I am low-carb paleo for a few weeks now and I noticed that, after some weeks of only whole paleo foods (meat, fish, eggs, vegetables) I began to crave foods like nut puree, nut flour, chocolate (pure) and also sweet things like modern processed flour products which a high reward factor (cakes, cookies, etc.) due to it's high sugar and opioid content.

So I decided to give it a try and mixed nut flour, puree, chocolate and coconut milk together to resemble something I used to eat a lot, a cereal+milk breakfast.

While I am happy to be more satisfied with this high fat recipe, I wonder if it is healthy at all to try to mimick modern food creations.

I discovered that they give us some kind of high to endure the humiliation of the pressure modern society loads up on the individual. It is a mechanism to numb ones mind to flee from a live which often is not rewarding anymore. So we use food for reward, which is a downward spiral because high rewarding foods give much sedation, leaving us unable to stand up for resistance against tyranns, lies and injustice.

Large, hierarchically organised societies appeared, centred around villages and then cities. With the rise of civilisation and the state came socioeconomic classes, job specialisation, governments and armies.

(…)

To a very good approximation, every civilisation that came into being had cereal agriculture as its subsistence base, and wherever cereals were cultivated, civilisation appeared.

(…)

Groups led by Zioudrou (1979) and Brantl (1979) found opioid activity in wheat, maize and barley (exorphins), and bovine and human milk (casomorphin), as well as stimulatory activity in these proteins, and in oats, rye and soy.

(…)

Brostoff and Gamlin (1989:103) estimated that 50 per cent of intolerance patients crave the foods that cause them problems, and experience withdrawal symptoms when excluding those foods from their diet.

(…)

Withdrawal symptoms are similar to those associated with drug addictions (Radcliffe 1987:808).

(…)

The effects of exorphins are qualitatively the same as those produced by other opioid and / or dopaminergic drugs, that is, reward, motivation, reduction of anxiety, a sense of wellbeing, and perhaps even addiction.

(…)

Civilisation arose because reliable, on-demand availability of dietary opioids to individuals changed their behaviour, reducing aggression, and allowed them to become tolerant of sedentary life in crowded groups, to perform regular work, and to be more easily subjugated by rulers.

(Wedley & Martin)

So now you know why people can't live without there daily cakes, hot chocolates, breads rolls, cookies, cereals, etc.

As most people I grew up on those foods and was addicted to the bone.

What I see in the low-carb paleo community is the inability of most followers to just eat plain fresh, whole paleo foods like meat, fish, eggs, vegetables and some fruits without despair.

So people began to mimick neolithic, modern food creations to have more "diversity" in their diet, like low-carb cakes, cookies, breads, hot chocolates, pancakes. The list is endless.

It is interesting to see that regardless which whole foods diet people begin, (it's the same with raw foodists, whole plant diets, etc.), there is always the underlying desire to resemble modern foods, mix natural foods together so you can have a similar taste to your vanilla pudding, fruit cake, bread or other modern poisons.

But in reality it is not about diversity. In reality we can't cope with our lives when we are deprived of processed, mixed sugary, fatty foods that give us "reward, motivation, reduction of anxiety and a sense of wellbeing."

But I don't think it is just about opioids in cereals and milk. It is about every food item which contains some kind of carbohydrate mixed with fats and resembles what we eat through our childhood, which give us so much reward that we used food to endure traumatic situations our psyche wouldn't without a escape into addiction.

There is a variety of possible escapes today available, so everyone can chose from many options how he want to flee into a dream life, determined by reward without effort in the real world. Be it food, drugs, tv, games, sex, smoking, etc.

I am not yet sure how the physiologic (opioids in food, blood sugar highs and downs) and the psychologic (imprinting through childhood) aspect are combined together and which role they both play.

I think the physiologic comes first, which leads to mental addiction, because highly rewarding eating experiences are connected with emotional situations, imprinted in our brain as strong memories.

However, given the fact that paleo diets are usually free from gluten and milk products, especially processed foods, the reward factor is reduced.

There are two different possibilities:

1. Addicting foods are still aten, i.e. somebody is addicted to eggs, nuts, or uses "not really" paleo foods like coffee, sweeteners or chocolate (which, by the way, contains opioids, too)

2. The psychologic factor kicks in. Because the most addictive food groups are excluded, people try to resemble the foods which once were connected which such good feelings of reward, motivation and sense of wellbeing.

This is the only reason we see so many "low carb desserts" in the recipe community. Most people go crazy when they are confronted with the thought to never have such foods again. At least I do.

Often it seems to be a combination of both, but more concentrated on the latter.

This is something I experience at the moment, so I mimicked something like chocolate cereals with milk (almond butter, almond flour, chocolate powder, coconut milk) because I just went crazy after a few weeks whole foods low-carb without any of such foods, not even sugar.

And, surprise, surprise, I did indeed notice this rewarding feeling after eating it. It wasn't that strong and I was satiated earlier, because it was basically 80% fat, 10% protein and only 10% carbs.

Neverthless, I eat more then normally when I mimic this kind of foods.

Not only that, I also crave nuts, chocolate and fruits. I need to restric everything which contains some carbs, even vegetables. (Butter is also a problem, I think I react to the remaining opioids in it)

Could it be just carb/sugar cravings? Or indeed the attempt to mimick modern foods which shaped our personality, imprinted in our brain?

My theory is that by eating those foods, which means any processed/mixed replacements of junk food, we remain inside a prison, an invisible prison of our own unnatural desires, accrued out of negative traumatic experiences, fostered by repeated consumption and social accaptence. This prison is desired by our social leaders who need a numb and sedated society, full of people who value food so much that they don't care how cruel politics shapes our world, robbs the poor and coat our world with injustice and violence. Or as Wedley and Martin put it:

Civilisation arose because reliable, on-demand availability of dietary opioids to individuals changed their behaviour, reducing aggression, and allowed them to become tolerant of sedentary life in crowded groups, to perform regular work, and to be more easily subjugated by rulers.

There is a social reason for why it is so hard to quit those foods on an individual basis. If we do, we work against the forces who push civilization forward.

Eating whole, unprocessed paleo foods is an act of resistance against a sick, immature, opioid-suckling childish society and, if done without going back resembling those kiddie foods, breaks our prison apart and slowly, but steadily, helps us to break free from childhood trauma. This is the reason it is so hard: Suddenly there is only the harsh, cold world – and alone we have to fight for our rights, our integrity. Because without sedating foods we have to face our darkest memories like real men (and women) without crying like a child for there mother's milk and fleeing from reality and our problems, few can endure it. But this is a world where only people can thrive who faced their own demons, stopped being prey for psychopathic individuals and go on fight for themselves and their rights on a daily basis. Without hiding, without numbing.