today we're going to talk about

how do you stop cravings,

sugar

cravings,

addictions

to

food,

binge eating.

And it's a real roadblock for women

who are trying to lose weight.

Now, you may be thinking that

you don't have enough

self control or willpower,

but researchers in obesity have found

that it's unlikely that we have an

epidemic of low willpower that's

occurred over the last 30 years.

So

what is creating our cravings

that we can feel powerless

around, say around

Tim Tams,

Oreos,

potato

crisps

or chips, right?

What is creating that?

And the way to overcome it

is to really look at our

hormones and our biochemistry.

Now, number one.

Ultra processed foods is a huge factor.

Ultra processed foods is

energy drinks,

cereals,

ice cream,

chocolate,

you know,

confectionery

foods,

eating out, takeaway,

some sausages and hams

and things like that are

ultra processed foods.

Now these foods have an

impact on our hormones,

particularly our brain.

And just recently I saw a documentary

with a, you know, a English doctor who

did an experiment for four weeks and

his diet was mainly about 20 percent

ultraprocessed foods and he did

an experiment where he upped it to

80 percent ultraprocessed

and he tracked his weight, his BMI,

his hormones with another doctor.

And what he found, or both doctors

found very surprising at the end,

after four weeks He had gained 6.

6 kilos, which is about 14 pounds.

His BMI went up into the overweight range

and his body fat, actual amount of

body fat increased by 3 kilos or 6.

6 pounds.

But the other very interesting

thing that they noticed was

two hormones had changed.

One hormone was what?

Grelin,

which is our

hunger hormone,

stimulates our hunger, that had

increased by

30

percent and the other hormone,

leptin, which helps us to

feel

satisfied and regulates our metabolism,

had decreased.

Okay.

And he said he was always hungry.

He was never satisfied.

He was always looking for more food

and he really couldn't believe it.

Right.

He was really.

Surprised on the change

that he had in four weeks.

And

this is the effect of

ultra processed foods.

Now, food companies, food manufacturers,

they are a business and every business is

to make a

profit.

And this

is no different.

Now they have some of the best

scientists in the world making

sure that, you know, they create

food, which is ultra processed.

ultra addictive

that our brains crave and

drive our brains crazy,

but we never feel satisfied,

which is why we can keep endlessly

eating those potato crisps, right?

And I've also heard that since the

decline of the cigarette industry, right?

The scientists, the world's best

scientists have moved from there

and been employed into the food

manufacturing industry, right?

So, you know, these are some

of the best minds in the world.

designing food for the

ultra addictive factor.

So it's not a wonder that we're

addicted to foods that are addictive.

So the way that we get control

of this or get a better handle of

it, rather than just relying on

willpower is we really have to.

Understand our hormones

and our biochemistry.

In particular, one is leptin resistance.

Leptin resistance can

happen when you've had

a diet high in ultra processed foods.

It happens when we're overweight

and there's insulin resistance.

And I've talked about

that in other podcasts.

And this is where, you know,

the main sign is belly fat,

but we get fat all over and it

does slow down our metabolism.

stress is another factor

because high cortisol levels

will create leptin resistance.

Now leptin is the hormone which,

you know, tell, it's released by

our fat cells and it tells our

brain how much body fat or energy

that we have on board, right?

And when the brain is not picking

up on that leptin, it becomes, you

know, we become leptin resistant.

And so that means that.

We could have so much excess fat that our

brain could trigger our body to increase

our metabolism and reduce our cravings.

But because of the, it's not

picking up on those signals

because of leptin resistance,

it is not doing that job, right?

So our weight should

really be self regulated.

It's automated.

I always say a metabolism is automated.

We put so much effort and control into

it mainly because we don't understand

mainly because we're not working

with our hormones and our chemistry

that are really doing the job.

of maintaining our healthy weight.

Now the fourth factor which

affects leptin and leptin resistant

is circadian disruptions, a

disruption to our circadian rhythm.

So we have, you know, our body

clock, every cell in our body, our

organs have body clocks and they, all

those clocks have to sync up to the

master clock in In the brain, right?

And when there is a disruption,

it creates addiction.

So it's been researched to show

that it creates addictions.

It creates that grazing behavior

where you feel like you just need

to graze or snack or eat all day.

And it means that a metabolism

is unable to function correctly.

So what can you do?

So with light of all of that, what

we want to look at is, yes, we want

to eat for our hormones, and we want

to make small changes over time.

Because if you've ever tried, like

some people can go cold turkey, right?

They cut out all the, you know,

addictive

stuff,

or the

sugar,

or

the, you know, the processed

foods, and they can do it, right?

They can go cold turkey.

