:

OA

I saw lisa mention OA. I have struggled with

going to

OA. I have a strong belief in 12 step recovery. The emphasis on

abstinance,

restriction and weight loss really bothered me. It certainly seems to

contradict a my focus on IEing. Has anyone elso had any experience with

OA?

Should I go back or give it up? I know I need some type of support

system. This

is a good start(: