The thought of having to lift your spirits with sweetness or other not less useful, sweets, there many. But then to get rid of cravings for sweets and fat is not always.
How to achieve it, said “Home” Mikhail Gavrilov, psychotherapist, member of the American Institute of functional medicine.
Why the brain makes to eat fatty and sugary foods
The roots are strong thrust with fatty and sweet foods you need to look for in our distant past.
Despite the fact that the lifestyle is quite different, evolutionary program still has a strong influence. For example, the daily caloric needs of primitive man was about 4000 kcal for women and 5000-6000 kcal in men.
Such high energy was justified. After all, our ancestors were incredibly agile: hunted, engaged in the gathering and sometimes held a day more than 30 km away. The easiest way to provide a fuel – consumption of sweet and fatty foods. That’s why our brain like food is the most attractive.
The lifestyle of modern urban dwellers is not so active, but still the memory of our ancestors makes itself felt every time we feel hunger. The first thing that comes to mind is to eat something sweet or salty.
In principle, in nature there are no waste products, they become as such only if we use them immoderately. Of course, we can’t in large quantities is sweet and fat, because our daily energy consumption is not so great. Moreover, the modern fatty and sweet foods is much different from that eaten by our predecessor.
It’s one thing to eat a piece of red meat, another product with gidrogenizirovanii fat. You can enjoy sweet berries and cookies with refined sugar. Taste, like, one, but the impact on the health and psyche are quite different.
Like sweet and fatty foods affects the nervous system
Food human behavior is regulated, including the so-called reward system – a complex network of neurons that is responsible for pleasure. Often, it causes a person to want something very strongly and by all means to achieve the desired. One of the promoters of this system is sweet and fatty foods. She has a so-called gustatory attraction stimulates appetite and makes us eat more.
Food manufacturers are well aware of the fact that sweet and greasy is most desirable for the consumer, and actively use these flavors for making fast food, dairy products, snacks and confectionery.
What happens when we eat food with similar tastes? The nerve cells of the gustatory apparatus, sensing the sweetness or fat to the production of opioids, including endorphins – a chemical compounds produced in the brain and bring pleasure. In addition, these substances reduce pain and stress, at least for a while. For many people, food is the most available source of pleasant emotions. That is why overeating is so often a habit.
You’ve probably met people who have enough to eat one candy or cookies. And sometimes Vice versa, and some packs are not enough. The phenomenon such behavior is associated with the development of regulatory systems located in the brain, in particular, with its frontal lobes. If it is active, all the other structures of the brain are in balance. In this case, the person is able to move away from the tray with sweets, discard fat cupcake and fried potatoes. If the balance in the brain structures no, we are more complicated “hit the brakes” and to manage their feeding behavior. Often the activity of the cortex of the frontal lobes of the brain is reduced in case of trauma, poor sleep, alcohol abuse, attention deficit disorder.
How to resist craving for sweet and fatty
If you balance the activities of different calving brain, then consider that half the job is already done. You will regain control over their behavior and reduce the degree of food addiction.
Sleep enough – at least 7-8 hours, this will maintain adequate blood circulation in the brain.
Maintain stable blood sugar levels. Eat often and gradually. The system of control fails more often if the level of blood sugar low. Increase it at the expense of complex carbohydrates, lean proteins and healthy fats.
Pay tribute to the time of exercise. In Japan the study was conducted, which shows that 10 minutes of the session ping-pong greatly increase the supply of the frontal lobes of the brain with oxygen and nutrients.
Set a clear goal. The frontal cortex is involved in the planning – it needs clear instructions.
Don’t forget about the daily pleasures for yourself. They should not be associated with food. It may be work, sport activities, crafts, body treatments. Most importantly, pay them at least 15-20 minutes a day.
