Andrew Becker goes over just how the current food atmosphere of today encourages us to take in till we are obese. We are evolutionarily primed to prosper in a food limited atmosphere with healthy foods, and now deal with a limitless supply of refined processed food that has the power to create dependency.
Tape-recorded and also edited thanks to NorthCoast Productions. Andrew Becker is from the small town of Slinger Wisconsin, and completed his bachelor's level in human biology with a focus in dietetics from the College of Wisconsin Eco-friendly Bay. Currently, he is finishing his Ph.D. in biochemistry in Dr. Jong-In Park's laboratory at the Medical College of Wisconsin. The emphasis of his study is to examine just how specific sorts of cancers use the ERK1/2 signaling path to promote their proliferation. Along with his study, Andrew has a tremendous passion for nutrition. He believes it is necessary for everybody to recognize exactly how the foods they consume influence their health. He has actually made it a life-long goal to continually teach the public regarding nutritional wellness whenever he gets the opportunity. This talk was provided at a TEDx occasion utilizing the TED seminar format yet independently arranged by a local community. Find out more at
This is huge issue. This is the real epidemic we need to deal with.
Nice presentation, Andrew! I really liked how you equated telling an overweight person to go on a diet/eat healthier on their own with telling someone who’s addicted to drugs or alcohol that they need to reduce their use. It just won’t work. I’ve never heard it stated that way before, but it makes a lot of sense and really puts food addiction into perspective as what it is — an addiction.
Ive been vegan now 6 months because of health issues, never felt better. I was addicted to junk food. 25lbs later gone and I am a new man.
well, I think the other one might be much more…
@Kevin Rooney I agree with you! Right now, the focus should be the current pandemic. Stop the spread, and use it as an example to make improvements to our healthcare system and our responses to future pandemics (this won’t be the last one). When we get past this, we can then put our focus back on issues such as this. 🙂
and now we have a pandemic…
@Andrew Becker maybe we can do both, locked away at home means no take away meals and one can focus on better diet.
@Charles Addington yes you are very right! I personally have been using this time to try new meals and cook new things! 🙂
What a good talk, I had obesity issues (I will forever actually because I could slip back), took me what feels like a lifetime to bring it under control – and it really is training the brain. Good talk good research, very important Andrew thanks.
I thought it was going to be just another lecture on how to eat, but he had some very compelling research and really knows the struggle, good talk.
Thanks Brittanie! It is really important for us to understand why the struggle to eat healthy can be so difficult. I think it will help shape our solution!
I have ended my relationship with processed foods, it is hard, but worth it.
Unfortunately, the focus of the food industry is not to provide a healthy, quality food supply. The main focus is profit. And just like any drug dealer knows, addiction is the best way to maximize profits. It is pure economics.
Like any addiction, food addiction is both physical and emotional and it has been my lifelong struggle. However, what helped immensely combat my food addiction was first significantly reducing my sugar consumption. I am more into savory foods than sweets but for some time I had been consuming lots of processed sugar and my body was asking for more and more. I had very challenging withdrawal symptoms for the first 2+ weeks but later it became easier. Hadn’t I made a sacred oath, I do not think I would have had enough will power to restrain myself.
I did not eliminate sugar completely but have reduced my consumption by 90%. To indulge my sweet tooth, I eat fresh and baked fruits, figs, prunes, and some other dried fruits but in small quantities. I use pure vanilla extract, cinnamon, date paste/sugar, and occasionally honey to sweeten my low sugar desserts or lemonade. I do not use artificial sweeteners. Sometimes I use stevia, monk fruit or a combo of monk fruit and erythritol. Very rarely I would also eat a regular dessert. That alone was not enough but made my transition to the next phase smoother.
After I normalized my sugar cravings, I shifted my diet to eating 90% of time unprocessed foods – mostly vegetables (fresh, baked, cooked, fermented), tubers, mushrooms, legumes, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, fresh fruits, some dry fruits, homemade yogurt, occasionally some wild fish and grass-fed meat and cheese. Different kinds of bread and pastry are my weakest point so I try to eat them only occasionally and/or in small quantities. I also do intermittent fasting (12-21 hours, usually 16hours daily) and during my refeeding periods I have 2-3 defined meals and do not have any food or caloric drinks in between. I also started doing alternate day fasting where you eat every other day after roughly 36 hours. I do it sometimes once a week or a few days in a week.
