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7 Tips to Tame Your Wild Appetite!

Diet & Nutrition Inspiring People
by Cliff Harvey, 18 January 2018

Cravings and an untamed desire to eat are some of our biggest obstacles if we want to improve our health and physical condition. While we often think that willpower is the only way to tame cravings and desire, in fact, the best way is to address your body’s reasons for cravings, and many of these result from the foods we eat and the way we eat them. There are some tips to tame your wild appetite that you can follow that are simple to integrate into your daily routine.

A good way to look at the flip side of craving for food is through the term satiety. Satiety is a way of expressing the state of being physically nourished and satisfied. I think we all know that feeling. It’s the feeling we have when we say, “I’m done” and push the plate away from us and don’t feel the need to eat again shortly after or experience any sort of energy crash.

There are a few ways that are clinically validated to help tame your wild appetite!

Eat more protein

    Protein is more satiating than either carbohydrate or fat.¹ This means that it promotes the greatest feelings of being fully satisfied after a meal. There is even a theory (the ‘Protein Leverage Hypothesis’) that suggests that we will eat until we have had sufficient protein!² So, if you’re not eating enough protein, especially if you’re eating a lot of protein-poor, carb, and sugar-rich foods, your meals won’t be truly satisfying. On the other hand, increasing protein intake can help you to eat less (not to mention lose fat and retain muscle) …without even realizing you’re doing it!3-5

    Nuzest’s tasty and satisfying Clean Lean Protein supplies 19-21 grams of plant-based protein.

    Eat more veggies!

      Veggies are bulky. There are a couple of things that affect whether we feel satisfied after a meal. One is the protein content; another is how comforting it is (i.e. do we enjoy the taste and texture). And, yet another is direct feedback from the stretch reflex as food passes down the gut. Repeated exposures to mouthfuls of bulky foods provide this reflex and help to tell us when we’re full and satisfied.

      Choose satiating carbs and/or reduce carb intake

        Not all foods… and not all carbs are created equal when it comes to satiety! It’s been demonstrated that bulkier foods promote greater satiety (such as veggies, as mentioned already) and some foods cause us to eat less overall, even if we haven’t felt more satisfied. Some foods have also been shown to be more satiating and cause people to eat less over a short time after eating them. While there hasn’t been a lot of research in this area some of the most satiating carb foods included potatoes, oatmeal, and apples, which were between 2 and 3 times more satiating than white bread.6

        Overall, the more natural, whole, and unprocessed

        a carb food is, the more likely it is to improve your satiating and reduce overeating. It’s also worth noting that simply reducing your carb intake can help you to tame your appetite. Lower-carbohydrate diets have also been shown to reduce calorie intake compared to higher-carb diets.7,8

        Eat until you’re full!

          One of the reasons that I believe we often have a hard time being satisfied from food is because we don’t allow ourselves to be.

          For a long time, we’ve been told to snack and graze and eat until we’re moderately full. I mean seriously… do you even know what it feels like to be moderately full? Because I sure don’t! Many of us have been shamed into thinking being full is bad, but the body has evolved to go out, find food, and then when we find it, to eat abundantly! That’s why it works so well to eat substantial, real-food meals until we’re satisfied, and then go some period without eating. It’s also one of the reasons why occasional fasting is not just normal for us but can also be so beneficial.

          Don’t mindlessly snack

            Despite being told for decades that we should eat small, frequent meals and to snack and graze throughout the day, snacking is the worst habit if you want to feel, look and perform better. But when we snack, we tend to overeat, and we are never properly satisfied. Snacking contributes to a perpetual increase in insulin which makes losing fat more difficult. Snacks are also lower in essential vitamins and minerals, and healthy fibers and starches than complete, balanced meals. In fact, evidence suggests a strong link between snacking behaviors and both increased obesity and poor quality food choices.9

            Slow down and eat mindfully

              Eating food too quickly can reduce feelings of fullness and satisfaction, leading to overeating.10,11

              Conversely, slowing down and eating mindfully can reduce stress – and body weight. Chew food thoroughly and be mindful of the food you are eating. This encourages better digestion of food and allows the body to come to its natural point of fullness and satisfaction.

              Take a whole-food-based multivitamin

                One of the reasons that many practitioners, myself included, think we crave food and eat more is because we haven’t yet taken in enough of the essential vitamins and minerals AND the secondary nutrients that we derive from whole food complexes (such as health-supporting antioxidants, herbs, probiotics, and resistant starches). Many of us don’t get enough of these “little guys” that are so important for overall health and performance.

                Taking a multivitamin can certainly help, but taking a whole-food-based multi-nutrient that includes vegetables, berries, herbs, and medicinal mushrooms can help to not only cover your nutritional bases but also provide an array of nutrient complexes that can take your health to the next-level AND reduce your desire to overeat.

                If you have an unrelenting, wild appetite that needs some help wrangling in that hunger, integrate some of these helpful tips into your day. And in no time, the hunger beast in your belly should be tamed and under control!

                References

                1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18469287
                2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15836464
                3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16002798
                4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19153580
                5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15303109
                6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7498104
                7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18175736
                8. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa022207
                9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15809664
                10. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07317100802483223
                11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19875483

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