Symbols of addiction – Part 1

Our lives are profoundly defined by symbols and yet very often, they lie to us.

A symbol could be something like Charlize Theron in the Dior perfume advertisement – she is the symbol of attractive womanhood, invoking romance and glamour, and the suggestion is that puffing J’adore on a woman will somehow confer on her such passion and allure.

But it doesn’t convey the reality of the consequences of ardour – the inevitable disappointment with most partners, not to mention the (extreme) patience and tolerance needed to maintain a relationship. Also, although I find Ms Theron most charming, the scent of J’adore gives me a mild headache.

Why people need symbols is a curious phenomenon, and often it is a two-edged sword. For example, if a woman feels that wearing symbols such as fancy hairdos, expensive handbags and big diamond rings somehow elevates her status above other people, then there are probably many more people who would view such ostentation as charmless, tasteless and offensive, especially if her sources of wealth are questionable.

It reminds me of the odd story of two corrupt politicians who bumped into each other outside a swanky club, and see that they are both wearing exactly the same neckties. One says, “I see you have great taste. How much did you pay for that tie?” The other answers proudly, “$3,000 – it’s the most expensive tie in the shop.” At which point the first guy says, “You idiot! I bought mine for $5,000!”

The irrationality of symbols came to mind when exploring the causes for food addiction – why some people persistently crave to consume certain items even when they know these items actually harm them.

In fairness, sometimes substances are consumed excessively for understandable reasons, such as the reduction of pain due to severe illnesses.

But normally, an addiction is due to custom, or familiarity of some sort.

There must also be psychological, physiological or chemical reasons for such odd behaviour – and coercion to follow addictive habits (eg. by the marketing media’s use of symbols) does not help the situation.

This series of articles will cover theories of addictions related mostly to food – though there are common factors between all forms of addiction.

There are several definitions for addiction, with strong suggestions of it being both a medical and mental condition.

Addiction for food substances is characterised by several traits, such as:

• Inability to limit oneself to consuming the desired foods in moderation

• Constant craving for desirable foods

• Inability to control normal behaviour in the presence of the desired foods

• Inability to recognise health and behavioural problems related to the overconsumption of desired foods and irrational emotional responses when deprived of such desired items.

It all starts with taste and flavour

People get addicted to selected food substances usually because they simply like the taste and flavour of these foods. There are a very few people who are somehow addicted to food they actually hate eating but this is clearly an abnormal mental problem, probably to do with masochism. So investigating how humans develop their food preferences might be a good basis for understanding how food addiction can arise – and it is rather more complex than you might think.

How our taste senses work and how we enjoy flavours had already been covered in earlier articles so this piece will focus on why certain foods can become addictive.

The most sought-after durian in Malaysia, the Black Thorn; durian is a fruit you either hate with a vengeance or love with a crazy desire.

Overconsumption – a necessity that is now unnecessary

With humans, there is probably a genetic basis for some of our general predilections for certain foods.

Since we evolved from primitive hunter gatherer tribes, our taste preferences today still remain skewed towards liking foods which can efficiently provide a lot of energy – our Palaeolithic ancestors simply needed energy to hunt and forage and the most energy-laden food substances would be anything with a high sugar content.

This explains why young children instinctively like sweets and cakes – they are conditioned by their genes to prefer high-energy foods which helps them grow, explore and learn.

Following closely behind, and often in parallel with high energy foods, would be a preference for foods with a high nutritional content, such as proteins, minerals, vitamins, etc.

Again this disposition is probably genetic in nature – and humans have made huge strides in rendering food so that it can be consumed and absorbed much more efficiently. This has even affected the physical features of humans – for example, if we had not learnt how to cook with fire, our jaws and mastication muscles would need to be much larger to handle chewing raw meat for long periods of time.

As it is, the jaws of humans are proportionately the smallest of all primates and it has been argued that cooking also permitted humans to develop larger brains as we get so much more energy from cooked food that our brains had consequently been able to evolve to grow larger and plan ever better survival strategies.

It should be noted that the constant availability of food for our Palaeolithic ancestors was very seldom guaranteed.

The simple consequence was starvation when food was scarce, then overeating whenever excess food was around – and the human body had evolved to cope with this by storing excess food (energy) as body fat which would get used up during times when the food supply is limited.

