By Scott Rollins, MD
Hunger is a complex sensation and the foods we eat have a direct impact on how we feel. To understand this we need to take a look at brain chemistry and the hormones involved in processing our food.
The food we eat is mostly broken down to glucose and then our pancreas makes insulin, which is like a “key” that opens the door of the cells to let glucose in to be burned for energy. Simple enough.
The problem lies in eating too much food or too much high glycemic foods. Remember, high glycemic foods are sugar, potatoes, pasta, and breads (foods that very quickly break down to glucose…). When this happens we make too much insulin and at the same time our cells become resistant to it. This is known as insulin resistance.
From here we end up with high glucose and fat levels in the blood, obesity, and inflammation in the lining of our arteries. This is known as metabolic syndrome. The inflammation in the arteries starts the process that leads to heart disease, strokes and degenerative disease like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s dementias.
So what does all this have to do with how we feel? High insulin causes our bodies to make more of certain hormones in our brains that have a lot to do with how we feel. We make more adrenaline (energy), more norepinephrine and serotonin (which improves our thinking and mood) and more GABA (which helps calm our over-stimulated brain!). The problem is the effects are short term, thus we feel good for a while then crash, then crave more sugar and the cycle repeats. People really do self-medicate with chocolate and other sweets because it temporarily raises serotonin and causes them to feel good.
This is one reason some people going on a low-carbohydrate diet like Atkins or South Beach feel terrible at first – they are used to the temporary rush of serotonin from carbohydrates.
In the year 1900 we each ate about 3 pounds of refined sugar in a year. Now we each eat between 50 and 150 pounds of sugar each year. Our system is simply not designed for this! Sugar has only been so available for a few hundred years. Our bodies are genetically programmed to eat mostly protein and carbohydrates from fruit & vegetable sources.
We also live in the “super-size” world and simply eat way too much. The only proven way to extend our lifespan is to eat less. By restricting calories 25% we live 20% longer – that is a fact! The reason is we weigh less, we don’t have the insulin/inflammation issue, and we produce less toxic free-radicals that are a normal by-product of turning our foods into energy.
Another issue is our lack of exercise. We are designed with a built-in weight control system – exercise. When we exercise it helps our insulin work better, it stimulates growth hormone and other hormones to burn fat and build muscle. Quite simply we are NOT designed to NOT exercise.
The dietary remedy to our weight problem is quite simple:
1) Cut out the sugar, all of it!
2) Limit simple carbohydrates like breads, potatoes and pasta
3) Limit highly-refined and processed foods
4) Eat more complex carbohydrates like greens and other colored vegetables and fruits (especially berries)
5) Snack on nuts instead of chips
6) Eat plenty of good protein such as lean meats & fish
7) Eat plenty of good fats like olive oil and other mono-unsaturated fats
The overall composition of our diet is designed to be about 50-60% complex carbohydrates, 20-25% protein and 20-25% fats.
The next dietary decision is even simpler, yet more difficult. It’s called DON’T EAT SO MUCH. The longest living group of people on earth are from Okinawa. They eat until they are 80% full. Start with smaller portions and quit eating when you’ve consumed about 1/2 the typical amount. Wait a few minutes – are you really still hungry? Could you easily stop there?
Last, is exercise. I suggest spending your time divided about 1/3 on flexibility, 1/3 on strength and 1/3 on aerobic . Flexibility means stretching, daily, such as calisthenics, yoga, or tai chi. Strength means something like pumping iron. I like the rubber bands with handles (used by Olympic trainers ) because they are effective and simple and cheap. Aerobic is the simplest of all. Anything that gets your heart rate going (a good working rate is 60-80% of 220-your age). Do what you enjoy. One of the best is the good ole’ walk. Walking at the end of a work day before dinner is a perfect time to burn off stress (and the stress hormone Cortisol which puts fat on our middles…) and gear up your hormones for dinner!
In Health…
