Myth: Food cravings are our body's way of telling us that we need certain nutrients.On Friday I wrote about how to tell the difference between hunger and cravings. Today I'm going a bit deeper into cravings, specifically the falsehood that it's our body's way of telling us we need certain nutrients. If today's myth were true, you would crave peas, tuna, oysters, spinach, and Swiss cheese since these foods are high in zinc, omega 3 fatty acids and Vitamin D. These three micronutrients are the most commonly inadequate in our diet. Cravings for pizza, ice cream, chips, chocolate, fries, bacon, cheeseburgers are all learned behaviors. Before we dive into today's myth let's first use some common language. Cravings are a state of heightened eating motivation that is directed at a specific food. Hunger is a nonspecific motivation for calorie-containing food in general. It's important not to interchange the two. If you're really hungry, you'll be willing to eat fish and steamed broccoli. If you're not, you're most likely craving something based upon a learned response to it. Cravings follow a predictable pattern of cue, routine, reward. Our brains are hard-wired for specific physiological and psychological needs such as water, social support, physical comfort, sex, and of course, food. When we successfully acquire one of those things our brain releases dopamine. Dopamine is an incredibly powerful feel-good biochemical that we instantly want more of. We form an association, a cue, that the thing we just ate, drank, touched, or had sex with is what makes us feel so good. Of course, we don't know that we feel so good because of the dopamine release. We just want more of the thing. Every time we get it we get more dopamine which reinforces the thing and thus our routine is created. Let's explore a real world craving example of pizza. In the very primal part of our brain, pizza is an outstanding source of calories from delicious fat, carbs and perhaps protein. As you eat it your brain releases dopamine and also catalogs all of the smells, sights, and tastes of the pizza. The association becomes so strong that all you need now is a reminder of the pizza and you'll start salivating and craving it. You experience this when you see a pizza commercial on TV or when someone suggests going out to Bridger Brewery after Friday night's workout. You start salivating and obsessing about pizza. This is because the last time you ate it your brain released one of the most addictive chemicals on earth into your blood stream. Here's an illustration of how this works from the smart folks at Examine.com. Since we're all unique snowflakes some of us crave salty things and some of us crave sweet things. But none of us crave healthy things. That's because cravings are a hold-over from ancient times when highly-palatable high caloric food wasn't available 24 hours of the day. Back when we had to hunt, gather and travel for miles and miles just to get something calorically dense our brains rewarded us. It motivated us to find that amazing food source again. Now, all we have to do is call and it will be delivered to our front door!
Chocolate and sugar cravings are even more interesting because of the addition of another highly addictive biochemical called theobromine. Theobromine is a stimulant that accentuates fat and sugar’s natural ability to spike dopamine signaling. That's why sugar cravings are the hardest to control. Some research suggests that sugar is the most addictive drug on the planet, more so than crack, cocaine, meth and heroine. Good luck controlling that craving! Since cravings are driven by sensory cues (sight and smell) the most straightforward way to control cravings is to avoid exposing yourself to those cues. If temptation is not around you can more easily avoid it. Clear out your freezer, fridge and pantry and "it's out of sight out of mind." In the meantime, the next time you see a social media post about how cravings are our body's way of telling us that we need certain nutrients you can confidently call "bullshit." There's a LOT of silly bullshit on social media and I want you help you identify it. Do you have a myth you want me to explore? Tell me in the comments.
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The Myth of Spot ReductionIf I had a dollar for every time someone asked me which exercises to do so they can have abs, or how many Jane Fonda's they have to do to shrink their thighs, or what to do to stop the batwings from swinging I could go SCUBA diving in the Seychelles. All of these questions relate to the one myth, that no matter how much science has debunked, infomercials keep alive and kicking and that is the myth of spot reduction.
Spot reduction is the erroneous idea that you can do a specific exercise to reduce body fat in a specific part of your body to obtain a specific look. Most of these junk exercise routines and products (shake weight or thigh master anyone?) are targeted towards women, e.g. "21 days to flat abs! 2 Weeks to toned arms! 30 days butt lift challenge!" Don't believe me? Look Here. The truth is, to get toned (whatever the hell that means) or to have visible abs, or slimmer thighs, or arms that don't wave back at you, you have to reduce your OVERALL body fat AND lift weights. When I talk about lifting weights I don't mean lifting 5 pounds 100 times. You're better off lifting 20 pounds 25 times or 50 pounds 10 times. All three of those combinations equal 500 pounds lifted, but the heavier weights will have a greater impact on your metabolism, which will in turn burn more calories, which will in turn help you lose body fat. If you're frustrated because you have a part of your body that just seems to hold onto body fat, guess what? You're human! All of us are unique snowflakes and it is our hormones that have the biggest influence on our body composition. Our hormones are determined through a marriage of our genes AND our lifestyle (eating, sleeping, drinking and stress management). Not only that, where your body stored fat when you were 20 will change when you're 30, and will certainly change when your 40, and if you're a woman, hold onto your butts cause shit gets weird with menopause. There is no way you can crunch away your belly fat. You have to eat less calories than you burn to do that, and perhaps, if you're not genetically gifted you might not ever have visible abs. There are 2 very famous CrossFit Games athletes who have very low body fat percentages who aren't genetically gifted with a 6 pack. Camille Leblanc Bazinet and Jamie Haiya have both addressed body image in the CrossFit community. To achieve whatever body composition standard you want, first ask your self why you want it and second become very clear on what you're willing to do to get it. Getting your body fat low enough so that you have visible abs takes a lot of work and can come at a high price. Read this great article from Precision Nutrition on the high price of getting lean. You've heard our Coaches say time and again, "You can't out-exercise your diet" and "Six-packs are made in the kitchen." 