Stop Craving Sugar and Grains
By Dr. Mercola
Your body is designed to naturally regulate how much you eat and the energy you burn. Part of how this occurs is through the release of the hormones ghrelin and leptin.
When you eat a sugar dessert, for instance, your body increases production of leptin, which regulates your appetite and fat storage. Ghrelin, on the other hand, is known as the “hunger hormone” because people given the hormone in a study on grehlin became so ravenous, they ate markedly more than their usual food intake.
Ghrelin appears to act on your brain’s “pleasure centers,” driving you to reach for another slice of cheesecake simply because you remember how good the first one tasted and made you feel (at least in that moment).1
Between the appropriate releases of ghrelin and leptin, the idea is that when you eat, your body knows it should feel less hungry and you stop eating. There are many confounding factors that may derail this system, however.
When insulin is impaired (such as in the case of insulin resistance), for instance, ghrelin levels remain elevated even after meal consumption a condition that leads to chronic hunger (mostly for unhealthy carbs), excess food intake and undesirable weight gain.
Your mind (and mood) also influence your food cravings, as do junk foods created with the intention to hook you and encourage you to eat more.
How to Zap Emotionally Driven Food Cravings
Many food cravings are emotionally based. If you turn to a bowl of ice cream or a pizza when you’re stressed out, lonely, angry or sad (or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, when you’re excited or happy), you can become conditioned to seek unhealthy foods every time you experience these emotions.
Meanwhile, if you maintain negative thoughts and feelings about yourself while trying to take physical steps to improve your health and beat your cravings, you’re unlikely to succeed.
If you’re an emotional eater, or if you experience guilt or other negative feelings in relation to food, I highly recommend using the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). EFT is simple, effective and can rapidly help you eliminate your food cravings naturally. In the video below, EFT practitioner Julie Schiffman demonstrates how to use EFT to fight food cravings of all kinds.
Sources and References
- 1 Biol Psychiatry. 2010 May 1;67(9):880-6.
- 2 Nature April 27, 2015
- 3 Science Daily April 27, 2015
- 4 New York Times February 20, 2013
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