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Tips for your cravings

INTRUDER Posts: 642 Joined: 2002/06/27	2003/01/23, 01:12 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CRAVINGS! We all seem to get them, don't we? It seems like your appetite just throws a tantrum and demands more food. Against all reason, the cravings may even hit right after a large steak dinner. Or right out of nowhere. Is there any rhyme or reason to these cravings? Scientists say yes. They've discovered that our appetites do indeed follow some underlying rules. Appetite, they say, is turned on both by what's happening outside of us--like whether someone's just offered us a doughnut--and what's happening inside our bodies--the biochemical signals between mouth, stomach, nervous system and brain. In one of the hottest new areas of research, scientists are discovering that certain foods may even trigger the desire to eat more, while other foods tend to suppress that desire. New research points to at least 10 different ways you can control the urge to eat, whenever or wherever it strikes you. Drown your appetite. "Drinking generous amounts of water is overwhelmingly the number-one way to reduce appetite," says Dr. George Blackburn, associate professor at Harvard Medical School. Reason: A lot of water takes up a lot of room in the stomach. The stomach feels full, reducing the desire to eat. Water can quell the appetite in other ways. "Many people think they're having a food craving, when in fact they're thirsty, "says Dr. Blackburn. So next time you get the urge to eat, try a cup of water instead. Aim for 64 ounces of fluids daily. Don't gulp down an entire glass at a time, as if it were medicine, or you'll never continue. Instead, sip 3 to 4 ounces at a time, throughout the day. Graze sensibly. Mom always warned us not to snack before mealtime, to avoid ruining our appetite. But nowadays, scientists are rethinking Mom's advice. Grazing means nibbling small amounts of food frequently, instead of eating just one to three large meals a day. Scientists who endorse it say grazing can keep your appetite down all day long and prevent bingeing. Nutrition specialists believe that grazing quashes the appetite because it keeps insulin levels steadier--and lower--than eating a few large meals. A large meal, especially one that's sugary and high in fat content, stimulates the body to produce lots of insulin. Its job: to remove all of those excess sugars and block the release of fats into the bloodstream. Smaller, more frequent meals, on the other hand, keep insulin and blood-sugar levels more stable, so the brain doesn't signal an urgent need for more fuel. But for grazing to be effective you have to munch the right kinds of foods: You cannot graze on M&M's, potato chips and Haagen Dazs. Your insulin levels and appetite increase. But if you graze on low-fat, high-fiber foods that aren't packed with calories--like carrots, peaches, oranges, red peppers, pasta, potatoes, oatmeal--you keep your appetite down. Soup it up. A lot of research over the years suggests that soup has the ability to turn off the appetite with far fewer calories than many other foods. In a study at Johns Hopkins University, researchers compared soup with other appetizers to see which most effectively dimmed the desire to eat. They invited 12 men to lunch for two weeks. On different days, the men received different appetizers of tomato soup, Muenster cheese on crackers, or fresh fruit. Calories in each appetizer portion were equal. Then the men were given a main course to eat. Results: Tomato soup was the most satisfying appetizer. It beat out all the others in reducing the number of calories of the entree that were consumed. The least satisfying appetizer: cheese and crackers. Soup reduced later calorie intake by 25 percent compared with cheese and crackers. Eat more complex carbohydrates. A few years ago, potatoes and pasta were forbidden foods among dieters. We were encouraged to dine on a hamburger (without the roll), with a side order of cottage cheese (nestled on a lettuce leaf). Since then, high-protein, low-carbohydrate schemes have been debunked as unhealthy, ineffective in the long run and even potentially dangerous. Foods like rice, potatoes, corn and pasta that are high in complex carbohydrates and low in fat have made a big comeback. Among their many virtues for weight watchers is their powerful ability to satisfy the appetite with fewer calories. High-fat foods don't switch off the "eat" message as effectively as foods that are high in carbohydrates. For example, take one ounce of potato chips versus a whole baked potato. Each has 160 calories, but which is more likely to fill you up? Obviously, you end up eating a lot more calories from potato chips (betcha can't eat just one!), loaded with fat, than form a baked spud (whose calories come primarily from carbohydrates) before you feel satisfied. There's yet another theory about why carbohydrates dim the appetite. It has to do with the connection between carbohydrates and the brain chemical serotonin. Serotonin is a mood enhancer, and a lack of serotonin is linked with depression. The fact that many depressed people are also overweight has led some scientists to investigate the possibility that lack of serotonin stimulates food cravings, while boosting serotonin levels reduces appetite. They've discovered that carbohydrates seem to increase brain levels of serotonin--and reduce appetite. But this research is still in the early stages. Say SI! to spicy foods. Have you ever binged on a huge plate of spicy food--like Mexican, Thai, Szechwan or Indian fare? It's nearly impossible. Those foods seem to quiet the appetite better than blander fare. One possible reason: The flavor is so intense that we don't need as much. Spicy foods also speed the metabolism. When people eat hot chili, they often sweat, a sure sign of increased metabolic rate. And the faster the metabolic rate, the more heat produced by the body. Remember, whatever warms you up, in turn slims