Q: I cannot seem to shake my craving for sugar (I use five teaspoons in a cup of coffee) and, truth is, I also think I might drink too much. Can you help me? – Anthony F., Bakersfield, Calif.
A: While “Celebrity Rehab” may make it seem glamorous to fight an addiction, Dr. Drew’s roster of patients is struggling with the same difficulties as anyone who’s hooked on medications, recreational drugs, food or alcohol: a web of physical and emotional ties that bind mind and body to the gotta-have-it substance.
New insights into opioid (heroin, oxycodone, morphine, etc.) addiction offer a revolutionary understanding of the role of your immune system in getting you hooked. Seems that it may be possible to turn off cravings by blocking receptors on certain immune cells. But even if medications can shut down the body’s response (not yet a reality), you’ll still need to change your behaviors, not just in relationship to your addiction but also to the people around you. To help you overcome addiction, we offer healthy-living and emotion-calming techniques that’ll give you strength and optimism – two powerful antidotes to the frustration and depression that can accompany an addiction and, initially, the struggle to beat it.
-Ramp up your dopamine reward system with physical activity and meditation. Dopamine is the feel-good brain chemical that’s hijacked by addiction so that it delivers the goods when you take in ever-increasing amounts of food, drugs or alcohol. You can reset the system with physical activity that removes toxins (everything from fat cells to drugs) and offers a healthy way to feel up. And use meditation – start with it first thing in the morning – to ease positively into the day.
-Reduce bodywide inflammation that comes with addiction. The fastest way? Eliminate saturated and trans fats, added sugars and sugar syrups, any grains that are not 100 percent whole, and processed foods from your diet. Embrace fruits and vegetables. Before you know it you’ll reduce your body weight by 10 percent – that quells the fires of inflammation big time. And drink plenty of water every day.
-Build a support system (family, friends, groups programs, individual therapy, whatever works for you) to help you stay on a healthy route to a younger, happier you!
– Dr. Michael Roizen & Dr. Mehmet Oz
© 2012 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
