Food addiction is rampant in America, from more mild cases to the severe, with varying levels of psychological and physical health implications. In David Wolfe’s Sunfood Diet Success System, he writes that most people have five or six foods they are addicted to and have trouble releasing. These foods typically include bread, baked potatoes, potato chips, corn chips, popcorn, tofu, coffee and chocolate candy. Most of these foods come from hybridized plants. A hybrid is the offspring of two animals or plants of different breeds, varieties or species produced through human manipulation for specific genetic characteristics.

Wolfe explains that hybrids are unnaturally high in sugar and devoid of the proper mineral balance that wild foods contain. “Eating too many hybrids leads to mineral deficiencies in our bodies,” he says, “and causes the body to bring heavy minerals from the bones into the blood to buffer the hybrid sugar.” Wolfe further notes that hybrid sugar is not completely recognized by the liver and pancreas, and overflow spills off into bodily fluids.

Some common hybrid fruits are seedless, including apples, bananas, kiwis, pineapples, citrus fruit, grapes, persimmons and watermelons. Common hybrid vegetables include beets, carrots, corn and potatoes. Hybrid nuts, seeds and grains encompass cashews, oats, rice and wheat. Brown, white, and wild rice are also hybrids. A good way to combat the possible negative effects of these foods is to combine them with organic, green leafy vegetables, which will help decrease their effect on the body’s blood sugar.

I had no idea how bad hybrid foods were making me feel until I cleaned up my diet and began eating organic raw and living foods 16 years ago. For the first time in a very long time I began feeling really good. Instead of wanting to take a nap after eating, I felt energized. The pain and stiffness in my joints disappeared. Depression went away and my skin cleared up. It wasn’t easy for me to change a lifetime of poor eating habits, but it’s the most important thing I ever did for myself.

Addictions can be difficult to break, but it can be done. For me it took a cancer diagnosis to get my attention and prompt me to make major changes in my diet. I pinpointed what foods I was addicted to and when I most wanted to eat these foods. I found that a lot of my eating habits were based on emotions. When I was stressed out or tired, I craved potato chips, French fries and candy. When I began to replace the "bad foods" with foods that were good for me, I could feel the difference almost immediately.

As I ate better, I detoxed and began to slowly lose the cravings for the unhealthy foods. Time and again, when deciding what I was going to eat, I had to ask myself, “Is a moment of gratification on my lips worth a lifetime of disease, pain, and suffering?” I had to get in touch with the fact that everything I ate affected my overall health. I made a conscious decision to change my poor eating habits, and in return I received the best gift I could give myself—great health.

Go-To Easy Chopped Lunch This recipe is refreshing, light and completely nutritious

1 cup romaine lettuce 1 cup spinach 1 cup arugula 1 cup broccoli or sunflower sprouts ½ cup celery ½ cup red bell pepper ½ cup sprouted garbanzo beans 1 clove garlic 3 Tbsp lemon juice 1 Tbsp raw coconut oil Sprinkle Himalayan salt

Chop all of the vegetables and combine with beans, lemon juice, coconut oil and salt. Brenda Cobb is author of The Living Foods Lifestyle and founder of the Living Foods Institute, in Atlanta, offering Healthy Lifestyle courses on nutrition, cleansing, healing and anti-aging, including a therapy spa offering treatments to help detoxify, nourish and relax the body. For more information, call 404-524-4488 or 1-800-844-9876 and visit LivingFoodsInstitute.com. See ad, inside front cover.