Addicted to Cheese?

Hmmmmm....why do I like and crave cheese so much? This article explains it well. I need to break this addictive cycle.

From CNN online.

Many people say they could never be vegans because they can't give up cheese. Why is cheese so addictive? Dr. Barnard explains that a major source of addictive compounds in cow's milk is casein. Casein is a protein made from a long chain of amino acids. About 87% of the protein in cow's milk is casein.

When we digest milk or other dairy products, not all of the casein is broken down into individual amino acids. Some of it breaks down to short chain proteins, each containing several amino acids. These short chain proteins are called casomorphins, and they are addictive compounds. Nature designed it so calves would be addicted to food: to their mother's milk.

Cheese is basically concentrated cow's milk. When we eat cheese, we get a big hit of these addictive opiates. Have you ever eaten a large amount of cheese and been constipated afterward? The constipation was caused by the narcotic effect of the casomorphins. We are not calves, and we should not be drinking cow's milk or eating cheese.


Think about the foods you can't resist. Are they whole plant foods? Probably not. Nobody ever got in the car and drove to the 7-Eleven or a fast food restaurant at 11 pm to buy a head of cauliflower or a can of black beans, did they? 

Think about the foods you can't resist. Maybe you are addicted. Hmmmm....like I said I know for me it is Cheese and probably Sugar too. For my husband I know it is Meat. I think we may be eating a lot less cheese, sugar, and meat soon in order to propel the health journey along. 

Neal Barnard, MD, author of Breaking the Food Seduction, names four common foods or food groups that are addictive:

• Chocolate
  
  
• Cheese
  
  
• Sugar
  
  
• Meat

Do any of those ring a bell for you?