Most of us like at least one product that acts like a stimulant and can become an addiction over time. Some of these things are exercise-stimulating drinks that come in cans and look like cola, carbonated drinks, tobacco, betel nut, betel leaf, strong coffee, strong tea, mahuang, a Chinese drug that is similar to ephedrine, and alcohol.
Before I tell you why we shouldn't eat these things, I'd like to talk about why we do.
No one doesn't know that too much of these kinds of products can be very bad for our bodies. Still, we can't stay away from them. The need to eat foods that make you feel good is a simple human weakness that has been around for a long time. People (and many animals) have always eaten foods that make them feel good. In clinical terms, this means a fast heartbeat, a little sweating, the eyes' pupils getting bigger or smaller, a warm flush on the face, and a feeling of being more sensitive, focused, and aware.
After a few hours, these feelings of being "high" wear off, and we feel tired and down. This makes them want that food again so they can feel that high again. And there we are, going in a circle that never ends.
Here's how addictions work in the body:
When you eat a food that makes you want more, it stimulates the hormone-like chemicals at the ends of your nerves. This sets off a chain reaction of similar chemicals that make you feel high. As the chemicals near your nerves run out, you go through the low phase, which makes you want that food again. This back-and-forth between nerve stimulation and nerve depletion creates a pattern of addiction.
One of the oldest unhealthy food habits is eating foods that are hard to stop eating, and it doesn't seem to be going away, even though people are becoming more health conscious.
Here are some things that can happen when you keep eating certain foods.
Alcoholism can lead to stomach and intestinal lining erosion, liver damage, and a lack of nutrients.
Tobacco: Cancer of the buccal mucosa can be caused by gum and tongue erosion.
Betel nut causes teeth to turn yellow, the inside of the mouth to wear away, and mouth and upper tract cancer. It also makes people with a weak heart have more heart problems.
Ma Huang: It has ephedrine in it, which is bad for your heart.
High amounts of caffeine in carbonated drinks.
Caffeine and xanthine are in coffee and tea. These are only dangerous in large amounts; don't drink more than five cups a day.
People who take medications for the heart, high blood pressure, or asthma have to be very careful about how the drugs interact with stimulant foods, because doing so can be fatal. After years of practise, all doctors know how hard it is to get people to stop being addicted to food. Like them, I can only suggest a good middle ground. If you can't break the habit, you should at least try to do less of it.
