How to Break Free From Food Addiction
We all know how this story goes. You are one of two people: you think about chocolate all day long, and when you finally cave and buy a chocolate bar, you eat it in a few short bites. It feels amazing. Everything feels good! Your mood is better, you’re nicer to people, and life is good. Or, you’re like me, and you’re the second kind of person: you can’t have just one chip. You think you can, but before you know it, the entire bag is empty and you’re ashamed. You start to notice people don’t put peanuts or popcorn in front of you at parties because they know you’ll wolf them all down. Ugh.
In both these cases, the high you get is satisfying for only moments. We either completely crash, wondering why we were so out of control in the first place, or we go back to the fridge and look for something else to get that boost again. Sound familiar? Well, the good news is you are not to blame for this. Whew! That’s right, let the guilt and blame go, my friend. This isn’t your fault! Without going into too much detail, here is the skinny on why we think we are addicted to food: most of us are genetically predisposed to make less of the neurotransmitters dopamine or serotonin. In some cases, we produce less of both. Deficiencies in these neurotransmitters dictate what we crave.
Serotonin is our feel-good neurotransmitter; it helps us rationalize our sad and low moods and is made in both the brain and the intestines. Dopamine is our focus, pleasure, and reward-seeking neurotransmitter. When we are naturally low in serotonin, we crave sweets and sugars (chocolate, pastries, candy, pop, cakes) and when we are low in dopamine, we crave salty foods and carbohydrates (bread, chips, pasta, cheese, caffeine, wine).
What does this look like?
Serotonin: You often feel low moods and notice that you can give up most foods - but NOT chocolate. You’ve had a long day and you’re sick of not feeling like yourself. On your way out of the grocery store you grab a bag of chocolate mini eggs. After downing them in your car - these treats are too sweet to make it home - you feel a massive rush. But later you crash, and you feel even more down about your lack of restraint. Ugh, this one feels really low.
Dopamine: You often struggle with focus at work, so you grab a bag of chips. You notice that while you’re eating chips you feel more alert and able to focus. It’s the boost you need, but it’s short-lived. Once that dopamine high crashes, your body tells you to find another so you can finish your work. You find yourself back in the kitchen, rummaging for more salty snacks. It’s a vicious cycle.
It’s also possible to have deficiencies in both serotonin and dopamine. What does that look like? You’re always the one with the glass of wine, bread, and cheese - with chocolate for dessert, of course! And this is all despite other predispositions, such as those that tell us if we are full or not…but we’ll save that for another blog.
How do we break free?
Eat the right amount of protein, divided evenly throughout meals. One of the issues I see all the time is that people decide to go on a diet that increases protein. The challenge with this is, depending on your body’s requirements, any excess protein you eat will just turn into inflammation and fat. Of course we all need a certain amount of protein, but anything over that amount will not do you any favours.
The other benefit of getting protein right is that it helps control our hunger hormones. These hormones (ghrelin and leptin) are what determine if we feel hungry and if we feel full. One way we can reset these hunger hormones is to eat roughly the same amount of protein at each meal. For my clients, we determine the amount of protein they should have based on genetic testing - that’s really the only way to know. But for those who are waiting for their results and want to get started right away, I ask them to stick to about 1 gram of protein per kg of body weight - and no more. If your daily requirement is 60 grams per day, that means you should eat about 20 grams of protein per meal. Try not to save your full requirement for that big ribeye steak at the end of the day; while that may seem appetizing, it will only encourage your hunger hormones to further imbalance.
Discover which neurotransmitters are driving your cravings. This is a big one that we commonly report incorrectly. For years I told my doctor I was depressed, but every time I took a supplement or pharmaceutical for serotonin, it wouldn’t work for me. When I finally tested my genetics, I realized that my dopamine was actually the problem. I wasn’t depressed, but I did feel less pleasure from doing the same things that other people clearly enjoyed. I wasn’t experiencing anxiety; I was struggling to pay attention! And I wasn’t too sad to get out of bed - I just wasn’t motivated. In my case, that was all due to deficiencies in dopamine, not serotonin.
Plug in healthy alternatives. If dopamine is what your body needs, before reaching for the Lays, do 2 minutes of jumping jacks. This will instantly boost your dopamine levels in a safe way. If you’re working on supporting serotonin, switch to sugar-free chocolate until you feel more level; it causes less of a crash (I love Lily’s Sugar Free Chocolate Bars). And the same old advice still stands: drink lots of water, go outside for a walk, and exercise. Exercise is one of the best ways to boost your neurotransmitter levels. Don’t worry; this doesn’t mean you need to enroll in a daily HIIT class. I often recommend starting with a 45-minute walk 3-4 times weekly.
Supplement accordingly. We don’t always get all the nutrients we need from our food. There are supplements that include B vitamins and 5HTP that can support serotonin. The amino acid L-Tyrosine is the precursor for L Dopa, which will naturally increase dopamine. Talk to your health care provider about what nutrients you may need to support your neurotransmitters. Be aware that nutritional supplements often take 3 months to start working; if you feel like your moods are a problem, speak to your health care provider about other options.
Lastly, DON’T BLAME YOURSELF! If anything, blame your parents! Haha - just kidding! But really, for the most part, your neurotransmitters are genetically determined. That means it’s completely out of your control whether you do or don’t have certain genetics. The good news is that we have the power to address this and make changes to feel better. This isn’t who you are, it’s why you are. Once we figure that out, we can customize ways to specifically support YOU!
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