How To Stomp Out Carbohydrate Cravings

January 14, 2008

You know what? I’ve noticed something…

Late at night, I’m usually watching one of my favorite TV shows. (Last night that should have been the season premier of 24, but it’s on hold due to the writer’s strike. GRRRRRR… No wonder I’m in a bad mood!!)

Anyway, the thing I’ve noticed is the kind of commercials that run after 9 or 10:00. It’s all food! If it isn’t KFC tempting me with fried chicken and mashed potatoes, it’s Olive Garden and a mouth watering pasta dish. Or Hardees with their heart attack on-a-bun giant sandwiches that just look so stinking good….

Next thing I know my stomach is growling and the fish fillet I had for dinner seems long gone. Suddenly, a cheese stick and an apple just won’t cut it. I need something greasy and loaded with carbs and I need it now!!

Maybe late night isn’t your problem time. Maybe it’s mid afternoon. Hopefully, if you’ve been following Dr. Scott’s advice and eating every two hours, you’re at least not getting genuinely hungry during those times.

But still, the overwhelming desire for chocolate or mashed potatoes or chips or … you get the point… can derail your efforts faster than Britney Spears can kill a music career.

But never fear – Dr. Scott is here! And he has an answer to the gnawing, the growling… the merciless craving that threatens to hijack your diet.

You see, the cravings you have actually mean something.

Your body craves carbohydrates because carbohydrates actually will take the place of missing or low brain chemicals. Read that again. Carbohydrates stand in for many of the chemicals in your brain that tell us we are full.

Brain chemicals, also called neurotransmitters, play many roles. There are neurotransmitters that make you feel focused and alert (dopamine/norepinephrine), others that make you feel relaxed (serotonin), still others that help you sleep (melatonin), and others that reduce pain (endorphins).

Carbohydrates, chocolate, and other foods can temporarily fill the need if these chemicals are missing The only problem with using these foods instead of these brain chemicals is that it is only a temporary fix. The sweets we eat fill the bill for a while, but then there is the crash. After eating, you feel fine, but pretty soon you feel tired, worn out, depressed.

All the above brain chemicals: serotonin, melatonin, endorphins, dopamine, and norepinephrine need protein to be manufactured.

When we restrict calories, these neurotransmitters fail to be made, ensuring that the body will fall into craving mode. We don’t crave the neurotransmitters, though; instead we crave carbohydrates, because they are easy and abundant. What we use are the quick fixes to fill the need, the sweets, the donuts, the bagels, the French fries; all of these fill the need, but not for long.

So in order to stomp out cravings, we need to manufacture enough of these vital brain chemicals naturally. And we do that by eating more protein.

Today’s action plan, therefore, is to stomp out cravings by eating more protein.

How much protein is enough? Can you get too much? Good questions! We’ll be discussing the answers to them in our upcoming FREE webinar. If you haven’t signed up yet, you’re running out of time!