Skip to main content

Food Trends: The Reality of Carb Cravings

I have a lot of clients who come to my office with “a fear of carbs.”  They are either avoiding carbs or craving carbs.   Each visit is independent of each other, however the guilt, stress, and confusion is usually similar.  As I silently and calmly thank the media for yet again mass misinformation we soldier on and figure out the best plan to move forward.


My theory has always been that the more you restrict your calories, a.k.a the fuel your body needs to get things done, the more your body is going to crave its simplest form of energy.  That unfortunately is carbs and if you aren’t eating enough of these the cravings are going to be constant and strong.


You can imagine how excited I was when I read Cornell’s latest study that explored the relationship between hunger and food choices and consumption. The study reviewed 128 students and split them into two groups.  One group fasted for 18 hours starting at 6 pm and the other (the control group) did not fast.  Twelve weekday lunches were reviewed during the study and the results satisfied my theory I stand by.


Those in the fasting group were more likely to start their meal with starches over anything else picking starches a third of the time verse the non-fasting group who only picked starches 10% of the time. 

The most interesting part of the study hypothesized that starting a meal with a particular food led all participants to consume 46.7% percent more calories of the particular food compared with other foods and those who started their meals with carbs ate 20% more total calories than their peers.


Dr. Tal and his researchers speculate that hunger sets off a desire for carbohydrates. “It’s a quicker, higher-energy source,” he said. “You’re essentially maximizing calories per time, so you replenish your deficit faster.” 


My clients will tell you how important I think maximizing metabolic efficiency is by focusing on timing of meals and the appropriate ratio of carbs/proteins/fats. It’s a science that’s worth exploring to get results.  If you have a fear of carbs or find that you restrict during the day and if you lack energy or are consistently tired it may be worth exploring this concept more.  Have you had any experience with this? I’d love to hear about it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Family Nutrition: What’s the deal with Multivitamins?

This is definitely one of my top ten questions from clients and frankly it’s a hard question because there isn’t a generic answer.   The internet and such stores as the Vitamin Shoppe and GNC continue to place a lot of focus on vitamins and minerals and some of my clients swear by their regimen.   I’ve even had some clients tell me they can tell a difference within hours of taking certain supplementations.    Since this is a subject I try to tame my responses too, I was very glad to see the article “Multivitamins, So Many Types, So Many Labels” by Melinda Beck in the Wall Street Journal published June 21, 2001.   Did you know that the multivitamin is the number one dietary supplement producing $4.8 billion back in 2008 and that one third of American’s take multivitamins religiously?   As Melinda points out there are many different varieties of multivitamins yet there is no specific formulation that specifies what a multivitamin should look like.  ...
4 comments
Read more

Food Trends: A note about Stevia (zero calorie sugar substitute)

We’re all on the lookout for that sugar substitute that withholds calories, tastes good, and is natural and safe.   Recently I was asked what my thoughts were on Stevia?   Well to tell you the truth I didn’t have many thoughts on the product because basically I didn’t know much about it, except that in my mind it was a zero calorie product that could be substituted for table sugar.   I put this thought in my attic with the hopes of getting more acquainted at a later time. As I get myself more familiar lets start with the derivation.   Stevia is an herb that comes from South America and has been used by the Guarani Indians of Paraguay for over 100 years.   This is advertised on the Stevia website along with a statement that it provides zero calories because the body doesn’t metabolize glycosides from the leaf or processed forms.   Essentially Stevia is absorbed by the gut and broken down into Stevol which is excreted from the body as a waste.   Th...
5 comments
Read more

Food Trends: Plant vs. Animal Protein

In my practice I see a lot of vegetarians who have a lot of questions about the types of protein they eat.   In case you need a refresher, animal proteins are proteins derived from meat, dairy, and eggs.   Plant protein is derived from nuts, seeds, beans, legumes and soy.   Most animal proteins are higher in saturated fat as well as cholesterol which have been proved to increase risks of arteriosclerosis, a precursor to cardiovascular disease.   A lot of the general public, not just vegetarians, are starting to focus on decreasing intakes of animal proteins and focusing on plant sources to decrease total calorie, fat, and cholesterol intake.   It’s important to know that most generally healthy individuals only need .8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.   Basically this means that a 150 pound man or woman requires about 54 grams of protein in an entire day. Protein is made from amino acids.   Although there are many amino acids, ther...
Post a Comment
Read more