5 Tips to Conquer Your Cravings

The brain is your command and control center. It’s how you make good or bad decisions about behavior and food, and it tells you:

• What, when and how much to eat.
• What to buy at the grocery store or order in a restaurant.
• When and how often to exercise.

Here are 5 ways to conquer your cravings:

1. Keep your blood sugar balanced.

Low blood sugar levels are associated with lower overall brain activity, including lower activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), the brain’s brake. Low brain activity here means more cravings and more bad decisions. Low blood sugar levels can make you feel hungry, irritable, or anxious—all of which make you more likely to make poor choices.

2. Decrease the artificial sweeteners.

If you really want to decrease your cravings, you must get rid of the artificial sweeteners in your diet. We think of these sweeteners as free, because they have no calories, but because they are up to 600 times sweeter than sugar, they may activate the appetite centers of the brain making you crave even more food and more sugar.

3. Manage your stress.

Chronic stress has been associated with increased appetite, sugar and fat cravings, and abdominal obesity, as well as low energy, poor concentration, elevated cholesterol levels, heart disease, and hypertension, as well as an increased risk for strokes, diabetes (reduced sensitivity to insulin), muscle wasting, osteoporosis, anxiety, depression, irregular menstrual periods, lowered libido, and decreased fertility. To decrease your cravings, get on a daily stress-management program.

4. Get moving.

Scientific research has found that physical activity can cut cravings whether you crave sugary snacks or things like cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs. A 2009 study in the journal Appetite showed that cravings for chocolate decreased following a 15-minute brisk walk. Instead of immediately giving in to your cravings or focusing on how much you want something, get moving if possible.

5. Get adequate sleep.

Have you ever noticed that after a night with almost no sleep, you wake up ravenously hungry and want to eat anything and everything in sight? That is because lack of sleep increases food cravings. An expanding body of scientific evidence has shown that the less sleep you get, the more cravings you have, the more calories you eat, the more belly fat you have, and the higher your BMI.

Hungry for More?

• Learn about your brain type, and then, your entire program will be personalized to meet YOUR brain’s needs.
• Get moving with step-by-step workout routines.
• Plan brain healthy meals and download recipes.
• Soothe your stress and learn how to kill the ANTs – Automatic Negative Thoughts – that sneak into your head and ruin your day.
• Fall asleep faster with my guided imagery audio recordings.

Amen Clinics Can Help

The Amen Clinics Method uses a detailed clinical history and brain SPECT imaging to understand brain function, neuropsychological testing and often laboratory studies to fully understand what is going on for each of our patients. We combine all the data from your evaluation to create a targeted treatment plan specifically for your brain using the least toxic, most effective means. For more information please call 888-288-9834 or tell us more online.