Posted by JLx on November 4, 2003, at 8:44:39
In reply to Re: I need your advice. Atkins diet, posted by wordwitch on November 3, 2003, at 19:53:02
I will second that about reducing carbs=reducing craving, only for me I have to reduce certain things like sugar and grains down to "none". So far, anyway. I hope it might change long term. I also eliminate all dairy product as another "allergy addiction". (Magnesium supplementation helped me to do this.)
That sugar and such things as cheese are addictive in themselves is being more and more supported by science.
"The seductive quality of food is all in the brain" http://washingtontimes.com/national/20030615-121437-1320r.htm
And this piece was in the Washington Post recently:
Spoonful of sugar may send stress level down
New research suggests theory for why people turn to `comfort food'By Rob Stein
When the going gets tough, the tough (and not-so-tough) often get hungry. Why has been a mystery.
Now, scientists have developed a model for a biological link between stress and the drive to eat: Food with lots of sugar, fat and calories, "comfort food," appears to calm the body's response to chronic stress.
And research indicates stress hormones encourage formation of fat cells, particularly the kind that are the most dangerous to health. That may be one reason obesity rates are skyrocketing in many modern societies.
"In highly industrialized countries, people do apparently seem to feel more stressed ...," said Mary Dallman, a professor of physiology at the University of California at San Francisco who outlined her theory in a paper to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "And they certainly are eating a lot more."
The new theory has drawn praise from scientists since it was posted on the Internet earlier this month.
"This is the first time anybody's been able to put together a united theory on stress and energy metabolism," said Alan Watts, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Southern California. "It presents a new way of thinking about this."
While the relationship between stress and eating is driven by a complex mixture of emotional, psychological, social and physiological factors, the new research does appear to explain puzzles that have baffled researchers, said Elissa Epel, an expert on stress, eating and fat at the University of California at San Francisco.
Scientists have known that during times of stress, parts of the brain emit a chemical signal called corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), which causes the adrenal gland to pump out large amounts of hormones known as adrenal corticosteroids, including cortisol. These "stress hormones" flood the body, producing a wide array of effects designed to get it ready to flee or fight: The immune system gets damped down. Alertness increases. Heart rate quickens. Activity jumps.
During acute stress -- a car accident, an argument -- a feedback system kicks in and shuts down this response fairly quickly. But during chronic stress, the system keeps going, caught in a vicious cycle.
To examine the relationship between chronic stress and food, Dallman and her colleagues conducted a series of experiments in which rats were put under stress.
After ingesting high-sugar, high-fat diets, and developing fat deposits, the levels of CRF in the laboratory rats dropped.
But losing weight apparently reactivates the stress response system, starting the whole process again, said Norman Pecoraro, who works with Dallman.
If scientists can identify some of the chemical signals involved in the feedback loop of eating, fat and stress, and design drugs to block them, that could lead to new treatments for obesity, said Bruce McEwen, a professor of neuroendocrinology at Rockefeller University in New York.
But Dallman hopes the new understanding might help people control their appetite without drugs.
poster:JLx
thread:275999
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20031104/msgs/276424.html