Balanced Diet Helps Control Cravings, Overindulgence

Bloomsday and Valentine’s Day have something in common. Both the runner’s high and the warm, fuzzy feeling from eating chocolates are created by brain chemicals called endorphins.

Endorphins are one of many types of neurotransmitters. Serotonin, which helps your body relax and handle stress more effectively, is another neurotransmitter that’s been receiving a lot of press.

The types, amounts and combinations of food you eat directly affect your body’s production of and ability to sustain neurotransmitters.

The taste of chocolate and/or sugar produces a special type of neurotransmitter called beta-endorphin. After a disturbing day at work or a stressful situation, a bowl of ice cream or a piece (or two or three) of candy will change your emotional state from grumpy to giddy.

Alcohol also creates an instant blast of beta-endorphin in some people. When a person goes “cold turkey” trying to eliminate sweets or alcohol, their brains become more sensitive to even small amounts of the pleasurable substances (called “brain upregulation”). That’s why most people trying to quit drinking can’t have just one drink. The endorphin rush from that one drink, or one chocolate chip cookie, will be euphoric, making them even more difficult to avoid.

Over time, it takes more and more alcohol - or chocolate chip cookies - to produce the same effect (called “brain down-regulation”). So we end up eating or drinking larger quantities, trying to reproduce the euphoria - like moving from a single short mocha to a triple grande.

If your blood sugar is low, your body uses more endorphins and serotonin to maintain your mental and emotional state. Once brain neurotransmitter levels are depleted, it can be difficult to get them back in balance.

“Low serotonin levels produce insomnia, depression, food cravings, increased sensitivity to pain, aggressive behavior, and poor body-temperature regulation,” nutritionist Elizabeth Somer writes in “Food & Mood” (Henry Holt, 1995).

Keeping serotonin and endorphins at optimal levels means eating at least three balanced meals a day (sound familiar?), each containing protein, carbohydrate and healthful fat. The mixture of these three fuel sources keeps blood sugar levels from dropping.

To produce serotonin, you need adequate amounts of vitamins B-6, tryptophan (an amino acid), folic acid and vitamin B-12.

Vitamin B-6 is found in whole grains, nuts, brown rice, fruits, meat, legumes, eggs, dairy and vegetables. Foods with high levels of tryptophan include most meats, dairy, fish, almonds, kidney beans and cottage cheese. Vitamin B-12 is found in all meat, eggs, and dairy products. Highest levels of folic acid are found in green leafy vegetables like broccoli, spinach, asparagus and Brussels sprouts.

You may have the nutrients to make serotonin, but it takes carbohydrates like bread, rice, cereal, pasta, crackers or potatoes to allow tryptophan to cross the blood-brain barrier so it can reach your brain cells.

Many people are losing weight on high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets these days, but if their serotonin becomes depleted, they will end up feeling moody, depressed and severely deprived.

Kathleen DesMaison explains in her book “Potatoes Not Prozac” (Fireside, 1998) that low levels of serotonin can cause a person to impulsively overeat carbohydrates. They can’t stop with one piece of bread or one cookie; they’re compelled to eat the entire loaf or the whole batch.

Prozac, Paxil, Effexor and Zoloft are medications that help maintain brain serotonin levels, which can be helpful for some people who feel out of control with their food intake.

Judith Wurtman, author of “The Serotonin Solution” (Fawcett Columbine, 1996), recommends occasionally using carbohydrate-rich snacks to boost serotonin levels. She suggests a cup of instant hot chocolate (made with water) and 1 ounce fat-free pretzels; three to four Fig Newtons and a cup of herbal tea; five fat-free biscotti; or a toaster waffle topped with blueberries and 1 tablespoon pancake syrup.

These foods rapidly elevate blood sugar levels and should not be your typical snack. If you’re diabetic, sugar-sensitive or have a sugar-related medical condition, you may want to avoid them completely.

Taking a run or eating the occasional high-carbohydrate snack can be good for your mental health. More importantly, be sure your diet includes a balance of protein, carbohydrate and healthful fat to maintain your pumped-up levels of serotonin and endorphins - and you’ll be able to stop after one piece of Valentine’s Day chocolate instead of eating the entire box.