Author:
February 20, 2023
mbg Founder & Co-CEO
mbg Founder & Co-CEO
Jason Wachob is the Founder and Co-CEO of mindbodygreen and the author of Wellth.
February 20, 2023
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Here’s the thing: We’re all about listening to your natural hunger cues. You are the expert of your own body—we won’t pretend to know it better than you do. That being said, sometimes (many times) those natural hunger cues can become hijacked by certain cravings. It’s not that your body really needs those chocolate covered pretzels, so why do they feel oh-so satisfying?
“We’re not nourishing ourselves the way we should be,” says integrative medicine doctor Amy Shah, M.D., author of I’m So Effing Hungry, on this episode of the mindbodygreen podcast. “When you nourish your cravings the proper way, you’re craving the right things, you’re feeling happy, and you are living a healthier life.”
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Make no mistake, we do encourage treating yourself every once in a while (enjoy those chocolate covered pretzels!). But if you’re curious how to hack your hunger hormones and control unhealthier cravings, Shah has you covered with her tips below.
“The gut is a stronger driver of cravings than even our minds,” says Shah. “Most of your cravings are coming from the gut bacteria1 that are fighting for the messaging to your brain.” Essentially, your gut bacteria send certain signals to your brain to crave certain foods. “Gut bacteria want to survive, and they’re able to actually hijack the communication systems in our bodies to satisfy their own hunger and cravings,” Shah explains.
And what do gut bacteria crave? Fermented foods. “One of the biggest things that we’ve seen in a landmark study recently is that fermented foods make the biggest difference in the gut microbiome2,” says Shah. Think foods like yogurt, apple cider vinegar, kefir, kimchi, kombucha, and miso, which are all naturally high in probiotics—aka, good bacteria—that help optimize gut health.
Overall, though, “you want to eat real foods,” Shah adds. “Foods that don’t have labels on them—fruits, vegetables, whole grains, [and foods] that are full of fiber.”
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Cravings are fueled by dopamine, says Shah, as opposed to nourishing your body. That said, you can “hack” those cravings by giving yourself a big burst of dopamine in a slightly altered way. Enter, intermittent rewards.
“Intermittent, unexpected rewards have the biggest burst of dopamine and the highest chance of getting embedded in that pathway,” says Shah. When you experience an unexpected reward, imagine your body receiving a big explosion of dopamine. So try giving yourself an intermittent reward, say, three times a week—but this time, you choose a healthier reward. If you’re trying to kick a refined sugar habit, perhaps you reward yourself with dark chocolate unexpectedly.
When the reward pops up—maybe it’s a reminder on your phone—take a break and truly enjoy that dark chocolate. “Do a little bit of cognitive behavioral therapy,” says Shah. “Say, ‘I am so amazing that I’m choosing this dark chocolate. This is going to be so delicious. This is the highest quality dark chocolate.’”
The only caveat: Make sure that your intermittent rewards are truly random. “It can’t be Monday, Wednesday, Friday at noon—it has to be intermittent,” Shah says. “And that is a way that you can actually retrain your brain to love that chocolate and feel a big burst of dopamine.”
“Your hunger hormones are actually out of whack when you lose sleep,” says Shah. “You actually have higher levels of ghrelin and lower levels of leptin3, so you’re less satisfied and hungrier when you don’t get enough sleep.” So there’s a reason you crave sugary sweets and/or salty snacks after a night of poor sleep.
Not to mention, Shah says, you have lower levels of serotonin4 and dopamine when you lose sleep, which might be another reason why you crave unhealthier, processed foods—your body might be looking for a quick boost.
Of course, prioritizing deep, quality sleep is easier said than done. If you’re having trouble catching Zzz’s, see these expert-backed tips to fall asleep faster, and check out our favorite natural sleep aids.
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4.
Have a dopamine-rich breakfast.
“In the morning, you want to break your fast with dopamine-rich foods, because you want that motivation, you want that drive, you want that energy,” says Shah. “Dopamine is closely related to norepinephrine5, which gives you that adrenaline boost in the morning.”
What are dopamine-rich foods, you ask? They’re essentially foods high in protein—yogurt, eggs, nuts and seeds, etc. “Naturally high-protein foods are the dopamine-rich foods, because they contain an amino acid called tyrosine, which converts into dopamine in the brain, and it’s a great way to start your day,” says Shah. Protein-packed breakfasts help you stay full6, so you’re less likely to engage in compulsive snacking throughout the day. Egg or tofu scramble, anyone?
The takeaway.
Cravings aren’t really about the unhealthy foods themselves but the neurological response you feel after eating them. And according to Shah, it all comes down to dopamine. To take back control of your hunger hormones, think about the foods that truly nourish your body, then try to turn them into a dopamine-rich experience.
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