But for most people, they

find it really challenging.

And so what I recommend is, number one,

The best you can

remove the ultra processed foods,

right?

The sugar, the chocolate, the

ice cream, the energy drinks,

the cereals and so forth, right?

Because you have to understand We get

addicted to these foods and it feels like

at the end of the day, if I eat something

sweet or if I eat something, you know,

sugary, whatever, I'm going to feel more

relaxed, I'm going to feel better, that's

my reward, if I'm stressed, if I've

had a bad day, whatever it is, right?

But the fact that you

eat those foods is the

only reason why your brain is craving

them in times of emotional distress.

Or even in times where you

feel like you want a reward

at the end of the day.

Now, many years ago, I like to look

at this like an addiction, like

a, you know, smoking addiction.

Many years ago, there was

a guy called Alan Carr.

He, he had, I think the most

effective treatment for helping

people quit smoking, right?

And he didn't use any tools or anything.

He really showed people that the

reason why they're addicted is

because nicotine is addictive.

And that sounds really obvious,

but it's, People didn't see that.

They saw the stories that they related to

having a cigarette, right?

They, they felt that, you know, it

really completed a meal when they

had a cigarette after a meal, or

it really helped them to be social

when they went out with friends.

It was more social.

Or when they were stressed,

it helped them to unwind.

Well, he really broke it down.

He said like at your mealtime, all you're

thinking is having a cigarette, right?

So really you're the least relaxed

person having a meal, or you're the

least relaxed person in a social

setting because you're thinking about,

you want to go out and have that

cigarette or when you're stressed,

it's a very isolated experience.

And in fact, cigarettes do nothing

to relax the nervous system.

So he really broke down

those stories to show you.

You're addicted to an

addictive substance.

It doesn't actually do

anything to soothe you.

And this is kind of the same for

ultra processed foods, right?

the very fact that we eat those

foods is the reason why we then

need to self soothe with those

foods, if that makes sense.

So just by reducing ultra processed

foods, what you're going to do,

what you're going to find, is that

your glucose levels stabilize.

Because there's one thing that

ultra processed foods do, is they

cause a really sharp spike in

glucose and then a sudden drop.

And it's those highs and lows, it's

like a roller coaster that you're on.

It makes our energy up and down, our

mood, our mental focus can trigger

anxiety and irritability, but it

triggers more cravings, right?

When the sugar levels are low,

we're going to need more sugar

to bump that up really quickly.

So just removing those will already

start to stabilize that out.

You'll have less cravings.

secondly, you want to make

better choices with carbohydrates.

So

I'm not saying cut out carbohydrates.

or do anything drastic But make

better choices you know like your

starchy vegetables fruits those things

that you can keep in your diet to

make sure that you're getting the

carbohydrates which still relaxes

the nervous system if you're stressed

or have a busy schedule So the other

thing is to make sure that you do

initially

don't go too long in between meals,

right?

Don't, don't have, you know,

skip breakfast and then

have something at 11 a.

m.

And then you don't have anything till

the afternoon and then you could be

grazing all day up until

the evening, right?

So I had a client who found that when

she, you know, came home from work.

She basically went to the pantry.

She had a head in the pantry the

whole time, ate dinner and was

still, still found herself snacking

right up until she went to bed.

And it was a complete roadblock

for her to lose weight.

Right.

And all we did was regular meals.

We cycled in some carbohydrates

and she not only lost a lot

of weight, but she got on

top of her cravings, right?

She didn't crave processed foods anymore.

She wasn't in the pantry.

And it

felt.

Key thing, it really felt effortless.

She didn't feel like she

was using her willpower.

But her body and her chemistry was

really supported and very stable.

So,

her body wasn't craving those foods.

And the fourth thing is realigning

your circadian rhythm.

Okay,

so one of the things that's really common

in today's world is that we spend a lot

of time inside, we spend a lot of time

at a computer, we go to bed late, we eat

too late in the night, there's so many

things that disrupt our circadian clocks.

And so

ultra processed foods cause addictions,

but so does circadian rhythm disruption.

Okay.

So if we can work on

both, right, so this is

best you can, you know, sun is

out

watching the sunrise and the sunset.

Okay.

So we can't.

Reset our clock hours.

We, we need an external cue

and that cue is the sun.

Okay.

We're like plants.

We need to be activated.

So if

you can watch the sunrise

in the morning, amazing,

10 minutes, you know, out

in the sun or in the daylight,

if it's not sunny, in order

to reset your circadian clock,

reduce your glucose levels.

So it's been found to reduce

blood glucose levels, reduce your

addictions, reduce your cravings and

reduce how much you're grazing

looking for snacks throughout the day.