Your Fast Food Addiction Diet should include plenty of organic, free-range/grass-fed meats and animal products, as well as other plant-based proteins like beans, seeds, and nuts.A Healthy Diet to Treat Fast Food Addiction...
One of the first things to tackle when breaking a fast food addiction is diet. While it’s true that diet is the basis of all health, when it comes to a fast food addiction, getting your diet in order is key. Below I have outlined the basic guidelines for the Fast Food Addiction Diet, along with some other important thoughts and information about eating healthfully and practically.Basic Guidelines of the Fast Food Addiction Diet
Below I have outlined the basic guidelines of the Fast Food Addiction Diet. For each “Don’t”, I have included the “Do” options immediately below for easy reference. For each “Do”, I have included further details where relevant.- No refined sugars or syrups - This means that you should NOT be eating white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrups, rice syrups, or similar products. Coconut sugar, jaggery, piloncillo, agave nectar, and similar products, though better than regular refined sweeteners, should also be eliminated.
- Instead, use raw honey, stevia (as whole leaf powder or drops without glycerin), or monk fruit extract (choose options that don’t include erythritol or other sugar alcohols, since these sugar alcohols can’t be digested by the body and often cause gas or indigestion). Grade A, organic maple syrup can be included in your diet as an occasional treat (eat in small to moderate quantities only once a week).
- No artificial sweeteners, colorings, flavorings or other additives - This includes a long list of ingredients to avoid that would be far too long to include in this book, though there are plenty of resources available online for lists of these additives.
- No coffee or other high-caffeine drinks - Caffeine can cause a dopaminergic storm similar to what meth addicts experience. It can cause neurotransmitter imbalances in the brain.
- Instead of coffee or other caffeinated beverages, take Mucuna pruriens, a bean that can be cooked and then added to foods like chili soup or even nacho cheese. In Central America Mucuna is colloquially known as Nescafe because it increases wakefulness but without the jittery feelings caused by caffeine.
- A combination of chicory root and cacao can make a tasty and mildly energizing mocha substitute for those who like coffee in the morning. Capomo is another superfood that supplies a wide range of nutrients; capomo tastes similar to coffee and can also be lightly energizing.
- Enjoy energy drinks? Consider making an electrolyte beverage in the morning instead using a seawater supplement, stevia drops, and decaf herbal fruit tea or fresh, cold-pressed fruit juice.
- No heated oils - Oils that are refined and/or heated are “dead”; they lack nutritional value and energy. The outer membrane of every cell in the body is made up of lipids (oils), and the oils that you eat in your diet ultimately end up forming these outer cell membranes. If you eat high quality oils and other healthy fats, the cells throughout your body will be able to communicate more clearly and effectively. If you eat heated/refined oils, these signals will become sluggish and unclear.
- When choosing oils at the grocery store or online, choose extra virgin, cold-pressed, unrefined oils. Extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, and grapeseed oil are the most readily available forms of these kinds of oils for regular food consumption (some people may also enjoy sesame oil or food-grade apricot kernel oil). Also make sure that the oil product you buy is stored in a dark-colored, glass container. Add these oils (without heating) on top of breads or pastas, mixed into dips like guacamole or hummus, or as part of a homemade salad dressing to add a boost of healthy fat to your daily diet.
- Do NOT eat oils like sunflower oil, vegetable oil, peanut oil, canola oil, and other similar oils; the vast majority of the time, these oils are heavily refined and toxic to the body. Note that you can find unrefined, cold-pressed peanut oil for cooking, but it’s relatively difficult to source a good-quality product, and therefore, it should be avoided entirely.
- Consume Dr. Budwig’s Quark smoothie once per day to boost your omega fatty acid levels in the brain. This quick recipe will make a huge difference in your brain health within 2 to 3 weeks if you drink at least 1 Budwig Quark Smoothie every day. Click here to read more about The Budwig Protocol and how to make the Budwig smoothie.
