Gary Wilson of Your Brain on Porn has a new video available (here’s my post about his original series of videos).
I think this is a must watch for anyone interested in food addiction. Given that drives for food and sex are similar from an ancestral perspective, the parallels between internet porn and industrial food (wrt novelty, desensitization, and compulsion) are compelling IMO.
Weight Maven is written by Beth Mazur. Beth believes that obesity is more symptom than cause and that the real problem is our Western diet -- especially sugar, refined grains, and industrial oils. Beth writes about nutrition, ancestral health & food policy. And cats! 
While I do think there are some interesting parallels between compulsive porn abuse and binge eating disorder(s), there are some serious consequences for former obese people (re: metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance and glucose tolerance) in relation to life-long hormonal dysregulation (most notably, leptin sequelae) which are not experienced long term (for decades, for instance) by former porn users. In other words, we (former obese individuals) may quit “using” industrial foods that made some of us get fat, but our bodies, including our brain biochemistry-in most cases-do not return to “normal” baseline function. Thus, we are not restored to any condition resembling the physiology of never-been-obese. Instead, we are left needing hormonal supplements that are as essential for “normal” functioning as insulin is essential to a Type 1 diabetic. Unfortunately, because formerly obese people are seen as having an addiction-type problem (rather than a complex endocrine disorder that does NOT simply go away with long-term abstinence), research and appropriate treatment are still (probably, very sadly) many decades away from becoming a reality. The obesity-associated illnesses (such as T2diabetes) may appear to be arrested after weight loss, but the pathological endocrine problems (including dementia as mentioned in Lustig’s video) can continue indefinitely, unseen. As long as we keep framing the problem as weight-loss fixable (the belief that abstaining will restore normalcy), we will never realize the terrible disservice this does to our entire culture-as a result of false beliefs and bad (non scientific) analogies.
Sorry you feel this analogy does a “terrible” disservice. I disagree. I think it’s important to consider that, for some of us at least, modern foodstuffs affect the appetite control centers of the brain in a way that makes a lot of sense from an evolutionary perspective.
If removing these foodstuffs and substituting a nutrient-dense diet can help reverse MS, then what might it do for the current or formerly obese? That’s my current approach, coupled with what I think is the right type of exercise as well as efforts to reduce stress and improve my sleep.
I am with you that simply abstaining from problematic foodstuffs is insufficient to resolve baseline function, especially for those of us dealing with this for decades. I do not expect to ever return to the physiology of the never-obese. But I do suspect that given the right environment, the body can and does make major strides towards healing.
I’m suggesting that weight loss is only the first part of an effective treatment protocol. I believe that most formerly obese people will continue to struggle with endocrine related issues long after we lose weight. As long as we have excess fat cells that are shrunken (to use nonscientific terminology), we will continue to experience low leptin related problems. I say this as someone who is maintaining a 130 lb loss, as someone who abstains from modern food stuffs (with the exception of 90% chocolate and a small amount of maize.) My metabolism is broken-I can’t lose more weight even on 1200 calories a day-I simply become extremely lethargic and COLD. I’ve resigned myself to this because it is FAR better than having diabetes and heart disease and neuropathy, etc. However, although I agree that “the body can and does make major strides towards healing”, I do not expect my body to overcome the genetic or epigenetic vulnerabilities that caused me to be so sensitive to a higher carb/higher sugar modern diet in the first place. Those issues remain. I do wonder, also, how much better my health could have become by now if I had understood (at 20 or 30 years of age) what I understand finally, today, in my fifties. Thanks for discussing these issues so intelligently and for continuing to pursue better answers! Peace be with you! :)
I think we’ve barely touched the implications of epigenetics. A while back, Doug McGuff speculated that those who were the most damaged by our modern lifestyle might benefit the most from restoring more appropriate signalling. Intriguing thought.
I’m kicking myself as well for not knowing this in my mid-30s (when I lost 120lbs and my skin was able to rebound nicely). Now in my 50s, I’m at 130 lost with alas, still more to go. Call me a cockeyed optimist, but I believe that given the right conditions, the body *will* respond. Now what those conditions are, well, that’s the $64 million dollar question!
There have been low dose leptin drug trials (administered sub q, similar to insulin injections for type 1&2 diabetes) for people with lipodystrophy and for women with hypothalamic-induced PCOS diagnoses, but not for people who have lost weight and are trying to maintain (as far as I know. If this changes, I’m prepared to invest BIG, because I think it would be HUGE in terms of profit. Ugh.) In one of Dr. Sharma’s posts, he discussed this leptin-as-post-weight-loss drug (maintenance) problem as one of bureaucracy: apparently, there is no current method to apply to FDA (or to Canadian drug approval agency) for drug trials for any condition (such as post weight loss maintenance) that is supposedly benign (non pathological). Post weight loss is seen as non pathological, or “normal.” Ha! (Not my experience.) Unfortunately, we who are formerly obese know from personal experience (or we eventually learn during our post weight loss maintenance) that low leptin related signalling problems continue to create serious difficulties for many people…such as extreme hunger, and/or symptoms similar to low thyroid, as in my case, and other related issues, which is a primary reason for such HIGH rates of regain even under extremely cautious dietary/exercise protocols (some believe it is caused by a leptin resistance issue, but I do not-for reasons too complex to discuss here). Anyway, my science background (BS in nursing) has helped me sort out a lot of this *stuff*. I sure wish the medical professionals and diet specialists would get a clue. *sigh* But they seem to think the problems are caused by psych issues…and can be managed with careful diet, etc. I wish. Currently, I’m trying to research (online) possible leptin precursors in the form of natural substances (amino acids). Good chatting with you again!
Keep us posted. I’m not yet convinced that exogenous leptin is required for weight loss maintenance. As you say, since that’s not currently an option, I’m hoping I’m right!