Thursday, August 21, 2014

Speed of digestion/absorption

The speed of digestion and absorption comes into hunger, Cooked food digest quicker. So do ground foods. Perhaps even well chewed foods. Does this impact weight? Does this also effect the time to satiation? You bet. The solution? Metered meal. Go away. Work at something we enjoy and are engrossed in until it is time for something else. Driven by the clock and a continuous stream of activity or functions, not involving food. 

Such is the life of the physical caused craving person.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Relationship between Palatability, Satiation and Cravings

It seams that for some people, there is a relationship between the palatability of foods, the satiation provided and cravings or irrational or unwanted desire for foods.  I think I have spoken of this before, but, OH well, one more time.

Now the tabular way I see this relationship is:


Palatablity
Satiation
Cravings or desires
Hyper Palatablity
Very low, More please
More please
High Palatablity
Low, more
Could eat
Medium Palatablity
enough
enough
Low Palatablity
Enough already
No Thanks
Un Palatablity
No thanks
No way


 So what does all this mean? Well it does suggests that one should stay away from high and hyper palatable foods. It also suggest that anything that we do where food is available will raise cravings. This we know.

It also suggest that being a foodie is not good for the weight, nor is associating in any way with foodies. They are dangerous to my health.

Who was the old Greek, Epicurus perhaps but no, that talked about a nation destroyed with too much good food, that gave rise to Spartism. Barley porridge, with a an few weed from the ditch (herbs, spices, vegetables), occasionally a dead fish or dead animal on feast days, or a bit of cheese was a feast (the excretions of one animal fermented in the gut of another dead animal). Hunger was and is the best appetizer. 

Or is this all just hedonistic adaptation?
































Tuesday, August 12, 2014

The Key revisited with cravings

There are five groups of reasons that cause overeating:


  1. willful overeating, as in Newfie,   I wants________.
  2. cravings - started with physical causes
  3. Cravings - started with environment and temptations
  4. CRAvings - made worse by maladaptive behavior
  5. CRAVINGS - Started and continued with - food addiction
Hypothesis: Cravings can be moderated with placebos (fact); therefore they can be moderated by cognitive processes and removal of precursors and chemicals from the food we consume.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Cravings research yeilds

It seems we have three "circuits" involved. Dopamine, serotonin, end-opioid. Pre-components, Production, receptors, re-uptake. And there is where agreement ends. Something is not quite right, and cravings are the default occurrence.

Well, also the placebo effect also utilizes these same three circuits; we naturally make and our mind, body emotions all effect the amount we produce.

Seems that some foods disrupt equilibrium, wheat and dairy fats by providing exopioids peptides, sugar by flushing the  serotonin from the gut to blood and hence to brain, and any anticipation screws with dopamine. Stress or emotional issue make thing more confusing by also using the same circuits. No shit, bat man. It is so interrelated, it might as well be the Yokums or the Weises, to which, I can say, are in my ancestral bush (more diverse than a tree).

So if we eat anything we like, (high palatable),  desire, or look forward too, we may be causing it through the placebo effect, or we could be ingesting the building blocks to push production of one hormone up or down, turning a sensor or receptor on or off, or speeding or slowing uptake. It will be a while before anyone gets a handle on this stuff.

I guess the only think is to keep reading.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

More on Cravings Research.

There is much confusion about cravings, it is time to do some reading and clipping.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/food-craving.htm   says  most revolve around the hedonic, or pleasurable, aspects of dining [source: Hill] so off I go to Hill.
Hill, Andrew J. "The psychology of food craving.

http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FPNS%2FPNS66_02%2FS0029665107005502a.pdf

Hill does not accept food addiction. OK. Hill goes on to suggest that cravings are cognitive / emotional, not physical / chemical. He suggests that it is craving mainly are for highly palatable foods. Boredom and stress make cravings worse. OK.

Does this mean that cravings would reduce if I only ate palatable food. We would need a palatablity scale, un, low, medium, high, hyper. So no high or hyper palatable foods. Is satiation related to palatablity in an inverse fashion? No, enough, enough, more, please more, for a direct inverse related satiety scale. So if cravings are hedonic, if I only east low and medium palatable food I will not crave or crave less? Is that what you are suggesting, Hill?  I will need to test that a bit before I swallow that. It could be all shit.