When I do eat, I take my time to finish my meal to give my brain sufficient time to register the fact I am satiated rather than eating fast and therefore, possibly overeating. I usually chew my food and rarely drink smoothies. I usually finish my last meal at around 5-7PM, but very occasionally later, too. I did not prohibit myself from ever eating some processed foods but it will be more an exception rather than a rule. I try to set and stick to optimal times and foods but do not stress if I divert occasionally from them when I find it appropriate. It is life. You should be able to enjoy indulge yourself from time to time, you should not feel you are in a prison serving a life sentence. But the next day just go back to your good eating habits and if you wish, you can also compensate a little bit by fasting. Fasting helps curb your bad food cravings.
What is interesting is that I eat significantly less now yet feel much more satiated. I do not count calories. I eat until I am satiated. It does not take much power of will or the constant struggle to make healthy food choices or not to overeat, it just comes much more naturally now. I do not have to resort to making a sacred oath to restrain myself or do much restraining at all! My cravings have changed as well. While I would still definitely enjoy some cake, etc. now I find myself craving more real and unprocessed foods. Even during times of stress and emotional upheavals, my appetite does not increase as much. I used to feel as a bottomless pit.
It is not always totally effortless to make good food choices especially since there is food at every corner and food is an important part of our culture, however, it has become significantly easier and more natural even only after just 2 months of such diet.
My relationship with food has changed for the better and it is not a relationship of struggle anymore but of symbiosis. I used to feel that food was in control of me. It was such a devastating feeling to feel weaker than a piece of bread that cannot move, speak or point a gun at you and yet, it does its bidding. I felt very strong and in control in all areas of my life except when facing a piece of food. I was in a vicious circle. Now I feel more in control and without a lot of effort on my side. I realized now I was not weak or without character, I was eating wrong foods which made my body and brain demand more bad foods and perpetuate the vicious circle.
This is what has been helping me. Please share your revelations. I wish all people find their way to breaking out of their vicious circle and as importantly, never return to it. If you tried to break out of it and did not succeed or you did but the vortex sucked you in again time and time again, do not lose the confidence, do not comfort yourself with more wrong foods, embrace it as a learning experience, do not be too hard on yourself, understand that you are not your addiction and that not every bad choice you made was always and really entirely just yours or what you really wanted. Do not beat yourself, be understanding to yourself but do not pity yourself either. Pick yourself up and help your body help you make choices that are really yours not of your addiction which rides on dopamine, insulin and leptin resistance, bad sugar-craving bacteria in your gut and all psycho-emotional struggles that precede and/or follow the food addiction. Have faith in yourself. A great fighter is not just the one who always wins effortlessly but also the one who falls down but gathers the strength to get up and continue fighting.
The curve of progress does not have to be linear, in fact, it more often varies between constant rise and fall, but as far as you are learning from those falls and continuing to fight, in the long run the curve will show an upward trend. Knowledge, power, self-love, good luck and health to all of us!
Nora Andrews yea we have much higher rates of cardiovascular disease bc of our food climate in the US.. which makes covid more deadly
@lidia pietrusza ahh
I’m addicted to unhealthy food, and idk how to quit, when I’m stressed or have anxiety I eat way more then when I’m calm and feeling good. I’ve lost 50 pounds from cutting back, and now I’m back to where I started…
Food addiction is actually a new concept to me. I have battled and quit drinking and smoking cigarettes cold turkey with a few relapses of course but this addiction has honestly been the hardest to face and hardest to even recognize. Anyway I’m going to battle this addiction and win because I know I’m stronger than my appetite and I’m more motivated to change this pattern than I ever have been since my cigarette addiction has been beat. This was a great video and I appreciate what you said and how you said it.
Honestly feels so good to know I’m not alone.. my food addiction made me gain 100lbs.. I was able to lose it but still battle with it everyday and gained about 20 back it’s seriously an everyday battle..foods on my mind almost 24/7
This was a very good talk but I think he forgot to tackle one very important aspect. Although process food, junk food , fast food, high sugar foods are making us sick, the companies that produce them are rich. In a capitalist, profit-driven society, the consequence of altering process food recipes to make them more healthy will make those foods unpalatable for the millions of junk food addicts making those profit-driven companies lose a significant amount of money. Sadly, this will never happen. The only thing people can do is educate themselves by watching great videos such as this one and by making the necessary choices for themselves to stop buying those foods and stop making those greedy companies rich. As a result of this decision, they will gain their lives back. Yes, this is hard, but it can be done.
