2023-06-30 08:30:00
by Elena Meli
There’s no mix of succulent fats and carbohydrates in nature, so the brain didn’t evolve to handle them in moderation. They are high-calorie foods, but they don’t immediately fill you up or make you full
Foods dripping with fat and calories are irresistible to many and are a temptation that can frustrate days and days of strict dieting. If we love them so much it’s all the fault of the gut-brain axis, a direct connection between belly and head that a group of researchers at Columbia University in New York discovered in mice: when we eat greedy foods, intestinal receptors are activated which send a signal to the brain which in turn triggers a very strong desire to eat it again and again.
Junk food designed at the table for …
To date it is not possible to interfere with this mechanism, but knowing why foods less suitable for a diet are so irresistible can help to put in place some effective countermeasures. There are two main reasons why a food is liked, the composition in nutrients or proteins, fats and carbohydrates, and the mere sensation that it gives us when eating it: the taste, the smell, the sensation we feel in the mouth. Junk food knows how to make itself irresistible from both points of view: French fries, sweet snacks, fast food hamburgers are a perfect combination of salt, sugar and fat; moreover they are often created on purpose to be palatable, for example by focusing on dynamic contrast (food crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside) or on the ability to increase salivation (the more saliva increases, the more the food literally slips into the mouth and fills the taste buds, becoming greedy). Furthermore, industrial or highly processed foods are in themselves more irresistible than simple foods because in nature there is no mix of carbohydrates and succulent fats and therefore our brain has not evolved in such a way as to be able to manage them with measure, so it lights up very much when they eats. Finally, junk foods are designed to make the brain think it’s getting nourished, but not enough to make it feel full: they have lots of calories but don’t fill you up immediately, so you eat a lot before you realize you’re satisfied.
What foods to choose
Thanks to all these reasons they are very tasty and therefore become very recognizable for the brain, which remembers well the pleasant sensation it had by eating them and therefore wants to try it again. How to fool the brain and give it the gratification it needs, without going to look for it in junk food? First of all, you have to make the right choice: comfort food is pleasant, good and anti-stress but often high in calories and too rich in fat and/or sugar, it makes it difficult to control yourself and can alter the hormonal balance of hunger and satiety. The exceptions to the rule therefore serve because we need happiness and if we deny that of the palate we risk not having lasting results from the diet, but we must choose well: ten grams of dark chocolate, for example, can be a viable option because it does not abound too much of sugars and fats and rich in antioxidants. Furthermore, in planning a diet it is useful to ask ourselves what it would cost us more to give up, to include that food in the diet: if you have a sweet tooth for pizza, banishing it forever is a sure way to fail.
The diet begins at the supermarket
And if there are no temptations at home, the desire for high-calorie or unhealthy foods subsides by itself: this is why keeping the pantry free from everything you don’t want or can’t eat while on a diet helps you follow the rules and above all to eat less and better. Shopping wisely, without having huge stocks but aiming for variety of foods, focusing on fruit, vegetables and in general on whole and unprocessed (processed) foods, allows you to often change the menu and mix the ingredients to gratify yourself with the novelties and try the sensations that the brain loves: a carrot in hummus is not exactly like a filled biscuit, but combines the sensations of crunchiness and softness that make a dish pleasant. Cleaning up the pantry of all unhealthy foods is essential because if there are no high-calorie and unhealthy foods in the house it will obviously be difficult to eat them. Better then to keep healthy foods close at hand and in plain sight, eliminating the bowls of candies and chocolates in favor of walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts to be shelled (a little effort to eat them helps to contain the dose). Small strategies can also prove useful during meals: leaving the salad on the table and keeping the pasta tray on the kitchen counter helps you eat a little more vegetables and reduce carbohydrates, because having to get up to help yourself decreases the doses. It’s best to immediately set aside any excess cooked food and to store healthy leftovers, such as cooked vegetables or egg salad, use plastic wrap or glass containers so that they are immediately visible in the refrigerator, placing the pasta instead in bowls that do not allow the contents to be seen or the slices of pie in the foil.
June 30, 2023 (change June 30, 2023 | 08:28)
© Time.News
#crave #fatty #foods #tricks #avoid #time.news