- Include other healthy fat sources in your diet as well. Fats are extremely important for a wide variety of processes in the human body. If you’re eating healthy, quality fats and taking in nutrients like iodine (among other essential nutrients), moderate fat consumption will not cause you to gain weight out of control. Examples of healthy fat sources include not only the oils listed above, but also foods like avocado, nuts and seeds, cacao, tofu (from organic sources ONLY), and meats and other animal products (which we’ll discuss more below).
- Eat plenty of high-quality animal proteins -
- What do we mean by “high-quality”? In this case, we’re referring to animal products that are grass-fed (in the case of meats and dairy products) or free-range (in the case of eggs), as well as organic. Unless the animal products that you’re eating fit these criteria, they not only won’t have all of the nutrients they should have, but also are likely to contain organophosphates, added hormones, and other chemicals. Make a point to seek out these high-quality animal proteins sources, since these foods contain some of the most essential anti-addiction nutrients, such as all of the essential amino acids (and then some), minerals (including iodine, zinc, and magnesium), and the B-complex nutrients.
- Eat lots of fruits, vegetables, and legumes - These whole, real foods are entirely permissible on the Fast Food Addiction diet. Fresh fruits and vegetables in particular should be abundant in your diet. Legumes (beans, lentils, etc.) can also be included, though they should preferably be soaked in clean water for at least 12 hours before being cooked and eaten in order to increase digestibility and nutritional content. Soak and rinse your fruits and vegetables before eating in order to avoid bromide and organophosphate contamination. Click here to read more about bromide-containing insecticides and organophosphates.
- Be choosy about grains - The right grains can be highly nutritious; the wrong grains can hurt both your mental and physical health. Below are some basics of choosing the right grains:
- NO white grains - This means that white wheat, white rice, and the products made from these grains should be entirely eliminated, at least until you’ve gotten your fast food addiction under control. These refined, white grains cause the body to react physiologically similarly to the consumption of refined sugars. In addition, these grains are “empty calories”, since they contain little to no real nutritional content.
- If you live in the US, no wheat-based products (and no wheat-based products from the US) - In the US, wheat is GMO and heavily sprayed with organophosphates, and is also brominated during the flour production process, leading to bromine toxicity and exasperation of iodine deficiency.
- Instead of white grains and wheat-based products, consider including these other nutrient-rich grain options in your diet: wild rice, brown/red/black rice, quinoa, amaranth, organic, gluten-free oats, buckwheat, millet, teff, organic corn, sorghum, etc.
A Word About “Cheat Days”...
One of the things that people ask me about a lot in regard to diet, especially when it comes to fast food addiction, is whether or not a “cheat day” is allowable. For readers unaware of this term, a “cheat day” is a day when you, in this context, allow yourself to consume foods on the “bad” list, maybe for only meal, only for dessert, or where you allow yourself to consume these “bad” foods in whatever quantity you wish, only on the cheat day.Different people approach the idea of a cheat day in different ways but… I’m sorry to say, Dear Reader, that I do not agree with this concept. Besides the fact that most people feel yucky the day after their cheat day, most cheat days aren’t “only” a day. Once you start making exceptions like this, you’re at risk of making these diet exceptions on other days too and ending up on a downward spiral of bad eating. In addition, even one day of bad eating here and there, or the occasional candy bar or fast food restaurant visit, can add up over time in terms of the health of your body. Many of the toxic ingredients found in these foods take up residence in the dark corners of your body and can be difficult to get rid of immediately (it’s possible to get rid of them, of course, but you have to commit to the idea of detoxification and then stay away from those foods to avoid letting the toxins build up again).
That being said, I also don’t think that your diet should be boring, sad, or overwhelming. A healthy diet does not have to be boring, sad, or overwhelming. Even if you’re not a “foodie”, eating healthfully can be quite simple and tasty, especially if you commit to the process of changing your diet and strategize to make your new diet fit your life. If you feel like you need a cheat day, you either 1) need to work more with other medicines like Mucuna, nutritional supplements, and sacred medicines (to name a few) to try and correct the root cause of the problem, and/or 2) reassess your strategy for healthy eating.