It doesn’t matter what we’re addicted to. Our body adapts to whatever we do to it or don’t do it. It’s a mindset shift and attitude that makes a serious difference.
Its funny that a few hundred years ago, obesity was a sign of wealth- some extra pounds showed people that you could afford meat and food, while the working class was eating whatever they could manage to grab, and now its completely changed. Now, fast food is cheap and eating “healthy” and organic natural foods are expensive, so that contributes to problems as well. I wonder when that massive shift happened?
@sufficient grace lol, no I am not, I just like the name..
No relapses so far, either a serious breakdown or a long-term collapse? I wonder. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be named as addiction. 🤔
The AMA says food addiction is not real. 50 years ago they said opioids were not addictive. They were wrong about that, too.
That’s great insight! Although the details may still be up for a discussion, I think it’s very obvious what the impact our current food climate is having on us.
Fantastic talk. I think we do need to be aware of how mental health and food addiction come hand in hand. It’s not just about what’s been marketed to us but how we’ve evolved to get some dopamine hit from fatty and salty foods. It’s not long term gain by any means, but so many people don’t actually have the means to seek professional help, which would in turn help people make better choices for themselves.
I completely agree Terry! Access to help could also assist some to set up their personal environments better to resist some of these foods!
You know what’s worse? You know you are craving for something which is unhealthy, you eat it like there’s no tomorrow because you get excited, and then you regret and your mind is full of guilt after looking at that place which you just emptied. You look at yourself, your bloated stomach and face and scold yourself for doing it all over again. And when you talk about this problem about how hard you try not to, or in my case, how I am SCARED of eating food because I’ll gain weight, they either judge you for whether you are going through some ED or just for fun, call you overdramatic.
Idk I just had to say this here because I guess I’m not the only one who goes through this mental battle with my own mind and other people’s mind😔😔
I believe economically and politically society viewed obesity in a different light as time went by. You know how trends work right? It’s the same thing. Politicians and scientists have all the power of how individuals see themselves and other people. It’s how we socialize. So I just think we have been evolved and socialized to see overweight people in a negative way because of changes in public health research, propaganda, media, etc.
@Jasmine Heynderickx which makes obesity survivors tougher than any drug addict or alcoholic IMO.
@Madam Dej woops I didn’t read the comment properly forst so I started a whole rant on how both addictions are equally dangerous for your health 😅
And while I do get your point, I think that you should not minimize the difficulty of alcohol drinkers: alcohol may not be a mecessity for humans but it is omnipresent too. So in supermarkets, people with obesity for example have to keep ignoring the sweets section while those with an alcohol addiction must ig ore the wine section. (Or at least learn to only go there on occasion) same with fast food chains and bars. And I think being surrounded by the substance is what makes it particularly hard to quit an addicion.
Does that make sense?
The economic efficiency of fast food and industrial agriculture doesn’t just contribute to the problem, it’s the cause. If fast food were sufficiently expensive, obesity rates would decline
I wonder if the industrial revolution has something to do with it. People ate more as they worked in jobs that required physical labour.
The “organic” food business is also a racket. Research what laws & rules make something “organic”. You’ll be shocked
I have always believed that food addiction is a real thing, and that it has the same height as drug and alcohol addictions. What I really think is that the main reason that food addiction is not considered a real thing, or not given that much height or attention, is because a lot of industries would literally file for bankruptcy.
Last year, before the pandemic, I was able to fix my relation to food and I stopped craving sugary foods like chocolate and cookies. I lost 8kg and was feeling happier than ever! Due to lockdown I was stuck home and I started to eat out of boredom or just to reduce my anxiety.. whenever I eat too much processed sugary foods I tend to feel sad and it starts this vicious cycle of eat to feel better then feel bad because of what I ate because I know it’s not good for me.. I put on 10 kg and I got back to my unhealthy habit of overeating those foods.. most of my clothes stopped fitting me.. I’ve been a vegetarian (almost vegan) since 2018 and that was so easy for me to stop eating meat and fish but to stop eating all those snacks can be as hard as climbing the mont Everest.. I hope I can stop craving those foods for good and take my power back..
Omg Plss Tell me how to Stop i cant When im Thinking about it i Just cant 😭.
