Category Archives: Cravings

Cravings and Emotional eating

I wanted to compile a few of the posts I did on cravings and emotional eating on my Facebook page, in one place so I could direct my clients and followers to one place of reading, I really hope you all find this somewhat helpful and put some of the tools herein into practice!

That leads us to the ’emotional level’.

It has been recognized that there are certain feelings or emotions that connect to cravings of certain foods, being aware of this can help you understand your cravings better and better deal with your emotions.

They are as follows;

• crunchy snacks like crisps and crackers can connect to chronic underlying anger issues
• cravings for high-fat food stemmed from chronic fear, tension, anxiety and depression
• ice cream ‘soothes’ depression with its creamy texture
• the number one food craving, chocolate, contains the same chemical the brain creates when we feel romantic love, meaning women in particular may crave chocolate because it creates the feeling of being loved. Chocoholism may be a cry for love, intimacy and romance. It’s the perfect antidepressant for the lovesick.
• burnout or fatigue from pushing yourself too hard might cause you to crave the stimulating effect of red meat or sharp cheese
• loneliness, stress and emotional distress drive cravings or the want for alcohol
• chewy or crunchy foods like cookies, M&M’S and crackers can also signify stress or frustration
• feelings of loneliness, emptiness or sadness can cause cravings of pasta and pizza 🍕 

Studies suggest every food corresponds to a certain mood or emotion. In 1982 the American university professor Bernard Lyman asked 200 people to imagine themselves experiencing various emotions, including anger, loneliness and joy, and at the same time asked them what food they’d like to eat.
They indicated strong preferences for desserts when feeling happy and loving, but when anxious they wanted snack foods, both of the healthy and junk variety.

Each food is craved because it has amino acids, neurochemical catalysts, or vasoconstriction catalysts, which will energize your body or soothe your brain chemicals, making you feel better ‘for a short time’.

How to assess your sugar or junk food cravings.

We crave sugar for three reasons:

1️⃣ When we need more motivation/dopamine/self-worth
2️⃣ When we have depleted our energy sources
3️⃣ When we feel stressed or unsafe.

So next time you reach for a cookie or chips – check in and ask yourself:

• How have I managed my food/energy levels today?
• Am I craving sugar because I’m hungry?
• How stressed have I been this week?
• Have I done anything to help myself mange my stress?
• Am I using sugar to help me cope?
• Has my self-esteem been affected by something today?
• What can I do that would leave me feeling rewarded/accomplished/motivated?
• Is sugar replacing the reward of achieving something?
• Am I happy?
• What is making my heart ache? When you feel a binge or craving or bout of emotional eating come on – stop and take a moment to focus on these questions. Focus on deep breathing, quiet your thoughts and become present in what’s going on. Then figure out what else you could do to distract yourself and make yourself feel better;
  Go for a walk
  Massage essential oils on your temple and neck
  Foam roll
  Practice some yoga poses
  Call a friend
  Or whatever it is that doesn’t involve food. 🙂Changing this pattern in your brain allows you to connect new brain neurons and create new habits and skills for times of struggle that benefit you rather than making you feel worse.

There is a neurological, biological, and emotional basis under our cravings.

There are also some nutrient and mineral deficiencies that have been connected to emotional eating….

They are;
– Magnesium
– Zinc
– Iron
– Calcium
– Sodium
– B12 and B6

These vitamins have also been associated with feelings of sadness, anxiety and shaking or tremors.

So staying on top of our bodies nutrient needs is going to benefit us on many levels but also help us manage cravings and emotions a bit better.

This post was compiled to help you reflect on what might be driving your cravings and emotional eating. I hope you find it somewhat helpful. One book that I highly recommend if you want to delve more into the world of emotional eating is “Constant cravings” by Doreen Virtue. Its a good read that gives lots of insight into why we may be craving a certain food. 🙂

Why we want to avoid fat and carb combos

Aw man I really feel like the bad guy when I tell people to avoid doing this if health and fat loss is their goal but in my defense, I say it to help people. 🙂

I have spoken about this before but it’s time to help you really understand WHY, a bit more in depth.

So for us to first look at this topic we must first understand what ‘lipopolysaccharides’ are.
Lipopolysaccharides or LPS are bacterial toxins that can cause inflammation and a host of other health issues, and they’re normally housed in the gut, but they can become toxic if they enter the blood through infection or through a leaky gut. LPS’s are also found on the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria, including things like E. coli and Salmonella. We all have some amount of LPS in us but how healthy you are can depend on the amounts you have.

So, you can get a ton of LPS’s if you are infected with a bacteria or parasite or have a terrible diet. And these LPS’s can really induce a host of inflammation, damage cells and drive dis-ease in the body. Studies have found is that a high saturated fat diet can significantly increase LPS levels. And in addition to that, if the saturated fats are consumed in the presence of a high amount of carbohydrates, particularly starchy or sugary carbohydrates, a so-called high-fat, high-carb meal, LPS levels can skyrocket.

Studies have also compared high-fat, high-carbohydrate meals that are derived more of plant origins, like monounsaturated fats from extra virgin olive oil. And we don’t see that elevation in LPS’s anywhere near to the extent that we would see them after a meal rich in saturated fats and carbs. There is still an elevation but not as much. 🧐

So now we know what lipopolysaccarhides are and how their levels increase with the combination of fat and carbs…why else should we avoid this combination of foods?

Also when you process carbohydrates in your gut in the presence of fats —> the fat creates a coating around the carbs and they both travel around the body delivering inflammation, oxidation and glycation (which causes aging and tissue damage). So the fat gets used as a delivery system for the carbs which become inflammatory in your bloodstream 🤓

What is “disordered eating” and how might it be effecting you? – Th HETA guide add on

Ever heard of disordered eating? Well the concept has been around quiet a while but has only recently got more attention as intermittent fasting grew in popularity. “Disordered eating” is not the same as “eating disorder” in that disordered eating is a term used for unhealthy eating habits and their correlation to body image, that are not as “extreme” as having an eating disorder would be.

I see this in several of my clients and what i see, to help you understand more, is — they will have a lot of irregular timed eating or an erratic eating schedule and this can throw their whole sense of routine and circadian rhythm off. It is this type of disordered eating that we will look at in this post… This irregular eating pattern can decrease metabolism because their bodies expect food at specific times, and the result can be dysregulated appetite and messed up metabolism.

I find that in a lot of my clients, they do very well with structure and routine, especially women, as I feel women have a lot more demands on them (no sexism implied, just stating what I see) and having structure helps reduce stress and keep all our ducks in a row, as they say. And my most successful clients DO have structured eating…they have set times when they eat and stick to those times as much as possible. *They also eat very simply but that’s another post.

Some people can do fine on an irregular eating schedule but many will not.

Research suggests that having a regular eating schedule can improve your metabolic response to meals, particularly in women. So, if you’re struggling to lose body fat… rather than having sporadic meal times like; skipping your first meal some days and eating it on others, having dinner late some nights and early the other nights, or hopping from restaurant to restaurant for your lunch choices, you might benefit more by simply establishing structured meal patterns and stick to them as much as possible.

Women and irregular meal timing — A study done on  healthy normal weight women found that an irregular meal pattern resulted in lower postprandial energy expenditure or thermic effect of food, than a regular meal pattern….so they had a lower metabolic increase after eating and had a higher glucose response.

Lower hunger and higher fullness ratings were seen pre-meal and post-meal during the regular period

https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/104/1/21/4633920

Another study where lean women who ate meals on a regular schedule had much better insulin sensitivity and improved blood triglycerides.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15220950

If your struggling with health and fat loss, this could be something to think about, right?!