Breaking Addictions

By: Ron Lagerquist

White knuckles wrapped around

an empty whisky bottle, and the vacant gaze of a homeless alcoholic defines the raw face of
addiction and humanitys fallen condition. In its vulgar extreme, addiction is easy to see,
stripping man of dignity, reduced to an animal, driven by a single desire. But it is those
subtle, cultured forms of addiction and compulsive behavior which are so difficult to
discern. An alcoholic or drug addict quickly becomes socially isolated but subtle forms of
addiction are able to flow quite happily along in the social current, and even be comfortable
in the pews of our church.
Addiction is anything that has become stronger than your will power to change. Instead of
you being in control, the addiction is all powerful and you feel a sense of helpless to do
anything about it...for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him (2 Pet. 2:18,19).
Whether it is caffeine or processed sugar, addiction creates impulses, false needs and
behavioral patterns which are destructive to well-being, and can have a greater authority in
behavior than the natural desire to eat and drink. The salt, fat and crunch of junk food, offer
emotions of fulfillment that is lacking because of a spiritual vacuum. Tangible potato chips,
replacing an intangible God. Emotional emptiness is the source of addiction. Dependency
on pleasure to temporarily numb feelings of hopelessness.
The sensations of hunger and thirst are homeostatic mechanisms, helping the body maintain
optimum levels of energy, nutrients and water. Hunger sensations coincide with strong
peristaltic contractions of the stomach, increased sensitivity, weakness and irritability. A
new-born infant soon learns that these symptoms are relieved by the ingestion of food.
When addictive foods are eaten repeatedly, the body adjusts homeostasis to be balanced
with the food in the system. Over time the body will become dependent on that substance
for homeostatic balance, removing it will cause withdrawal. The body cries out for the
missing substance as just intense hunger cries for food. Control has been established on the
inside of you. Even if there is an intense desire to lose weight or quit a bad habit, there is
often failure and discouragement.
At FreedomYou we take addiction very seriously. If you struggle with any form of
addiction, check out our powerful book: Foundation To All Freedom
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Food Addiction
By: Ron Lagerquist

Consumption of massive amounts of sugar, salt, caffeine and fried foods have a drastic effect on
homeostasis.

Eating raw, whole foods assist the body in maintaining a healthy homeostasis, resulting in
the natural reaction of hunger. Processed foods disturb homeostasis, saturated animal fats,
refined oils, sugar, salt and additives upset the homeostatic balance. Hunger becomes
distorted into cravings.
Consumption of massive amounts of sugar, salt, caffeine and fried foods have a drastic
effect on homeostasis. The body reacts as it would to any addiction, powerful cravings
override the bodys natural needs. Also food allergies can cause addiction due to
homeostatic disturbance. You usually feel better when eating the food you are addicted to,
however you may exhibit symptoms of feeling irritable, gas, nausea, depression or
headache the next day, even in a few hours or minutes after you have eaten the food.
Milk, wheat and eggs are the most common allergic foods. Each contain large protein
molecules with strong glue-like bonds. Many food allergens are the undigested protein
fragments of meat, dairy products, wheat and eggs. If the appropriate enzyme necessary for
digestion of these protein molecules is not present, they enter the blood undigested. In the
bloodstream these protein fragments cause the immune system to respond, attacking these
fragments as if they were invaders. Homeostasis has been imbalance and if these foods are
continually eaten, the body will become dependent for homeostatic balance causing an
allergen-based food addiction.
The brain also maintains homeostatic balance. Eating natural food allows the brain
chemistry to function normally. Sugar, alcohol, caffeine, and chocolate cause imbalances in
the brains normal chemistry. Neurotransmitters are proteins that electrically connect the
nerve cells of the brain. In certain people, chocolate induces a neurotransmitter high
creating daily cravings for chocolate. Some binge on sweets and starches for the serotin
effect, which acts as a mild sedative. Just like drugs, these experiences are short-lived,
resulting in the need for more of the substance that caused the imbalance in the first place.

Overcoming Food Addiction

By: Ron Lagerquist
"The experience of trying to change my diet reminded me of the emotional process I underwent when quitting
drugs, there were physical and emotional withdrawals."