3/25 Myth Busting Monday - How to Think Critically About Things You See On the Internet...3/24/2024 ...Or, How to Spot BullshitIt's Myth Busting Monday and you may have noticed that I've been exploring how to wade through mis-information and silly bullshit so that you can critically explore the newest magic tonic, shake, or elixir that your Facebook friend is trying to sell you. Spring cleanses are all the rage now. I wrote about the pseudoscience of the cleanse last week. This week I want to share the 9 most common sales tactics quacks and charlatans use to get you to buy their magic cure. Do not be fooled. The Supplement industry is BIG BUSINESS. In 2021, the global supplement industry was worth 152 BILLION dollars. It has absolutely no quality control nor third party oversight. Unlike regulated pharmaceuticals, supplement companies have no obligation of testing for safety or efficacy. Literally anyone can make a miracle balm, salve, tonic, powder, or pill and sell it to you using all the language shown in the graphic below and it is not against any law. I think you, and I, deserve better. I think we deserve to know if the magic miracle balm, salve, tonic, powder, or pill actually works. Fortunately for us, we do have some resources so we can "do our own research" and we can use our fantastic critical thinking skills. Thinking is Power is one such resource. It's a project develop by a science educator at a Massachusetts community college to help her students learn science literacy, critical thinking, and information literacy. Having been a science educator myself, I appreciate what Thinking is Power is doing. Here is great information on the sales tactics used by many supplement companies. Do you recognize this type of wording and language? I've seen it on almost everything sold by quacks and charlatans. The graphic graphic below specifically uses 9 tactics to sell you their miracle cure. Can you identify them? How many did you identify? I'm sure all of us have seen products with one if not all of these claims. Here's a rundown of all 9 tactics for bamboozlement and swindling. 1. They ask you to commit - "Try it for 30 days free!" Critical thinking skills are fundamental to being able to successfully navigate life and not fall prey to charlatans, quacks and snake-oil salespeople. Want me to explore a myth? Suggest one in the comments.
The Myth of the Spring Cleanse or Perhaps You Should Just Pay Attention to Your Poop.Spring is here and so are all the "Spring Resets" and "Spring Cleanses" someone wants to sell you. I am hearing more folks talk about doing a cleanse or needing a reset to help us rebound from all the sideways choices we've made since the New Year. That was was only 78 days ago! Let me just put this up front. You don't need to "cleanse" or do a reset. Just start by increasing your fruits and vegetables at every meal and drinking more water. When I decided to bust the myth of a cleanse today I wasn't sure I would be able to do it in less than 250 words. There's just so much to say about the fallacy of cleansing. First, let's just apply some basic biology. You already possess an amazing cleansing and detoxifying system in your body. This system features (FOR FREE:-) your liver and kidneys, and to a lesser extent your lungs and skin. The PRIMARY job or your liver and kidneys is eliminate biochemicals from our body. Yep, it's true! Our lungs and skin also have a role to play through ventilation and and sweating. Our body is an amazing and adaptive collection of organs, organelles, and tissues and it's in our best interest to quickly and effectively shuttle undesirable biochemicals out of our tissues. Second, and this usually stumps most people, what it is EXACTLY you're trying to rid yourself of. Most folks, and especially the people who are trying to sell you the magic cleansing product, will answer with the dreaded T words, toxins. Well, which ones? What kind? How do you know what's toxic? Anything, even WATER, is toxic if it is ingested or inhaled in the wrong amounts. When someone drowns they die of inhaling water in toxic amounts. You can even die by DRINKING too much water. It's called hyponatremia and it's a real problem. Often, a cleanse is usually accompanied by a fast (24-48 hour fasting is the most popular) thus the cleanse has some weight loss element. Let's think about what's really going on here. We need a "re-set" because we've been making a series of lifestyle choices with regards to food, alcohol, sleep, and exercise and we just want to start over. Well, you can do all of that FOR FREE with your next meal. Then you can do it again without any special product or magic drink at your next meal. It's called choice and we all posses the ability to make one. If you're attracted to the fasting element, then just try that. Fasting costs you nothing and yes, you will probably lose some weight. One thing that I can advocate that will help you re-set is to drink water. Water, the universal solvent, is amazing in its ability to lubricate the detoxifying systems of your body. Water will help your kidneys and liver do all of the amazing cleansing they naturally do so well. Water will fill your belly so you don't feel so hungry. Water will make you pee which means your kidneys are doing their job. Water will help you poop which means your digestive system is doing its job of elimination. In fact, monitoring your poop is cheaper than a cleanse and will give you valuable insight into your health. The shape, smell, consistency and frequency of your turds can clue you in to the affect of your lifestyle choices. Here is a great infographic about poop health from the Precision Nutrition folks. I challenge you to drink more water and keep track of your poo for the next week. Starting today through next Monday, I want you to note the frequency, consistency and aroma of your poop. You can keep a handwritten poo-journal next to your toilet, or you can step into the future and download a poop-tracking app for your phone. YES! They exist. You can find one that fits your poop-lifestyle here: The Best Poo Tracking Apps.
How much water? Let's start with 1/3 to 1/2 your body weight in ounces. If you weigh 140 pounds then try drinking 46-70 ounces of water. Do you have a myth you want me to bust? Tell me in the comments! |
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