Hi folks, weҲe excited to have Board-Certified health and wellness coach Erin Power back to break down the emotional and psychological reasons we crave comfort foods. If youҶe vowed to stick to a Primal diet this year, youҬl definitely want to check out this weekҳ post. Got a question for our health coaches? Head over to our Markҳ Daily Apple Facebook group or ask it in the comments below. ࠌuke asked: Ӊҭ a few weeks into eating Primal and I canҴ seem to shake my cravings for comfort food. You know, mac Ѯ cheese, beer, ice cream. I really want to stick to healthy eating this time and canҴ understand why itҳ always such a struggle.ԠYou probably wonҴ be surprised to hear that sugar is highly addictive. And that includes foods that turn to sugar in the body, like mac Ѯ cheese, beer, crackers, cerealŹou get the picture. But what you may not realize is that when you consume those foods, you experience a temporary rise in serotonin levels and then a fairly drastic crash. Thatҳ why sugar gives you such a high. And then leaves you craving more once you get those cranky, hangry withdrawal symptoms. Do Fat and Carbs Cause Cravings? The macronutrients fat and carbohydrates are two of the main components of comfort foods. Fat and carbs arenҴ inherently bad, but when combined they tend to pack a punch, metabolically speaking. As I mentioned, carbohydrates raise the feel-good neurotransmitter, serotonin, while fat has the phenomenal ability to soothe. In fact, this study found that when participants consumed saturated fat, they became less emotionally affected while watching a sad movie or listening to sad music. Thatҳ why certain foods are so addictive. And the situation gets worse when youҲe under stress. Not only that, research shows that the areas of the brain triggered by cravings (the hippocampus, caudate, and insula) are the same as those implicated with drug and alcohol addiction. These are the parts of the brain associated with our reward system and the emotional connection we develop every time we repeat a behaviour. Eat and Repeat: Creating Neural Pathways Every time you repeat an action, whether itҳ one you want to keep doing or not, you reinforce your neural pathways. These are pathways that send signals from one part of the brain to another. Eventually, those actions become automatic. Itҳ like if you took the same route to work every day. After a handful of times, you wouldnҴ have to think about it anymore. Your brain automatically knows where to go. The same thing happens with cravings. When you reach for a big ole bowl of mac Ѯ cheese each time you feel low or stressed out, you engage in the process of continuous reinforcement. The emotion (feeling low or stressed) triggers the action (eating), which elicits the reward (feeling good). Basically, itҳ not your fault that you have cravings. That doesnҴ mean youҲe stuck with them though. Cravings can also be a sign ŠContinue reading Ask a Health Coach: More of Your Cravings Questions AnsweredThe post Ask a Health Coach: More of Your Cravings Questions Answered appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple