What makes someone a food addict? Is it similar to what makes someone a drug addict? The longing for a food when you know it’s harmful to you? Being willing to go out of your way to get it and even paying a high price for it? Thinking irrationally and even acting treacherously when without it in the bloodstream? I would say my quasi-almond butter addiction is not really an addiction. Maybe it’s more of a dependence. The terms are often confused. Addiction and dependence are distinctly different but can overlap and occur together.

Nevertheless, this morning I’m well aware of the fact that I ate the last of the almond butter yesterday. I used a butter knife to pull it from its plastic container and spread it onto an apple slice. I won’t deny that I may have used my tongue to ensure no creamy goodness was left behind before I tossed the container. I will need to stop by Food Lion to get some on the way to work. My oatmeal would not be the same without it. Nor would my day.

And I don’t buy just any almond butter. It has to be the “Nature’s Promise” 4 ounce plastic jar of crunchy almond butter. The only ingredient is almonds. It’s pure deliciousness. Creamy and crunchy, fatty (but not artificially so), buttery. It must be stirred when first opened. It’s worth the effort, to mix in that top layer of natural oil. Mmm, I feel the dopamine surging in my brain just thinking about it. The way that velvety goodness coats my teeth and gums. I don’t even care if it gets stuck in my teeth.

Peanut butter is a close second. If I could only have one the rest of my life, it would be almond butter. The Nature’s Promise brand is the best. I don’t care that it’s $4.99 for a small jar. There’s no added palm oil, hydrogenated oils, salt, sugar, or any other weird food additives commonplace in the American diet.

I must get going so I have time to get it before work. I’ll get out of the house for some almond butter, but not for too many other things. As my friend says, almond butter is such good “brain food.” And I have a job that demands my brain. If almond butter gets me to work, it can’t be that bad for me. So no, I’m not an addict. Just someone who loves almond butter. And who may be slightly dependent on it.