Experts believe that cravings occur for a variety of reasons. They attribute them to evolution, psychological factors such as stress and unhappiness, and  -  sometimes  -  a genuine need for certain foods.

from source noted below
'It's crucial to remember that a food craving is not simply hunger,' says Professor Andrew Hill, Head of the Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Leeds University.
Hunger is the body's way of making sure it is provided with energy, in the form of nutrients from food. When the stomach is empty, it releases the hormone ghrelin, which communicates with the brain's command centre, the hypothalamus. This creates the feeling of hunger and is how we know when to eat.
Satiation is signalled by the release of the hormones leptin by fat cells, and insulin by the pancreas, in response to increased blood sugar.
Cravings, however, are much more complex.
'Those who are starving will eat literally anything  -  even foods they do not enjoy  -  to stay alive,' says psychologist Dr Leigh Gibson, Reader in Biopsychology at Roehampton University.
'Cravings, on the other hand, are an overwhelming sensation of desire for a certain food. There are a number of chemicals in the brain that are associated with this.
'First, there is dopamine, a brain chemical that is involved in learning and concentration. When we see or experience something new, dopamine is released in the brain.
'This works in tandem with other brain chemicals called opioids, which give us feelings of enjoyment and pleasure. The combination of these two factors mean that the brain associates certain activities with pleasure, and it teaches us to do them again and again.
'From an evolutionary point of view, junk food cravings are linked to prehistoric times when the brain's opioids and dopamine reacted to the benefit of high-calorie food as a survival mechanism.
'We are programmed to enjoy eating fatty and sugary substances, and our brains tell us to seek them out.
'Today, we still have the same chemical reactions to these so-called hyper-palatable foods, causing an unignorable desire  -  despite there being less of a nutritional need for them.' 

Also note that when insulin is high, we cannot see leptin. Lustig says it is insulin molecule blocks the leptin receptor. 
Also note that sugar and fat we needed to survive better long term. Those who ate sugar and fat stored a bit more energy for the lean time. Those of us that fatten easily and have those cravings had a better chance of survival... but not in time of plenty. We just crave and get fat, fast or eat only low palatability foods for a while, and the excess should go away, as long as we can avoid the cravings.

more from above


The body produces a hormone called cortisol in response to stress,' explains Dr Gibson.
'Its primary functions are to increase sugar in the blood to be used up as energy by the body's cells, suppress the immune system and aid in fat, protein and carbohydrate metabolism. It also blocks the release of leptin and insulin, increasing hunger.
'This is why studies have shown that when we're stressed, we're more likely drawn towards high-energy foods, such as cakes and sweets. Stress in response to danger used to mean energy was burned up. Stress down to today's lifestyle may have the same effect, though these days we are less likely to actually burn off the calories.'
Then there are the psychological components to cravings.
'Mood is unquestionably a potent context  -  especially negative mood,' says Prof Hill.
'We crave reward foods. The pattern for this is partially set in childhood when parents give us sweet food to show love or reward.'
Anna Raymond, of the British Dietetic Association, agrees.
'Cravings are a psychological need for high-fat and high-sugar foods which taste pleasant  -  but which should, of course, form only a small part of our daily intake.'
Dr Gibson points out that sweet food can actively alleviate pain by releasing opioids, thus excusing us for giving sweets to a hurt child. Researchers at the University of Michigan found that chocolate causes the brain to release these euphoria-inducing chemicals.
Unsurprisingly, more than 50 per cent of reported cravings are for chocolate and most others are for highly palatable foods such as sweets or biscuits.
'Chocolate melts at body temperature which gives a pleasant sensation, and fat and sugar further increase the sensory appeal,' says Prof Hill.
Gender can influence the nature of cravings. According to Prof Hill, studies show that women predominantly crave sweet, fatty and energy-dense food and men have more savoury cravings, although it is not yet understood why. 

So what does all this mean? We have a number of potential cause of cravings:
  • Cognitive 
  • Physical
  • Environmental
  • Maladaptive or emotional, stress
  • food addiction - food chemical induce
And after the craving is a space, where it should be forced through the cognitive processes before we react to any craving.  
In the words of Victor Frankl: "between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our own personal response and in that response lies our growth and freedom."