you down. (Roger's Buffalo Wings will do this in an excellent manner! So stock up on hot peppers, horseradish, chili powder and the like. Learn to use them often, especially in place of salt. Salt does make some people eat more, perhaps by upping insulin levels, but the best reason to avoid salt is because its use often leads to high blood pressure. Feast on fiber. How does fiber satisfy? In many ways. Satisfaction begins in the mouth, and fibrous foods provide robust mouthfuls that must be chewed thoroughly. It's a natural way to slow down eating, and eating slower means eating less--the extra time lets the body know it's received fuel and doesn't need much more. Next, fiber takes up a lot of room in the stomach, and increased stomach volume reduces appetite. So the stomach feels full longer. Soluble fiber, best known for its cholesterol-cutting abilities, also dampens insulin response. Normally, after a meal, insulin levels rise to help metabolize sugar and fat. But soluble fiber keeps insulin levels lower after a meal. Richest sources of soluble fiber include barley, oat products, beans, apples, citrus fruits and root vegetables like beets, carrots and potatoes. Finally, foods that are high in fiber tend to have fewer calories in every bite, which means fewer calories consumed overall. Research at the University of Alabama shows that people eat many fewer calories on a low-calorie-density diet than a high one. Eat simply. Your mother has invited you to dinner and she's eager to please. There's freshly baked bread, a shrimp appetizer, a roast beef entree, a potato side dish, rice pilaf, noodles, fresh corn, broccoli, and raspberry pie, chocolate truffles and frozen yogurt. If you're like most mortals, you'll want to try a little of everything. Unfortunately, by the end of the meal, that may translate into a lot of food. Now imagine this: Instead of the multi-course feast, she serves a simple dinner of salad, a one-pot chicken-and-rice casserole, with raspberry pie. How likely is it that you'll overeat? Much less. Serving a wide variety of foods at one meal can cause you to eat much more. That's because each different food has its own satiety level. So after you've had as much shrimp as you want, you might still crave the roast beef. After the bread, you'll still want to try the potatoes, noodles and rice. And of course, it's nearly impossible to resist "just a taste" of every dessert. So limit entrees and side dishes to one each at every meal. And look for some one-pot meals that your family can enjoy. Outbike your appetite. Got the munchies? If you've already tried a glass of water or a high-carbohydrate, high-fiber snack, but they didn't do the trick, take a walk, ride an exercise bike, or do some other activity. Regular exercise reduces the appetite, in part by modifying the insulin response, which reduces the upward spike that has been associated with increased appetite. Exercise helps control blood sugar, leading to a steady state associated with fullness. Aerobic exercise reduces the appetite in the short run, perhaps because it heats the body. Not many people can eat a lot after exercise. In the long run, a regular exercise program increases appetite somewhat. That's because you burn up your glycogen stores more quickly. This partially offsets the appetite-dimming effects of the temperature rise. But when you step up exercise, you usually don't eat quite enough calories to make up for the amount of fat you've burned off. Provided you're on a high-carbohydrate diet, you can replenish your glycogen stores without replacing the fat you burned off exercising. Ask yourself 'why?' Before you eat, ask yourself why you want to eat. It may help you realize that it has nothing to do with hunger. Emotions are a major reason people eat. Some physician report that 85% or their patients have psychological reasons for overeating. One of the major reasons is stress. Stress makes you eat more quickly than anything else. Some people who are stressed out go for soft, creamy, comfort foods, like mashed potatoes with plenty of butter. Or they want baked foods, like a milk-and-cookies snack: It's the "nothing-says-loving-like-something-from-the-oven" syndrome.If you are turning to food in response to bad feelings, it's important to develop a strategy to feel better. Before you eat, ask yourself, 'How am I feeling about myself right now? What's happened this week to upset me? Am I eating this because I'm hungry or because I'm upset?' Know your own triggers. The sound and smell of sizzling sausage. The crunchy texture of popcorn. The sound of a can of Spam(tm) being popped open. The smell, sight, sound and even texture of foods are the most powerful triggers we have to eat--and to overeat. Sometimes we eat things because they look good, even when they aren't. Haven't we all eaten mediocre cookies, just because they looked delicious? And sometimes we eat them just because they're around. So eliminate the temptation by banishing fattening foods from the house. Our eating is so dependent on external cues that just seeing foods makes us want to eat. If someone else in the family has to have sweets or high-fat foods, ask him to hide them somewhere that you can't find them. Keeping a food record can help you identify these kinds of cues. For a couple of days, write down everything you eat and try to recall what made you start thinking about food--whether it was an advertisement or an emotion or an aroma. That helps you out-think a craving next time it happens. ---------------------------- "Get everthing you want--just make a little change now"
Carivan Posts: 8,542 Joined: 2002/01/20	2003/01/23, 05:20 PM Thanks Intruder. Good reading! -------------- The trouble with jogging is that, by the time you realize you are not in shape for it, it is too far to walk back! Franklin P. Jones Ivan Montreal Canada
INTRUDER Posts: 642 Joined: 2002/06/27	2003/01/24, 02:45 PM you bet; I got from the natural nutrition web site. -------------- "Get everthing you want--just make a little change now"