So on my Facebook page I started a discussion. Here is the gist, it comes in three parts. Part one, we have a Heroin epidemic at least here in my state. Part two the State created it by going postal on Doctors a growing number of whom refuse to prescribe narcotic pain medication anymore, under any circumstances. Part three, the Narcan cycle. Heroin user OD's, get's Narcan (it's being given away all over the place) and with a a little CPR (if the heart stops) is back up and going again in a few minutes. Police are not making arrests when they administer Narcan, because, and this is sad, if they were, the other junkies would just let the guy who OD'd die rather than risk a bust.

So the discussion was about this rather broad topic, that I am frankly mixed over.

Somehow the discussion became a personal attack against myself, yes I have faced my demons in life. I have not had an easy one.

Okay, now for the question. The comment was made, by several people, that a RNY GB is nothing more than treatment for an addiction, that left untreated would kill me, food. I don't feel this is right. I deleted the post as it had gone straw man by then and I am not getting into that. But I do not see myself as addicted to food. I did not move enough, and ate the wrong foods without a thought about quantity or quality, and I cannot fight my genes, everyone in my family is obese.

So what say you, was that an accurate, if harsh description of a GB it is simply Narcan for a food addict?

Let's see, if we are addicted to food, what happens if we just stop eating? In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, death. In adults complete starvation leads to death within 8 to 12 weeks. What happens to a heroin addict, if they stop taking heroin? They go into withdrawal, then their body recovers. [Heroin craving can continue years after drug cessation. Detoxification alone is not treatment—it is merely the first step towards full recovery.] So from my perspective eating is a natural process and not an addiction.

That probably leads to the next question - Is overeating an addiction? Using the logic above, it seems like it might be. If we stop overeating, then our body returns to normal weight. The problem, just like an addiction, is that it is darn difficult or next to impossible to stop overeating. It is even programmed in our genes. Throughout human history, man has faced times of famine. Millions have died of starvation over the ages. The extra fat on the body provides a buffer to provide energy to our bodies during times of major sickness, injury or starvation.

In my case I don't believe I have a food addiction and the answer to your question is no. I lost a lot of weight on my own a few years ago but gained about 50 lbs of it back because I got hurt while trying to get off a mountain summit during a thunderstorm.

Due to my PCOS, I have to work out at an intense level 6-7 days a week and keep my calories at 1200/day and I just couldn't do it with the extra 50 pounds. My body was working against me with the increase in hormones from the PCOS and due to my age, I simply couldn't lose the weight again. The surgery was my tool to aid me to lose the weight.

I think it can be a behavioral addiction for some people, but probably not a substance addiction (like drugs). Although behavioral addictions can be just as strong - compulsive gambling is a behavioral addiction, too. Although there seems to be a lot of disagreement about this. Some people say there's really no such thing as food addiction - but others insist there *is*. And on top of that, people define it differently, which makes it even more confusing...