Constant cravings? Here’s 18 evidence-backed (or anecdotal) tips that will curb them.

Are you back into the swing of things but your taste buds aren’t?  It happens! Especially around this time of year where intake of sugar, alcohol and processed carbohydrates tends to be higher for most people, and while going cold turkey can be the best move, it’s sometimes easier said than done. The good news is that by reducing these foods, you’ll begin to lose the taste for them, and they’ll no longer hold the appeal that they had. For some though, completely removing them is a better idea – even small amounts can continue to drive the appetite for them. Regardless of which camp you fall into, here are some proven, some anecdotal, and some interesting ways to combat those cravings.

1. The basics: build your plate based around protein and fibre, with fat for satiety. Protein is well known to be the most satisfying nutrient, and along with fibre (also key for adding bulk and feeling full) will keep most people satisfied longer than either carbohydrate or fat. Any starchy or carbohydrate-based foods are best if they are minimally processed (such as potatoes, kumara, legumes, fruit) as these will provide more nutrient bang for your buck). How much of each? Protein-type foods (meat, fish, eggs, poultry) aim for 1-2 palm-sized portions. Starchy carbs (if included) at around a fist-sized amount.  Fat? 1-2 thumb-sized amounts, depending on the type of protein portion you’re eating: a fattier cut might be satisfying enough, however a lean chicken breast will likely require some added fat to help satisfy you. And vegetables? Go for gold – other than the starchier varieties (mentioned above) you could fill your boots with these. For some people, having a full plate is essential to feeling satisfied and if you can do that by adding more volume, it is going to have a positive effect on the satiety from a meal (that’s definitely me). For some ideas, check out my recipe e-book or my online coaching service.
2. Get rid of anything that is ‘your poison’- if you are the person that hears the icecream calling you from the freezer, it is much better off out of the house. Out of sight, out of mind.
3. Put all the ‘treat’ type food in one place in your house, preferably above eye level. This will save you seeing the Christmas cake when you are grabbing the eggs, and the chocolate almonds when you are searching for the bottle of olive oil. Constant reminders of all the things you are trying not to eat will NOT help your cause.
4. Chew your food properly at each meal. Aim for 30 times per mouthful. That way you’ll digest your nutrients effectively, feel more nourished and less likely to be hungry an hour after eating because you wolfed that meal down.
5. Do not substitute those refined sugars for ‘natural’ sugars. That dried fruit is pretty much just sugar – and (a few nutrients and fibre aside) no better than sugar and will continue to drive your sugar cravings. You shouldn’t rely on dried fruit (or any sweet food that is marketed as ‘refined sugar free’) as a substantial nutrient source . Any additional fibre or nutrients they provide in the diet is negligible compared to the whack of goodness you’ll get when you follow #1 above. When health bloggers or food producers market something based on the healthfulness of the ‘natural’ sugar, it is pure embellishment. 6 meedjol dates and a banana does not make a smoothie sugar free.
6. Coconut oil – this is a favourite of Sarah Wilson’s: a teaspoon of extra virgin coconut oil can kill a craving in its tracks. If we head to the literature to find any peer reviewed papers on the topic (for what it’s worth, there is a LOT of research published by the Coconut Research Center), there isn’t a lot to definitively tell us that it will cut cravings. That said, there is some research has found that people who include more coconut oil in their diet (compared to other types of fat) have reduced food intake overall, particularly in the subsequent meals. Like most things, you have nothing to lose by trying it.
7. Cocoa – chocolate is long associated with cravings, though right now, consumption of chocolate may well increase the cravings rather than stamp them out. It’s also not exactly useful if you’re trying to focus on reducing your intake of junk food! That said, chocolate is known for its cognitive and mood enhancing benefits. So how about some unsweetened cocoa (or cacao) in hot water with some milk to deliver the chocolate taste you are after. Add a touch of stevia if you wish. You could also do this cold with almond milk and ice – and add 1 tablespoon of psyllium husk or gelatin in there for some additional fibre or protein. If chocolate is what you’re after – go for the darkest that you can stand. Many people find they stop at 1-2 pieces of 90% chocolate instead of the 1-2 rows consumed of the 70%.
8. Anything that lowers your blood sugar response to a meal is going to positively impact your cravings. The steep rise and fall of your blood sugar in response to a meal causes alarm bells to start going off in your brain. The body runs a tight ship and prefers when all systems are in homeostasis. Low blood sugar causes a release in stress hormones which tell your liver to dump glucose into the bloodstream, and create cravings so you can re-establish blood sugar to within a normal range. Including cinnamon can reduces glucose response after a meal (in amounts of 6g) and affects insulin response. Stabilising blood sugar is going to help reduce cravings. Sprinkle this gold dust on your breakfast, with your teaspoon of coconut oil, in your cocoa drink etc.
