Disease Proof

One thing I don’t miss about being a standard American dieter is the hunger pains. Remember those? You haven’t eaten in a while, and before you know it weakness sets in, your stomach begins to growl, and you get a headache. Dr. Fuhrman refers to this as toxic hunger. He discusses it further in "Toxic Hunger" Can Kill:

A few hours after eating, feeling weak, headachy, tired, mentally dull, and stomach cramping or discomfort is not true hunger! These symptoms of stomach cramping and fluttering, headaches and fatigue that begin when digestion is completed I call “toxic hunger” because these symptoms only occur in those who have been eating a toxic diet. These withdrawal symptoms from an unhealthful diet, and this discomfort is mistakenly interpreted as the need to eat more frequently and take in more calories.

I’m not the only one who’s glad to be done with toxic hunger. Before getting hip to nutritional excellence Nicole from Full of Veggies went to desperate lengths to cope with her toxic hunger—and she definitely doesn’t think a gumball a day keeps the hunger pains away:

Before I started ETLing I had such toxic hunger it wasn't funny. If I didn't eat sooner or later it would catch up with me and I'd get headaches or feel weak etc. I can remember a time where I was really hungry and hubby and I were out and about; it was going to be an hour or so until we were going to be home to eat and I was so hungry I got one of those horrible gum balls out of a vending machine to help curb the hunger. I remember hubby saying to me "you're so hungry you can't wait an hour for dinner?" and I really didn't think I could. The feeling of hunger felt unbearable at the time. Looking back, it makes me sad that I was such a slave to junk and it was effecting my body so much.

Now, Nicole and I are grown ups, but according to Dr. Fuhrman toxic hunger and its sequelae start young. Here’s more from Toxic Hunger and Kids:

After enough time goes by continually consuming more calories than they need, children will feel discomfort when they do not have food constantly in their stomach. They must keep their digestive tract going all the time, because the minute it empties, they feel uncomfortable. By the time they become an overweight adult, they are true food addicts.