Dangerous Doughnuts and Three Ways to De-flake Your Attachment
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Written by Bradley Abbott, Personal Coach
Bradley Abbott is known for his holistic approach to personal coaching, merging fitness training with nutritional therapeutics. Author of the e-books A How-to Guide in Developing Functional Strength, Power and Adaptability, and The Cussing Coach, both published in 2024.
This article explores how the convenience and addictive appeal of pastries and other processed foods can quietly affect our health and wellbeing. It also offers practical ways to break unhealthy food habits, regain control, and make more conscious choices for yourself and your family.
Pulmonary pastries
The food industry has been around for many, many years. With McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), and Greggs continuing to grow their respective vast empires, they have created mass convenience globally. We don’t have to worry about breakfast because they cook it, prepare it, and serve it to us faster than we can at home. Indeed, we have a seemingly endless supply of pasties, sausage rolls, pizza slices, muffins, and doughnuts at our disposal. Yet these conveniently prepared, cheap pastries are damaging our health at an increasing rate because the dopamine rush from their taste keeps us coming back for more!
It takes a lot of self-awareness and even more willpower to say ‘NO’ and never go back. It also takes a little education.
No time? No problem!
Convenience has “calmed our nerves” because we don’t have to worry about the timer in the cooker. We don’t have to worry about how we’re going to “fit it all in” and somehow get the kids ready for school. Greggs and Cooplands have already prepped hundreds of pastries for our busy morning, so all we need to do is ‘Pay ‘n’ Go’. How great is this?!
Infinitely finite
All this convenience has left us with time on our hands. Time to scroll on our phones, time to get the kids ready for school, time to check our emails, and time to get our own important errands completed. However, this convenience comes at a cost. The cost is our health! With the seemingly infinite number of pastries produced by factory workers and robots alike, the finite cap they place on our health and wellbeing becomes devastating.
It is known to one degree or another that puff pastries have a very negative effect on people’s breathing and lung capacity. They limit your ability to take in and utilise oxygen, which is necessary to produce energy for work and exercise. Consuming large amounts of pastries over a few months affects your circulatory system because your respiratory, cardiovascular, and circulatory systems are intricately linked. In layman’s terms, your blood, heart, and lungs are all connected, and what affects one inevitably affects the other. The damage happens inside your body before you see it on the outside. When the damage from these foods manifests, it shows up in the form of asthma, bronchitis, cardiovascular disease, obesity, arrhythmia, and other self-inflicted diseases. Ask yourself, is it really worth the dopamine rush?
Dangerous doughnuts
Just like other pastries that are “dangerously delicious”, doughnuts are one of those that I used to indulge in. For me, it was the caramel doughnuts with the gooey centre that was glazed with chocolate. As satisfying as it was in the moment, it was causing me problems beneath the surface. Doughnuts have an extra “layer” of harmful substances that cause issues. This “layer” is the amount of sugar within them and the syrup that goes into some of these doughnuts. If consumed regularly enough, the amount of sugar in one of these doughnuts alone is enough to increase your risk of type 2 diabetes!
Three ways to de-flake your attachment
1. Reflect on why you feel the need to indulge in this type of behaviour in the first place. Ask yourself:
Am I happy when I look in the mirror?
Does this behaviour align with the idea I have of myself?
Am I setting a good example for my kids?
Does this damage my self-esteem and confidence?
If I were to stop this behaviour, could I ask for support?
Who would I ask?
2. Think about all the money you would save in a year if you stopped purchasing these harmful products. What’s your dream holiday? What could you buy instead? Could you treat yourself or a family member to a day out with that kind of money? How much could you really save?
3. Replace the food in your cupboard. Usually, people who indulge in pastries, or buy them once a week, will have similar foods in their cupboards. The dopamine rush they can’t seem to get rid of. So, replace the food in your cupboards and take control! Are you really going to let foods control your behaviour, or are you going to flip the script?
Final thoughts
Do not let the food industry take control of your life, of who you are, or who you want to be. You have support around you. Use that support and build up the courage to ask, even if you’re not used to it, even if you’re independent and like to do things yourself. We all need the support sometimes. Take control of your life!
Read more from Bradley Abbott
Bradley Abbott, Personal Coach
Bradley Abbott is a personal coach and author. Known for his holistic approach to training, merging naturopathic principles with fitness training, he has managed to reverse his clients' symptoms almost completely and raise their energy to heights they never thought possible. He is the founder of Phoenix Phorm Online and uses these platforms to educate and inspire a larger audience.