Sweet tooth here. Thanks so much for putting my thoughts about sugar into words. For as long as I can remember I’ve been drawn to high of sweets. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. Everyone else could just say “no” but not me. I’d go after the lollies like there was no tomorrow. I’d get (and occasionally still do) these incredible cravings. It was an itch that wouldn’t go away till I scoffed a bag of something. It’s only now in my 30s that I’m turning back the tide. It can be done. Kito is the way. Stay safe ya’ll.
Boris Hofland actually, vegan can be healthier . To just out right say it’s not is wrong..
As it depends how the individual vegan decides to eat. Wether that’s focusing on natural whole foods, or vegan junk food. But to just say vegan is not healthier is slightly misleading…
🙏4 me to do the same.
I’m in the exact same boat as you, lockdowns have ruined my body.
thankyou for sharing ! My relationship with food is still tremulous but reading yours has given me hope to better it 🙂
@Laura Legault It CAN be healthy, but isn’t necessarily healthier … you can eat vegan cookies, chips, etc which are full of chemicals and no nutrition.
Somewhere between WW1 AND WW2. That’s when packaged, processed foods became more accessible and more popularised. Then over time with the creation of food deserts, and sustained poverty through poor wages, this became more prevalent. Lack of education about things like good food to eat also contributes, I’m sure, but that’s relative.
@The Joker Why are not not answering any of the serious questions
how is it going
I absolutely have food addiction. I’ve thought this for some time now and I’m very happy to have found this video to validate it. In my circle, food addiction is not a viable concept, so I’ve always held doubt of its existence.
My bias makes me believe it’s far harder to get over food addiction because food is not something you can wean off of like you can drugs. Cold turkey is an impossibility for food.
@What The Quak not too good but not as bad as it could be
Amen
@Rebsytherebel I understand what you mean
Totally agree!🙌🏻
People that hasn’t experienced these feelings tent to diminish them. Your not alone. Aperantly 70% of the population is overweight so its def alot of us 🤗🤗🤗 lol
♥️♥️♥️♥️👏🏻
So happy for you! All these comments have saved me from driving to IHOP🙏🏽
I see you. I try so hard but I always go back to this place that I don’t want to go.
You might try the book, My Physician, Myself’ written by a man in his seventies. It was a huge factor in restoring my health.
Same !!! I’ve gained 50 and can’t get it off !! But I’m here trying to get help 🙂
Vao amazing words. I wouldn’t say I’m very addicted but yes once I feel like and I don’t get it then I’m really agitated
Same ☹
One massive meal every other day helped me. After a month I noticed I was eating less during my feeding window (7P to midnight).
I gained 40kg I 1 yr from binge eating … I feel your pain
Omg congratulations
Food addiction is as real as drug addiction
What helped me is researching all the negative effects of these foods on your body! Including heart disease, cancer, dementia, alzheimer, depression, etc.! I watched this documentary What the Health, and I was a bit sceptical so I went on researching. And what I found truly surprised me. I recommend a YouTube channel called Nutrition Made Simple. The creator is a doctor that reviews numerous studies in all of his videos. Knowledge helped me like nothing else, so I really want to share it!
Good luck
People love to make fun of things they themselves have not struggled with, i wish more people were a little more empathetic.
Make a list of your personal goals
Then when you are craving food look back at that list.
If that doesn’t work, maybe start looking for professional help
I know it’s been a while since you’ve posted this, but you should take a look at Greg doucette’s tips on diets bro. High volume, low calorie foods might help you keep full and decrease the need to eat. His tips have helped me a lot..
me too
Exactly the same situation when i’m trying to lose weight, but i went from 121 kilograms to 103, trying to get lower, its hard but i wish everyone luck and motyvation and discipline <3 We can do it.
Yep. Any time I start a diet, all I can think about is food and what I can eat.
Humanity has been cultivating “hyper-palatable” food for ages, e.g., observe the fruit man has created over millennia through selective breeding so that it is plumper, juicer and more surgery than anything found in nature. The same holds for veggies and animals.
@Madam Dej Humanity has been cultivating “hyper-palatable” food for ages, e.g., observe the fruit man has created over millennia through selective breeding so that it is plumper, juicer and more surgery than anything found in nature. The same holds for veggies and animals.
@Cara Cloyd Who mentioned healthcare?
If you want healthy food, then industry will provide that for you too; it’s about consumer demand.
@C_ Farther Yes, because hyper-palatable food has made them food addicts. Did you watch the video?
Same here 😪
@Rebsytherebel then, the addiction is gym
Thank you very much for your words.
Thanks for taking the time to write this. I found it helpful and inspiring.