9. Glutamine – can enhance secretion of GLP-1, a hormone which promotes insulin release that helps increase satiety and dampen appetite – this is only seen in some people however, suggesting there is individual variation of its effects. The flipside of this is that the insulin-releasing effects may override any satiety benefits, increasing hunger (and subsequent meal size) at the next meal. However, in practice this is a tool that many clinicians (myself included) have found useful for some (but not all) clients. The presence of glutamine in the bloodstream is associated with improved insulin sensitivity in healthy people. In addition to this, glutamine has been found to be beneficial for improving intestinal permeability and tight junction protein expression in the gut, being one of the most abundant amino acids in the body. If your cravings are related to gut dysbiosis then it could be useful from this perspective. In addition, it functions as part of neurotransmitter production. Taking L Glutamine by putting it under the tongue as a craving hits (1-3,000mg) may just work for you.
10. Magnesium is a nutrient that is involved in over 250 processes in our body, and particularly when we are under stress, it is put under the pump. Sugar (or specifically) chocolate craving is often linked to a deficiency to magnesium, but that isn’t conclusive. At any rate, magnesium is perfectly safe to take, and as our food supply is relatively low in magnesium, looking for a supplement that is a magnesium glycinate, citrate or chelated with amino acids may be useful, at amounts of around 300-400mg elemental magnesium.
11. Chromium is another supplement that some people have found useful for stopping cravings – research has found a reduction in carbohydrate cravings, food intake and an increase in satiety when supplementing with chromium…however this is in the laboratory using mice. There’s nothing definitive in the research to support using it for people who already have adequate amounts of this mineral. That said (as with anything), it’s individual – I know many clients who swear by using Chromium supplements when a craving hits. The only way to know if it works for you is to try it, by taking 1000mg chromium in two doses in meals that contain carbohydrate (due to its suggested benefits at reducing blood sugar response to carbohydrate meals)..
12. Branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) are three amino acids that act as nutrient signallers which may help reduce food intake . Leucine (one of the BCAAs) activates mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) which is required for our brain to respond to leptin (a hormone that tells our body when we have had enough food). BCAAs are involved with hormone release in both the gastrointestinal tract and in fat deposits. BCAAs and dietary protein enhanced glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1) release and reduced the expression of genes required for synthesis and adsorption of fatty acids in a human intestinal cell line (NCI-H716), suggesting an intestinal mechanism for the beneficial effect of BCAAs. Those that have successfully used BCAAs suggest 5g in the AM and every few hours while you’re adjusting your diet back to baseline awesomeness.
13. 5htp: 300-500mg taken with a meal to increase satiety of the meal – studies have found a reduced food intake (particularly carbohydrate). Studies conducted have focused on people who have reduced availability of tryptophan in the brain (a precursor to 5htp). Increasing 5htp increases tryptophan and therefore serotonin production, reducing cravings and overall food intake. (Don’t use if you are currently on antidepressants without clearance from your doctor.)
14. Exercise. A no brainer, really, but research has found this to be super effective for reducing cravings. In fact, any activity done while in the midst of a craving will take your mind off it. So when a craving hits, doing something active for 10-15 minutes can reduce your desire for something sweet. Go for a powerwalk, shoot some hoops, do some hill sprints…
15. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep! It’s hard this time of year with longer days and opportunities to take advantage of summer (when it shows up…) Sleep restriction enhances activity in brain regions involved in reward in response to energy dense, nutrient-void food (think: lollies, chips, chocolate), suggesting heightened sensitivity to rewarding properties of food. This can lead to increased cravings. If you are burning the candle at both ends and not yet back to your regular 7-8 hours sleep per night, then nailing this will go a long way to helping curb that sugar demon.
16. Meditation: decentring – viewing your thoughts as separate from yourself – has been found to help reduce food cravings and want for unhealthy food items. Mindfulness practice is also useful for not only reduced cravings, but for reduced emotional eating, body image concerns. It doesn’t require a 90 minute class three times a week (though there’s nothing wrong with that!) Headspace, Calm or Buddhify are three smart phone applications which may help you get going and provide guided sessions of between 2-20 minutes long. It’s consistency and frequency that makes a difference (like any habit).
17. Clay modelling to reduce cravings: yep. Researchers found that visual imagery plays a key role in reducing craving. Participants who worked for 10 minutes constructing shapes from plastacine had reduced cravings for chocolate compared to people who were left to their own thoughts or who were given a written task.
18. Your gut bacteria can influence your cravings. There is indirect evidence for a connection between cravings and the type of bacteria lurking in your gut. For example, people who enjoy and crave chocolate have different microbial metabolites (i.e. bacteria by-products) in their urine than “chocolate indifferent” individuals, despite eating identical diets. In addition, gut bacteria can influence the production of our ‘feel good’ and motivation hormones (serotonin and dopamine), thereby influence food decision-making based on our mood. Finally treating mice with a probiotic reduced hunger-inducing hormones and food intake. Action points here? Yes, you could start with a probiotic, particularly when you’re in the thick of it all, as this will help ensure there are beneficial bacterial strains present in your gut. However, for ongoing gut health, the regular addition of probiotic and prebiotics through food will help you maintain a healthy gut microbiome. Therefore:

• Include fermented vegetables into 1-2 meals daily, working up to 1-2 tablespoons at a time.
• The addition of unsweetened yoghurt (dairy or coconut) as part of your everyday diet (as it contains beneficial bacteria).
• Kombucha, at around 100-150ml per day (check the back of the label to ensure a lower sugar variety).
• Water, milk or coconut kefir, start with around 100ml per day.
• Raw apple cider vinegar in water – start with 1 tsp in a small amount of water, working up to 1 tablespoon. This will help stimulate stomach acid when taken prior to meals, helping you digest your food properly, and delaying gastric emptying, so your glucose response to the meal will be slower too.
• Vegetables, in abundance, to include fibres that feed your gut bacteria.

(As a side note, any change to your gut environment can result in unintended (and unwanted) changes to your digestive tract! If you’re new to the fermented foods and/or probiotics, then start small and work your way up. If you end up spending way more time in the bathroom than you wanted, reduce back further. Consider yourself warned.)

You won’t need to do all of these – but I think #1-5, #14, #15, #16 and #18 would completely diminish that sugar demon so you can get back to feeling awesome.

Grab that cupcake and bin it immediately. Underneath something that will stop you from retrieving it later on. (PC: SamadiMD.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13 tips to help you have your cake and eat it too.

Want to minimise collateral damage when it comes to fat gain over the Christmas period? It happens! While I agree with sentiments around being relaxed and not stressing too much, sometimes people benefit from having structure around how to be more relaxed … as paradoxical as that might seem. Being relaxed means you’re less likely to view a disruption to your plan as a major catastrophe to your health goals – and we all know this makes you more likely to be successful in the long run. Further, sticking to a rigid diet can increase feelings of deprivation and increase dependence – these are not attributes that turn your nutrition plan into a lifestyle.

Despite this, many clients are not happy with advice to go with the flow and ‘do what you can’ – they are after guidelines to help them… have their (Christmas) cake and eat it too (so to speak). Is this possible? Well it could be. Here are some practical things you can put into place in the lead up to and days following an event like Christmas day to minimise fat gain and help you continue to progress. I’m not suggesting these will help you lose body fat, but more give you some strategies so you feel in control of your food intake, and not the other way around.