If you’ve successfully cut out fast food and you’re still bored or overwhelmed with your new and improved healthy diet, you may need to take some time to consider what exactly it is you’re wanting, and how you can get that thing without sacrificing your health.
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The Ketogenic Diet for Fast Food Addiction and Why Animal Proteins Are So IMPORTANT for Addiction Recovery
Not all people who are reading this will gravitate toward the ketogenic diet, but I wanted to mention this diet as an option. For people with fast food addiction who also have diabetes, PCOS, chronic urinary tract problems, autoimmune disease, or certain other major health problems, the ketogenic diet may be an especially healing option (read more about how the ketogenic diet works to cure disease in this article). Please note that, contrary to some sources on the internet, the ketogenic diet is not a cure for cancer; patients with cancer should refer to this article for more information about anti-cancer healing diet protocols.What is the ketogenic diet? Basically, the keto diet’s goal is to convert the body’s main energy source from glucose to ketones, thus allowing the body to enter a state of ketosis. This can facilitate healing for some health issues in addition to supporting weight loss, which can be especially valuable for people with fast food addiction since weight loss tends to be a major concern in these cases. A ketogenic diet places a focus on healthy fat, and limits carbohydrates as much as possible. As such, 90% of the diet will include foods like meats, eggs, milks and milk products, fish, nuts and seeds, and some other plant-based foods like olive oil and avocados. Only 10% of the diet consists of beans and legumes, grains, starchy vegetables, and high-sugar fruits or fruit juices (even if they’re fresh).
There are many detailed guides online that describe how to follow a ketogenic diet correctly in order to enter a state of ketosis, so I won’t discuss this in-depth here. Even if you decide against a ketogenic diet, though, it’s still extremely important to place extra emphasis on consuming healthy fats and animal products while eating the Fast Food Addiction Diet. If you’re concerned about the health implications of eating more animal products (which, in reality, if you make good product choices, these risks are limited, especially in this context), take pancreatic enzymes and ox bile to keep yourself healthy while eating animal products.
All proteins will provide some benefit to people recovering from addiction, but animal-based proteins are among the most important because these provide ideal quantities of essential and conditionally essential amino acids that are necessary for the production of neurotransmitters in the brain. In addition to these amino acids (proteins), animal-based proteins also provide other nutrients that are essential for neurotransmitter production and utilization, such as magnesium, iron (in its most bioavailable, heme form), zinc, vitamin B12, and more. While plant-based proteins certainly offer a lot of nutritional value, people who are trying to beat an addiction should prioritize animal-based proteins during the recovery period in particular since these are the most “medicinal” option.
Ideally, you should consume high-quality animal products in some form at least once daily (see above for information on what we mean by “high-quality”). This can be in the form of an omelet or hard-boiled egg, roasted chicken, some cheese on a sandwich or salad, or as yogurt with live cultures, to name a few examples. Keep in mind that it will be difficult to give your body everything it needs if you follow a vegan or strict vegetarian diet; humans do need animal products in moderate quantities in order to thrive. Later, after you’ve gained control over your addiction, you may be able to cut back on animal products if this is what your body prefers, BUT remember, you may find that your body actually prefers higher quantities of animal products. Listen to your body on this, and avoid total veganism (animal products like eggs and dairy contain essential nutrients).
Note that a vegan diet (and even some vegetarian diets that are particularly low in animal products) can, in fact, predispose people to addictive behaviors because the amino acid profile of vegan and vegetarian diets can lead to dopamine deficiency. A lack of essential amino acids like L-tyrosine is one of the causes of addiction. Click here to read more about how to use amino acid supplements to get rid of an addiction naturally.
