We eat chocolate when we’re stressed, and here’s how to overcome the desire for sweets.
We enjoy chocolate cakes at every celebration, chocolate is our companion in good times, but we reach for this favorite sweet even when we are not doing so well.
Research has shown that in moments of stress we crave chocolate when the primal “fight or flight” response is activated in the body.
The key culprit is, in fact, cortisol. This stress hormone “steals” energy from our immune system and that’s why we get a strong desire for sweets and, especially, for chocolate.
“This desire is a response to a stressful situation in which the need for energy increases,” explains Dr Nicky Kay, a London-based endocrinologist. Paradoxically, if we eat chocolate, there will be an increase in blood sugar, but it will also decrease. This creates a real “roller coaster” of stress and the desire for sweets.
Nutritionists remind us that it is precisely the drop in blood sugar that can pull the “trigger” of the stress response again. “Then it is necessary to raise the fatty acids in the blood stream, in order to provide fuel for the main muscles and the brain,” says Dr. Sara Brewer. She states that cortisol is also high in the morning, when the body comes out of the “night fasting” period.
Why exactly is chocolate at the top of the list of all sweets?
Thanks to tryptophan, a chemical that is converted into serotonin in the brain, it lifts the mood. It also contains theobromine, a stimulant that “raises” us, but also relaxes us thanks to phenylethylamine.
We eat chocolate the most even when we are angry. Hunger and anger are often mixed, which is natural – when we are hungry, aggression also occurs, as a trace of the survival mechanism that drove our ancestors in the fight for food.
To avoid the temptations of the need for sweets, it is best to introduce a Mediterranean diet.
It is a diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, plenty of fish, and includes nuts and olive oil. This is a low glycemic index diet and will help you avoid blood sugar turbulence and cravings for sweets. When she does respond, eat fresh fruit, strawberries, raspberries, cherries or nectarines. If you feel an insatiable desire for sugar, take bananas or some dried fruit.
The need for sweets can also be overcome by going for a quick walk at the moment of greatest desire. Then the brain releases the chemicals endorphins and enkephalins, which act as natural “opium”. Track when you have an attack of the desire for sweets, if necessary, start keeping a mini-diary as well. During those times, try to entertain yourself with something else: call your friends, play with your pets.
Of the supplements, we recommend chromium, which has a positive effect on glucose metabolism. This dietary supplement increases the number of active insulin receptors, so it acts more easily on glucose. Chromium is also thought to help with reduced insulin sensitivity.
(Beautiful&Happy)