For many people, craving sweet things is a frustrating fact of life. Cravings can feel overwhelming, undoing our best intentions.
There are number of different reasons suggested for this but a recent study may have unlocked the answer when it comes to getting control over cravings.
The study showed that protein could be the answer. Essentially, our bodies have a requirement for certain 'essential' proteins which we cannot make ourselves. In the study, if participants hadn't received enough protein, they continued to feel hunger until that protein need was met.
But while our body is able to signal that it requires food it hasn’t yet received, it is less good at directing you to what you need. So reaching for the more usual craving favourites, perhaps a cookie, chocolate or some bread, all of which are mostly carbohydrates, will actually keep you feeling hungry as the body is asking for protein. We are far less likely to grab some protein, I'm thinking fish, beans or an egg, when a craving strikes despite this possibly being exactly what the body is craving.
Hunger is in fact not just a function of how much you eat, but what you eat.
It is another reason why breakfast is so important and why including enough protein, especially in the first meal of the day, is vital. When we eat a carbohydrate-rich breakfast, we set ourselves up on for blood sugar 'rollercoaster’. Glucose is released too quickly into the blood and insulin is released to counter-balance this, leading to a subsequent sharp drop in blood glucose levels. It is these widely fluctuating blood sugar levels that leaves us feeling tired and lethargic.
But it's not just that we crave food when we lack protein. When our blood sugar is low, high-calorie foods become more appealing. When glucose levels are steady, high calorie foods do not hold the same power and become much less tempting.
In this study, participants were put inside a scanner which could track brain activity, while flashing up pictures of traditionally ‘desirable’, high-calorie foods such as hamburgers, cookies and ice cream. When participants had low blood sugar levels, foods started to be rated really highly and the part of the brain involved with cravings activated.
Cravings are not our fault; they are a natural reaction to low glucose levels. If we are riding a blood-sugar rollercoaster, the craving centre of the brain will start to light up.
In the same way that we cannot fight a sneeze or a cough; cravings are our body’s way of telling us we are lacking something the body needs. Will-power alone is unlikely to to overcome this.
Including enough protein at every meal, but especially at breakfast, is one of the simplest way to keep your blood sugar steady. Fuelling your body correctly will be your way to keep cravings at bay.