Strategizing About Diet
What is a “diet strategy”? Each person’s strategy is likely to be different, based on things like whether or not they’re cooking for just themselves of for a whole family, whether they have to make meals on-the-go or if they spend most the day at home, as well as on budget constraints (among many, many other factors). Individual food preferences are also an important part of making a diet strategy that works over the long term. If the foods that you choose to incorporate regularly aren’t foods that you enjoy and look forward to, you won’t be able to stick to the diet. If you don’t take into account your food needs in all their various forms, it’s more likely that you’ll “relapse” on fast food and junk food. This is why it’s so important to strategize as you begin to eat healthfully.Here are some examples of things to consider, and how to strategize appropriately:
Eating Out
Do you like to eat out regularly with friends or family? While most restaurant foods in many parts of the world contain some kind of toxic or unhealthy ingredient, you can still eat out if you know what to order and how to order it. For example, in almost every part of the world, you can ask for a simple salad with only fruits and vegetables, no cheese or breads, and oil, salt, and vinegar instead of dressing (if vinegar isn’t available, ask for lemon or lime slices). While this may not be the funnest meal in your healthy eating repertoire, this is a very safe option for eating out and can make it possible to go out to eat and socialize, even while following a healthy diet without cheat days. If a boiled egg is available (make sure it’s a real egg and not boxed egg), this can be a nice addition to the salad. Another option that’s available in many places is rice with steamed vegetables. If brown rice (or any other kind of healthy grain) is available, ask for this instead of white rice. If not, white rice is an acceptable option if it’s all that’s available (that is, as long as you have your fast food addiction under control; remember, white rice can cause blood sugar spikes similar to refined sugar!). Again, you can ask for oil, vinegar, and salt for flavoring for the vegetables. Again, a boiled egg is a good addition.Dessert
This is a weak point for a lot of people. With very, very rare exceptions, you’re unlikely to find a prepackaged dessert solution in a grocery store or online, which means that if you have a sweet tooth, you’ll have to do some learning. The good news is that, once you learn the basics of healthy dessert-making, you’ll be able to whip up desserts quickly and even freeze them for later and make them in advance. Some desserts, like chocolate avocado pudding, can even double as a breakfast or lunch, since they’re so healthy and filling!Keep in mind that if you’re just starting to break a fast food addiction that your taste buds will need some time to adjust to less sweetness and somewhat more subtle flavors. Fast food is designed to be addictive and thus is flavored very strongly. Over time though, you will come to experience the healthier types of dessert as being just as decadent and emotionally satisfying, without the health risks. The more you commit to following the healthy diet, the sooner this will happen; many alternative sweeteners are actually very sweet, and some, like honey, taste almost the same as sugar when baked into desserts in the right proportion.
Snacks
How many snacks do you eat in a day? What do you like to snack on? Why do you snack? Some people snack when they’re actually hungry, others snack when they’re tired or bored, some people snack because they’re in social contexts where snacking is expected (think work parties or appetizers during family gatherings). If you’re usually hungry when you snack, your healthy snack options should have sufficient amounts of fat and protein to fill you up. If you’re tired or bored… ask yourself if you really need that snack (at first, the answer may be yes, for emotional/psychological reasons; that’s ok, as long as the snack is truly healthy and not a “cheat” snack).In social contexts, follow the same guidelines as above in the Eating Out section. Look for the fresh veggie sticks or freshly sliced fruit. If those aren’t available, indeed, some people may wonder about why you’re not eating the food available and may joke about it. Come prepared with something to say that’s short, concise, and honest, and be ready to stand your ground. Change the topic of conversation, if you can, onto something more interesting than your personal eating habits. And if it seems like it will be necessary, bring your own snack if it’s allowed, since this can help stop questioning in some cases.
