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Curb your Cravings
Are diets simply about starving ourselves or are there ways to loose weight that don’t necessarily leave us hungry and dissatisfied? It is entirely plausible that food cravings are actually responsible for weight gain; in fact food cravings have been estimated to affect a remarkable 97% of women and 68% of men.
Currently the scientific understanding of the mechanisms that lead to weight gain is evolving at an incredible rate. New ideas are becoming established while old adages like “calories in = calories out” are being scrutinized and reconsidered. One area that is the subject of considerable investigation is appetite and food cravings.
The nature and type of food that we consume is a strong determinant of our appetite. Our normal satiety signals (the signals that tell us to stop eating or the “off switch”) are easily overwhelmed by high sugar and fat foods such as ice cream or soft drink. From an evolutionary perspective we have not needed to evolve a strong “off switch” to these foods because they where, up until very recently, absent from our diet.
Food or psychoactive drug?
Refined carbohydrates such a sugar, white bread, pasta and potato chips may create food cravings by increasing a natural “feel good” hormone in our brain, serotonin. In fact binge eating in overweight individuals tends to be dominated by carbohydrates so much so that for some time binge-eating episodes have been thought to be triggered by a serotonin related “carbohydrate craving”. In the film “Super Size Me” Morgan Spurlock the star and director eats nothing but fast food for a month, during this time Morgan becomes obviously addicted to his high refined carbohydrate diet craving it constantly and feeling relief on eating the desired food, needless to say he also put on a considerable amount of body weight. While this is an extreme example it illustrates an important point, that like a drug, food can be highly addictive.
Fill up on fibre
On the other hand un-refined carbohydrate foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains are high in fibre which has the opposite effect on cravings. A recent investigation on dietary fibre found that “the addition of fibre to weight-loss diets should be considered as a tool to improve success” after finding that people who include more fibre in their diets have a lower prevalence of obesity. In support of dietary fibre a study found that supplementation with a soluble dietary fibre (psyllium 7.4 g) before a meal significantly reduced energy intake and feelings of hunger feelings after the meal.
Pass the protein please
Compared to low-fat diets, higher protein diets enhance weight loss, resulting in increased dietary satiety and decreased food intake. As it happens protein is a powerful inducer of a hormone that switches of our appetite. Instead of counting calories try eating some protein rich foods such as lean meats with your meals as studies show that you will reduce your calorie without even thinking about it.
Furthermore it has also been shown that in previously obese subjects increasing their dietary protein intake resulted in 50% lower body weight regain by controlling appetite, so it seems protein helps keep the weight off as well.
There is a fat chance you’re addicted
Unlike protein, fat has a delayed satiating effect thus promoting over-consumption because there is no “off switch”. From an evolutionary perspective it is easy to see how this would be advantageous because fat is easily stored or converted for use as energy. Unfortunately in modern society high fat foods are plentiful and contribute to the development of obesity.
Long-term over consumption of fats may affect our brain in the same way recreational drugs do. It seems that both sugars and fats cause a feeling of reward when we eat them because they increase the brains production of opioids a drug like chemical. Increased levels of opioids in-turn reinforces fat consumption and promotes overeating.
Take control
A diet that focuses on high fibre, low-glycaemic index carbohydrates such as fruits and vegetables, provides ample lean protein, modest amounts of healthful fats and minimally processed foods has the potential to enhance satiety, reduce food intake and promote weight loss and maintenance. Supplemental fibre and even protein may assist in improving satiety.
Benjamin Brown N.D.
Technical Research Officer
Health World Ltd
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