1. Treat the Christmas and New Year period as an opportunity to put into practice all of your healthy habits that you’ve developed, rather than an insurmountable challenge to healthy eating which can only be dealt with by pushing “pause” until January 2nd.
2. View Christmas day as a metabolic boost. Following a lower calorie diet can downregulate your metabolism – lower calories over a longer period can reduce active thyroid hormones, increase cortisol levels and increase ghrelin levels – all of which can shift the body into energy conservation and fat storage. Therefore, it stands to reason that periodic overfeeding may help reverse this, favourably influencing hormones (such as thyroid hormones and the appetite hormone leptin) and increased energy expenditure, sending signals to the brain that it doesn’t need to downregulate metabolism and stall fat loss.
3. Studies conducted to test the effects of exercising before or after a big meal show that exercising after a meal burned more energy, and more so than exercising beforehand. Low intensity exercise will also have an effect (compared to no exercise at all). Therefore, regardless of whether you go for a gentle walk on the beach or on Christmas day or a more vigorous game of backyard cricket, it is all beneficial. That said….
4. …if it’s not possible to do that, then any activity is better than none! Exercising prior to the meal to deplete muscle glycogen stores and activate proteins that help deliver glucose to the muscles will result in hormonal changes favourable for fat loss. The upshot of this? More calories used to restock and less hanging around to be stored as fat. Resistance training focusing on movements that recruit both big and small muscle groups (think squats, deadlifts, shoulder press and chin ups) or high intensity interval training are your best bet: time is money this time of year and you’re going to get more bang for your buck. Of course, if you’re an endurance athlete, then doing your long run or cycle will also suffice!
5. Take advantage of the ‘second meal effect’: the hormonal response to your Christmas dinner will be improved if the meal before was based around an abundance of non-starchy vegetables (fibre), good sources of protein and a lower overall glycaemic load. You know, the kind of meal you might normally eat. It’s easy to do this around this time of year: think barbeque meats and salads, an omelette filled with feta cheese, pumpkin and asparagus, or a quick chicken stirfry.
6. Psyllium husk. Research has found that around 20g psyllium husk (in water) 3 hours and immediately prior to a meal can have a gastric emptying and appetite reducing effect for the next 3-6 hours. While it’s tempting to think that this could be useful for long term caloric control and subsequent fat loss, there is no good evidence to support an effect on either of these. However if the additional fibre can make you feel less hungry and you’ll be less likely to eat as much then you’ve got nothing to lose by trying it, right? (And popping this into your breakfast meal or smoothie is an easy way to boost fibre intake and enhance that ‘second meal effect’).
7. Fill your Christmas dinner plate with protein, fat and vegetables first, then think about your starchy sweet options – again, super easy if your table is filled with lamb, turkey, ham, vegetables – and aim to finish these before contemplating the dessert table. Minimally processed foods are more filling and will produce a lower blood sugar response, and let’s face it: it’s a lot harder to overeat on the pavlova if you’ve filled your plate with foods that boost satiety. Added bonus: you’ll be less likely to fall into a food coma and more likely to have more energy for some after meal activity (see #2).
8. Chew your food properly. This is something you should do regardless, obviously, but it’s always good to be reminded of the basics. Not only will this help you digest the nutrients more effectively (minimising the amount of discomfort you might experience after a meal), a meta-analysis of studies looking at mastication (the scientific name for chewing. I know) found chewing your mouthful of food 40 times leads to changes in your gut hormones that favour an increased feeling of fullness and subsequent decrease in food intake later in the day. In addition, chewing is related to reduced stress hormones and increased alertness. These hormonal changes will change your hormonal and potentially your emotional response to food, and the increased cognitive functioning may help you make better decisions. Overall, this may help you feel relaxed about what you eat and less likely to overeat.
9. Have 3-5 bites of the delicious foods you have on the Christmas table. While you might think that you want to finish the Christmas pudding and the pavlova, chances are, if you’ve followed some of what I’ve suggested above, you’re not going to be that hungry anyway. Does this mean you should miss out? Of course not – however practically speaking, the level of satisfaction derived from higher fat and higher sugar foods is transient – the last bite is never as delicious as the first. I could also add here to choose between the Christmas pudding or the pavlova (as research shows an increased variety of food increases overall intake at a single meal) but I’m not convinced this is a good strategy at Christmas for some people! This could potentially lead you to feeling deprived – deprivation does no one any good at all. Instead, savour every bite of the food you want to be eating, and really enjoy it.
10. The day after Christmas? Get up and move around. Low level activity (and structured activity) is going to make you feel physically and psychologically better. And what of the food? My best advice for anyone looking for mitigate fat gain around Christmas is to not let Christmas day turn into Christmas week. So, clearly, I’d recommend NOT finishing the trifle off (sorry to be a Christmas leftover Grinch!) You are much better off having leftover cold meat, salads, perhaps some cold jersey benny potatoes (there are health benefits of these you know!) However, if you decide you want leftover trifle want to, then own it and don’t beat yourself up for it! Nutrition goals are not gained or lost in one meal or even four meals. Consistency is key, and it’s what you achieve over the course of the year that is most important, not what you don’t do over a few days.
11. Jump back into your usual routine ASAP – if you need help with this, head over to my website for the perfect solution to get you back on track.
12. Don’t weigh yourself if you’re tied to the number on the scales. Overeating will increase your carbohydrate stores and water stores, so you may naturally weigh more the next day and it can take a few days to return to baseline levels. For some, it might take a few days to Intellectually you know this, but it doesn’t change how you might feel about it. If the scales are your choice of measure, then wait at least four days before jumping back on them. That said…
13. Aim to maintain, not lose, over the next two or so weeks. This doesn’t counteract what I’ve suggested above, however if fat loss (and weight loss) is your goal, I honestly think that it’s easier on you to decide not to focus on that right now and remember it’s normal for there to be peaks and troughs. Feeling comfortable about this means you’re at a place where your attitude towards food is less about rapid weight loss (you may have been there, done that) and more about health. You can still have an overall goal of losing body fat with this mindset – and will likely be far more successful in the long run with it.

Obligatory Christmas-related body composition picture