As a young teen I promised myself that, even though I was surrounded by friends who
made drugs a large part of their lifestyle, I would never do so. However, in my later teens
drugs gradually took over my life. Over time, I became convinced that I could not live
without the escape that drugs provided from a lonely existence. The psychological term for
this is association. I made a powerful pleasure association with drugs, bonding a
destructive behavior to positive emotions. Breaking the strands of addiction at nineteen
years old was a spiritual moment, allowing me the freedom to begin to grow away from the
need to do drugs. But it was not easy; it took some tuff inner work.
Food Addiction Means Money
The food industry is well aware of the power of pleasure association, and they shamelessly
use it in advertising. Eat this and you will be cool and happy. Nothing is said about
whether the food is healthy, other than a token gesture of touting their offerings as low
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fat, yet hiding its highly addictive qualities. The psychological aspects of food addiction
are just the beginning, the entire homeostatic balance must adapt to the processed sugars,
finely ground white floor, transformed fat, excessive salt, and manmade chemicals which
are associated with these so-called foods. When trying to eat healthy, you are faced with a
double whammy. Emotions demand the associated positive feelings that an apple will not
provide, and the body cries out for a deadly food that it has become homeostatically
adapted to.
Overcoming Food Addiction Hurts
The experience of trying to change my diet reminded me of the emotional process I
underwent when quitting drugs, there were physical and emotional withdrawals. It felt
wrong. There were days I experienced terrible emotional withdrawals, and as a result I
fought strong doubts that the changes I was making were healthy. The good news is that it
did not take long until I began to experience positive results. Physical withdrawals were the
strongest, but the first to go. It took much longer for the more cunning emotional ties to
junk food to be recognized and broken. The process of developing new pleasure
associations to lighter healthy food took time. Today, if I were to eat a fraction of the junk
food I ate years ago, I would feel sick, foggy minded and weak. Over time, my body has
adapted to a healthy nutrient-rich diet and no longer has the tolerance for addictive food.
Within one week of changing to a healthier diet, many see a remarkable improvement in
health, needing less sleep, and feeling greater vitality. Unfortunately, at the beginning this is
overshadowed by withdrawal. Within weeks, however, the cravings disappear, leaving in
their dirty wake joyous new health and vitality. Then fresh emotional associations can
developcrunchy carrots or a sweet mango will be a treat to look forward to.
The Joy Of Breaking Food Addiction
The experience of a colleague of mine is a great example of how radically we can adapt and
even control how we change. Cathy went to Weight Watchers to lose forty pounds of
unwanted fat. They put her on a much more restrictive diet than she was used to. I saw her
in the staff room with salads, fruits and whole wheat pitas, stuffed with low fat meat and
alfalfa sprouts, looking severely miserable. Two months later, I saw Cathy again when she
came back after the summer holidays. She had lost all her weight, yet there she was, eating
the same healthy foods for lunch and looking blissfully happy! When I asked her about it,
she joyfully said, You know, I used to drive home after work, all excited about deciding
where I was going to eat supper. It was like a game for me, would it be fish and chips, pizza
or a Big Mac and shake? Now when I drive home all I can think about is the healthy supper
Im going to make for myself.
She was beaming at me when she said this. It was like she had been released from a prison.
And she looked greateveryone told her so.
Was it easy for Cathy, especially in the beginning? No. But if you were to ask her if it was
worth it, she would say an enthusiastic yes! Cathy took life by the horns and made tough
changes to redefine herself as a new woman. She became an active participant in who she
was becoming instead of being a victim to addiction and compulsive behavior. And with
this freshly discovered mastery, she is looking forward to new challenges to further her
enlarging potentiality.
We are always adapting, changing, being recreated, being reinvented. Choice is the Godgiven power to control how you are changing and what you will become. And the
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possibilities are endless.

Craving The bread Of Life

By: Ron Lagerquist
A crowd searched for Jesus after He fed the five thousand. Finally they found Him on the
other side of the lake. Jesus was trying to elude themHe knew their hearts. But they were
persistent. When they finally found Him, He said, I tell you the truth, you are looking for
me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill
(John 6: 26). How alone Jesus must have felt.
They didnt want Jesusthey cared nothing for Him. They didnt love Him. All they cared
about was what Jesus could provide for their bellies. The cravings of their belly blinded
them to the fact that they were standing in the presence of the Living God, the Author of
Life. One who could provide Spiritual manna, an everlasting well-spring of life that would
create no addiction or craving, producing perfect contentment and full satisfaction.
Jesus was Life personified! Life in flesh. Yet they were utterly blinded by their own shallow
hunger. Jesus stood among strangers who ought to have been His friends. What a lonely
thought.
Yet from His generous love, He reached out to this blind crowd with words that could give
sight. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he
will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world (John 6:
51).
Astonishing words! Nearly all of His disciples left Him. They did not understand. Here
stood before them the solution to every need and desire in their miserable lives. Yet, in selfdeception, they turned their backs and walked away from the Author of Life. Clawing and
grubbing in a dark, stank world for tidbits of pleasure, desperately hoping to find a balm to
their painful, grumbling soul, only to find death. Jesus turned to His twelve disciples, with a
look of pleading He asked, you do not want to leave too, do you?
You could feel His rejection. But as the disciples stood in a state of dismay, Simon Peter
answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe
and know you are the Holy One of God. (John 6:68,69)
Peter saw Jesus as his only hope. He had left everything to follow Him, fishing, wife and
children, the security of home and the warmth and comfort of bedthey were naked in a
cold world. They had nowhere to go. Their only comfortthe Living God. Jesus was their
all.
Going to Jesus when you are hungry is a step of faith. The crowd did not believe that He
was Life. They were convinced that they could find fulfilment in this world and that Jesus
was only a part of that picture. When we hold the empty cup of our soul to heaven, turning
our backs to all that the world would provide, we explicitly proclaim Christ as being our
sole Source of Life. It is an act of faith against which all of hell will war.