Health: Sweets and Cravings
I am often ridiculed by my mom (who has called me a “piggy” in public) for constantly watching the Food Network. My eyes seriously glaze over whenever there are dessert specials. I want to adopt Paula Deen into my family. Food Network’s Chocolate Week and Holiday specials? I refuse to watch anything else. That’s why these tips on how to stop craving sweets kind of hit home.
Some of the article is a little “out there” (”try getting Gymnema Sylvestre leaves and chewing a pinch of them thoroughly” …yeeeeah. I’ll just, y’know, grab ‘em from my Gymnema Sylvestre tree.), but it offers a lot of tips that are actually common sense, such as getting rid of sweets in your pantry (making it harder for you to give in), replacing refined sugar with honey, and reading labels. I usually try to read labels of all the things I eat, especially yogurt–sometimes there can be as much sugar in yogurt as in a can of soda!
On a related note, this is an excellent (and frightening) article on how processed sugar can cause addiction and depression:
Processed sugars and carbohydrates, which turn into sugar, cause a rise in the insulin level of the blood. This also raises the serotonin level, a natural mood upper in the brain. These sugars causes the body to have a chemical high, mentally, which results in a lift in mood. .
Continuous large doses of sugar and/or carbohydrates, overtime, usually cause the brain’s serotonin sites to slow production or close sites to regulate the amount of serotonin in the brain. When the body cuts back on serotonin production it reduces the amount of serotonin available in the body at any given time. The lack of enough serotonin in the brain causes slight to deep depression.
To maintain a normal level of serotonin in the brain the individual must eat more sugar and/or carbohydrates to get out of depression and maintain a normal mood level. This causes a vicious cycle of addiction, physiologically (Nay, 1996). This is also directly comparable to the cycle that is developed after excessive dopamine is released into the body from the use of alcohol. Excessive alcohol usage causes many of the dopamine sites to shut down. To get the natural high given by dopamine the alcoholic must drink more alcohol to get the same effect (Shkurkin, 1994; Sheppard 1993).
Physically, the body has been given a massive dose of sugar that goes straight into the blood system. It is the bodies business to keep the body’s blood sugar stabilized. The body injects a massive dose of insulin. Insulin tries to neutralize the sugar by acting as a downer.
I come from a family that loves sweets. My dad’s idea of a serving size portion of ice cream is five scoops. Plus some cookies. We go through boxes of brownies like you wouldn’t believe. We usually have one or two cakes on hand always. Birthdays are a two-cake minimum event. And yet we are not fat, and have fairly good health (aside from my mom’s high cholesterol, which comes from genes). This is most likely because aside from the sweets, we eat really healthy–we never eat out at restaurants or fast food, and rice, garlic, and soy are daily staples. That doesn’t make our treat-hording right, though. I am usually on my parents’ case about not eat more healthily, although they are pretty set on their sweets.
Lately I’ve been realizing that sweets should be treated like a delicacy, served in small portions and made with quality ingredients. Thinking about corn syrup along with preservatives and chemicals make it easier to pass by store-bought baked goods. Especially Mrs. Fields. Stay away from the Mrs. Fields.
I have also been unwittingly following one of the tips in the first article I linked, which is to eat whole grains. I have been making my own oatmeal (saving money and health by staying away from the beloved Quaker) for breakfast this past week and the “feeling full” effects were immediate. I didn’t have any cravings before lunch, and my lunches are smaller now because I am still good from breakfast. Any sweets I eat now come in the form of small dark chocolates I keep in a little basket next to my computer.
Aaand the best part is I feel less guilty about watching Food Network for the delicious-looking sweets. Bring it, Paula!
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