So it can be seen that our own genes can potentially lead humans to food addiction, especially if they cannot control their instincts to consume sugary and high-nutrition foods.

In the distant past, these foods provide comfort and relief in a harsh environment and it is probable that they can still invoke the same feelings today – the only problem is that modern shops and supermarkets have an unlimited supply of food all year round and therefore the instinct to overeat does not serve humans quite so well these days.

Foods that just can’t be left alone

Lobster is one of Chris Chan’s favourite foods and hard for me to say no to when offered.

Almost everyone has several favourite foods or snacks which are difficult to avoid when offered – my favourites probably include lobster, durian and steak. I had often wondered about how these strong preferences develop and a little investigation turned up some interesting facts.

A foetus in the womb can detect some of the foods ingested by the mother – the flavours are transmitted via the amniotic fluid. As such, some babies immediately after birth can already detect certain flavours eaten by their mothers – they will turn their heads towards familiar smells such as garlic and aniseed.

However, this does not mean that the babies will necessarily develop strong preferences for these foods in later life, although a study on rat pups whose mothers were fed high fat, salt and sugar diets during pregnancy demonstrated stronger than normal preferences for these foods during weaning.

Even more curious is the fact that newly-born babies come equipped with 30,000 taste buds spread throughout the mouth cavity – but they slowly start losing these taste buds as they age until an adult human ends up with only 10,000 taste buds or so, mostly on the tongue.

This means that eating and tasting food is a much more intense experience for babies than for adults. This exuberance of taste buds may explain why many young children dislike their vegetables, simply because they are much more sensitive to the bitter compounds in greens.

As growing infants and children have an extraordinary demand for energy, their taste buds are particularly attuned to sugars and fats – and this is obvious from the delight children express whenever ice cream is offered.

Human breast milk also contains 10 times more glutamate than cow milk, hence breast-feeding may possibly induce a preference for savoury, umami-laden foods in later life – coincidentally, foods with a lot of umami also tend to contain protein, which is needed for muscular development.

It is unlikely that all adult food preferences get established during infanthood as the radical changes in the number and distribution of taste buds would have a significant effect on food choices over time.

In general, as they age, most humans become somewhat desensitised and more habitual about what they eat, although a significant proportion will continue to develop new food preferences throughout their lives.

However, it is not uncommon for the desire for sugar and fats to be retained into adulthood as foods containing sugars and fats also abound with energy, which would have been very advantageous for our adult hunter-gatherer Palaeolithic ancestors.

Of course, that’s really not a good excuse to overeat and become obese – but it is almost understandable as our genes would seem to be pushing us in that direction.

A crazy desire for certain foods

We have all had little episodes when we succumb to a craving for a favourite food, despite our better judgement – but there are some people who have practically no control over their desire for certain foods.

Very often, these extreme desires would be linked to sweet, fatty or savoury foods – and actually, it would usually be food which combines more than one taste sensation.

A classic example is chocolate, which combines a lot of sugar with fat – I have yet to meet anyone who can refuse a proper Belgian truffle.

But then, I wouldn’t expect anyone to empty a box of two dozen truffles from the office pantry either – and this has happened more than a few times.

Why the fondness for certain food items becomes an irresistible, almost criminal urge, may have several reasons.

If we can ignore the psychological aspects, an addiction is usually the result of some form of chemical imbalance in the body, which compels a person to desire food beyond a reasonable limit. This desire may compel an addict to do things which would be normally out of character. More on the chemistry of addiction later.

Consuming till death comes along

Along with overconsumption of desired food substances, an addict is also able to ignore (or even crave) the blatant consequences of such unrestricted indulgence.

Normally such consequences would be related to health issues or extreme discomfort though some cases may also include financial problems and emotional burdens to other people.

In short, the habits of some serious addicts may be damaging more than their own bodies. A classic case would be alcoholism, where each bout with drunkenness and painful hangovers actually actively reinforces the need to drink even more despite the intense unpleasant consequences.

In a simplistic way, it might be a matter of perception – what one person knows is not necessarily what everyone else understands.

It reminds me of a little joke: An elderly couple attends a church sermon. About halfway through, the wife leans over and says to her husband, “I couldn’t help it – I’ve just let out a huge fart. But at least it was completely silent. What do you think?” He replies, “I think you should put a new battery in your hearing aid.”

Next: The chemistry of addictive behaviour – the early years

Source : Star2.com