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Got a Craving? Forget
Moderation
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Just a tiny taste of a treat and you’ll be able to put the craving out of your head for good, right?
Nope. Leave the ice cream carton in the freezer. Put the bag of mini chocolates down. Don’t even look at them. In a study, just one taste of a treat
triggered more indulgences a mere 25 minutes later.
Appealing Picks
Once people had a taste of an indulgence -- such as a chocolate truffle -- it awakened a need for more goodies. And things snowballed. They started
craving things like ice cream, pizza, and potato chips. And only once the urge to indulge had been satisfied did the study participants focus once again on
healthy foods like carrots, whole-wheat bread, low-fat yogurt, and pears.
How do you crush a chocolate craving? Use your feet…Literally. A walk worked wonders for a small group of chocoholics. When compared with a couch-
potato group, the chocoholics experienced a major drop in chocolate cravings after only 15 minutes of putting one foot in front of the other.
Keeping the Pace
It’s a concept that’s gaining clout. Other research has shown that exercise (link to http://www.dolkarwellness.com/services2) reduces cravings for
alcohol and cigarettes, too, by stimulating the activity of feel-good brain chemicals. This is the first study to apply the concept to chocolate cravings.
Keep your pace moderately brisk and you may stifle that craving for up to 10 minutes after the walk. And by then, your thoughts should have moved on!
For Raging Cravings . . .
Everyone craves comfort foods now and then. Just don’t act on those urges every time. Try these strategies for nipping a case of the munchies in the bud:
1. Eat an egg breakfast. Not only are eggs a good protein source, but they may help you pass up junk food later in the day, too. Eggs already have been
reinstated as a health food and have been cleared of upping heart attack and stroke risk. Now there's evidence that people who scramble, boil, or poach
one for breakfast -- versus eating a bagel with the same number of calories -- bypass junk-food cravings and eat fewer calories for at least 24 hours,
without even trying.
Thanks to what turned out to be a bad cholesterol rap, you may have avoided eggs for years. But eggs have always been a good source of nutrients and
protein. And for reasons that aren't completely clear, it turns out that they make the body feel fuller longer. In one study, people with weight problems
who started the day with an egg were still eating fewer calories than normal by lunch the following day. You know that line about "the incredible, edible . .
."? Looks like the jingle writer had a clue.
2. Eat your three squares. When you skip meals, your taste buds will have a yen for the sweet and salty.
3. Grab a bit of whole-grain, sprouted bread and olive oil. The fats in olive oil turn off your hunger. That's because olive oil is rich in a special appetite-
controlling kind of fat. Wow, a fat that may help with weight control! That's something to write home about.
Olive oil contains oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat. Upon reaching the small intestine, oleic acid triggers the production of oleoylethanolamide (OEA),
another fatty substance. OEA then finds its way to nerve endings that carry a hunger-curbing message to the brain. And that message is loud and clear:
"Hey. Stop eating! You're full!!" Researchers are hoping that new appetite-suppressing drugs using OEA will be developed to reduce obesity.
Eat the Good Fat First
Choosing healthy-fat appetizers may help you eat less, lose weight. If you're trying to watch your weight, you don’t have to forgo appetizers altogether. In
fact, choosing the right starter before your meal may actually help you eat less overall. So don’t deprive yourself of that fresh whole-grain bread and
olive oil the next time a waiter brings it to your table. It may be your diet’s best friend.
Eating a small amount of healthy unsaturated fat -- think olive oil, nuts, and avocado -- before a meal triggers a chain reaction in your digestive system
that slows the rate at which your stomach empties, which means you feel fuller faster. It also helps keep your blood sugar levels from spiking after your
meal and makes it easier for your body to absorb fat-soluble nutrients, such as vitamins A, D, E, and K, as well as lycopene and lutein.
So ditch the chips and instead try some of some delicious healthy-fat appetizer recipes (link to Zesty Pesto Spread listed below).
So….why splurge on sweet and salty rather than green and crunchy?
That supersize bag of chips and gallon of caramel-swirl ice cream didn't just jump into your grocery cart. So what happened? There may actually be a
very scientific reason why the jumbo bag of frozen Brussels sprouts didn't leap into your cart instead, especially if you were shopping while hungry.
Sweet and Salt Sensitive
In a study, researchers recently tested healthy men's ability to taste salty, sweet, and bitter solutions. Turns out that when the men had skipped a meal,
their taste buds were more tuned-in to sweet and salty flavors, but not so much the bitter ones -- think broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and lots of other
veggies.
Researchers suspect that our bodies may have been hardwired since ancient times to associate "sweet" and "salty" with "safe to eat," so these flavors may
be more likely to trigger eating, especially when the body needs energy.
Hunger-Control Central
Now that you understand the craving, maybe you'll have more willpower the next time the candy aisle is calling. Here's another way to control your
eating habits: Eat three square meals a day, plus a snack so you never get ravenous.
More Ways to Eat Less
Taking too many trips to the fridge? Stop yourself in your tracks with these tips:
Work out an appetite. With regular aerobic exercise, you may consume fewer calories.
Here's a little known secret for curbing your appetite: red pepper. Red pepper, when eaten early in the day, decreases food intake later in the day. Try
adding a little to your egg-white omelet in the morning. The capsaicin in red pepper may get the credit for decreasing appetite. The heat-giving ingredient
appears to stop sensory information in the intestine from reaching the brain. It basically kills -- or stuns -- the message that you're hungry. Capsaicin may
also give your metabolism a boost.
For a breakfast that will really fire you up, add cayenne, hot red peppers, or jalapeno peppers to a frittata. These hotties all contain Capsaicin.
More ways to Curb your Appetite
Munch on apples or pears or any fiber-rich fruits or veggies with a high water content. They help fill you up for relatively few calories -- so you eat less
overall.
So ditch the chips and instead try some delicious healthy-fat appetizers
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