Favorite Foods and Comfort Foods
Everyone has favorite foods or comfort foods that they enjoy eating on a regular basis, or perhaps as a special treat after a long day, a trip abroad, or during a particular holiday. Unfortunately, with rare exceptions, these favorite foods or comfort foods often have an unhealthy ingredient or preparation method. At first glance, this can seem incredibly depressing when you start to work with healthy eating, but as I mentioned before, once you learn the basics of healthy cooking and eating, MOST of these favorite foods can become accessible (yes, you’ll have to make them yourself, probably, BUT you’ll still get to have them, and feel good about eating them!).This should be a part of your Fast Food Addiction Diet strategy. Sit down and make a list of your favorite foods, and foods that you know are unhealthy but that you’ll miss. Are there any of these foods that stand out to you as being especially important? If so, highlight these and start finding alternative options for these foods first. Do you love fried chicken? Look up recipes for baked chicken (you can make a very respectable baked, breaded chicken with simple and healthy ingredients). Is it chocolate cake that you’ll miss? Find a chocolate cake recipe that uses healthy foods and start practicing the recipe. Do you often order Chinese or Thai food? Pick your favorite menu item and practice making it. The more recipes you have in your cooking repertoire that you look forward to eating, the more manageable healthy eating will start to be.
Meal Planning
Some people really enjoy and excel at meal planning, other people don’t. In any case, just a bit of planning can go a long ways in succeeding when it comes to changing your diet. While some people may be able to actually plan their meals in advance and then stick to this plan (if this describes you, go You!), this isn’t something that’s realistic for a lot of people. If you already know that meal planning is going to be tough, consider looking at “meal planning” in a different way.First of all, note that planning your meals (and to an extent, snacks and desserts) can make it A LOT easier to decide what to buy at the grocery store! Not only will a bit of planning save you money, it will also save you time and save you from your own impulsivity (because, if we’re being honest, supermarkets and other such stores are designed to prey on customers’ impulsivity, and indeed, this is inevitably something you’ll be working to overcome in the beginning stages of breaking a fast food addiction).
Also consider that there are many different ways to meal plan. Some people (like me) make a loose plan for what to cook fresh on each day of the week, and then mix and match these exact meals according to time constraints and other factors. Other people make all the meals for the week in advance and then freeze them for later. Still other people have a whole science down for making mason jar salads and pasta meals.
Finally, be prepared with backup meals for when your meal prep fails. This may be some amaranth pasta with olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbs, or perhaps some hastily chopped steamed veggies with a side of brown rice and a honey mustard dressing (combine honey, mustard, white vinegar, and some salt), to name a few examples. In my house, I like to always have some tomatoes and eggs available since egg curry is my fast and easy go-to meal (alternatively, I make an omelet with a side of roasted potatoes).
By planning ahead for yourself in this way, it will be far more difficult to give in to Fast Food Temptation on days when you’re tired, busy, or otherwise preoccupied.
Sample Day of the Fast Food Addiction Diet
Below is an example of what a person might choose to eat on a day following the rules outlined above. Please keep in mind, of course, that you will have to decide for yourself what kinds of healthy food sound enjoyable to you and plan accordingly, but I’ve chosen to include this section mostly to prove that eating healthy doesn’t have to be sad, boring, or cost-prohibitive.- Breakfast - Overnight oats (there are many, many recipes online that use simple, whole, and healthy ingredients)
- Lunch - Super Salad (use greens of your choosing, and then add raw nuts and seeds, sugar-free dried or fresh fruits, veggies like carrots, celery, tomato, bean sprouts, etc., hard boiled eggs, or any other similar topping that sounds good; use bad-ingredient-free goat or sheep cheese instead of cow’s cheese, if you wish, and top with a homemade vinaigrette or honey mustard)
- Snack - Cacao-covered nuts (This snack will last a long time in the fridge, so you can make it in bulk; you’ll need raw cacao powder, raw honey, sea salt, a little stevia to add some extra sweetness, if you’d like, and raw nuts of your choosing. You may also add superfoods or other spices to switch up the flavor. Don’t like chocolate? Just remove the cacao entirely.)
- Dinner - Steamed veggies with egg noodles and Thai peanut sauce (Thai peanut sauce is extremely easy to make, and only requires peanut butter, vinegar, fresh chili, some raw honey, salt, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger; make sure to check the ingredients on the peanut butter and soy sauce to avoid unwanted ingredients!)
- Dessert - Chocolate-avocado pudding
