By in Nutrition

No Willpower? No Wonder!

Many of us overeat, and we know it. Waistlines are ever expanding, the numbers of people affected by obesity, diabetes and heart disease are going up. We are told that it’s our own fault: As long as the number of calories we burn is higher than the number of calories we take in, we will not gain weight and should even lose some. All that matters are calories, not their source. We can eat anything we want, in moderation. “Eat less, move more!” Still putting weight on … well, that’s our own fault then. We’re just too lazy and eat too much.

But it’s not that simple. We are genetically wired to like or even love certain flavours: sweet foods, fat foods, salty foods. When we evolved, sugar and salt were hard to get hold of. Early humans would only have had access to the sugar in fruit and only when it was in season. Maybe, if lucky, early man might have come across some honey from wild bees, but that was it. We don’t exactly need sugar, because the body creates glucose in the digestion of carbohydrates, but it is a handy energy source when it can be found. We need sodium, if not in the quantities that we consume today. Most natural foods contain small quantities of it, with the best sources being meat, blood and seafood. Salt wasn’t easy to track down, so as an incentive to find it, the brain made humans like it. Fat, too, is required for proper nutrition: It supplies energy, every cell membrane is made from fat, our brains are 60% fat and fats are required to make many of our hormones.

In order to live humans must eat and the body will ask for sustenance by sending us hunger. If we’re hungry, we’ll go and find food. But the brain has an extra trick in its bag to encourage us to go looking for special treats – such as salt and particularly sugar: the reward system. Certain foods boost the production of the neurotransmitter dopamine. As dopamine binds to receptors in the brain, we experience pleasant feelings – our reward. So, food doesn’t just fill our stomachs, make hunger go away, and nourish us, it also gives us pleasure.

The food industry is aware of that and puts a lot of time and money into researching neurotransmitters and neurological pathways, hormones and satiety/hunger signalling. It doesn’t just want us to buy their products, but it wants us to come back time and time again for more. Another biological mechanism comes in handy here: The more our brain cells are exposed to dopamine, the more tolerant (resistant) they become. Now, we need more dopamine to achieve the same effect we did before with less.

Does that remind you of the characteristics of addiction? When a young person has alcohol for the first time, they will feel tipsy quickly or even be sick. Prolonged exposure increases tolerance: They can now drink more before feeling drunk and without getting sick. Indeed, certain recreational drugs – alcohol, nicotine, cocaine – also stimulate dopamine production and increase tolerance: The more we have, the more we want, and the faster the pleasant feeling wears off, making us crave yet more again.

The holy grail in the manufacture of new ‘foods’ is the ‘bliss point’ – the perfect combination of fat, salt and sugar, improved by the addition of flavourings and flavour enhancers – makes products irresistible and we are likely to crave the next serving before we have even finished the one we are currently eating. When does that ever happen with an apple or broccoli?

As if that wasn’t enough, blood sugar fluctuations also contribute to cravings: If we have a meal or snack that is high in sugar, blood sugar levels shoot up. As too much sugar in the blood is toxic, insulin is released to reduce it. Insulin works – at least in non-diabetics – very effectively, so much so that blood sugar levels now drop too low. At these low points, the brain will send us signals: cravings, to encourage us to go and find more sugar.

Moreover, modern food products are soft and dissolve quickly in the mouth, which means that chewing is barely required. If we eat a natural diet, which is high in fibre, we have to chew for a while before we can swallow, signalling to the brain that we are actually eating. If food goes down too easily, it will take considerably longer for us to get the signal that we are full.

So you think that you don’t have any willpower? You are fighting your body chemistry, which has a very powerful set of weapons, which is impossible to resist. The good news is that is in your hands to get on top of it:

#1 Do the ‘Broccoli Test’

When you feel the urge to eat, stop for a minute and check whether broccoli (or an apple) would satisfy you. If it would, you’re hungry. If it wouldn’t you are experiencing a craving.

#2 Ride the Wave

If you are hungry, eat. If you are just craving sugar/fat/salt, wait 5 minutes. Imagine the craving like a wave that will rise, but then break and fall. It’ll pass.

#3 Balance Blood Sugar

Remove refined sugar from your diet and focus on just small amount of unrefined carbohydrate foods (e. g. wholegrain bread, brown rice, porridge oats) that release their glucose slowly. Always eat protein alongside carby foods, and don’t go without food for too long. If you can balance your blood sugar levels, you avoid sudden drops and the accompanying cravings.

#4 Eat Real Food

Processed foods are designed for us to get hooked on them. The American food writer Michael Pollan says: “Eat all the junk food you want … as long as you cook it yourself”, and I couldn’t agree more. If you buy your own ingredients and cook your own burgers, curries, Chinese and Thai dishes, bake your own biscuits and cakes, you cannot go far wrong.

If you can turn your back on processed foods you will before long find that you no longer need, nor miss them.

Melanie
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