I was cruising over in the Steve Pavlina Forums the other day and I ran across an interesting post about a fellow human that loves the chocolate. Nothing weird there you say. I know. Who doesn’t like chocolate?
Anywho, this person was really concerned about her chocolate cravings and was asking for suggestions and I thought, “What the heck, I’ll put my two cents on the subject in a video”. So here it is. You will probably want to check out the discussion in the forum link I mentioned above.
First the nerdy personal trainer talk. Craving chocolate doesn’t mean you have weak will power. Craving chocolate is usually a reaction to being totally worn out or down in the dumps. It’s a hormonal response to having low blood sugar or serotonin levels.
What is your bodies immediate fix strategy? Yup, get some sugars through eating the chocolate!
Back to serotonin. Serotonin is a hormone that makes you feel great. If your serotonin levels are low, then you feel down, sad, blue or depressed. Not great I know.
Back to the chocolate. The sugars in the chocolate cause a short burst of serotonin but then the levels drop back down quickly and we’re right back where we started. And we crave more. Sounds just like an addiction!
Now I got that Robert Palmer “Addicted To Love’ song in my head.
Check out that forum link too because a lot of people had some great natural, sugar free suggestions as well.
I used to be addicted to chocolate and I could care less now. I enjoy a small piece of 70 or 80% cocoa chocolate every now and again and that is my fix. Fortunately, I always preferred dark chocolate to milk or white to begin with so this was easier for me.
chocolate is probably the hardest thing to resist for me. but as yucky as ths sounds…….green tea can bust that craving!
try it guys!
Try drinking a choc shake, add more scoops than normal and throw it a bit of sweetner – works for me
OR try the Fabulite drinking yoghurt – it is sweet and delicious and only has 16grms carbs per 350 ml! FABULOUS!
really? yu know, i always wondered whats the best way to make a choc flavored protein shake without the choc….lol…..well, yu know what i mean lol
Chocolate cravings generally indicated insufficient consumption of dietary fat… has nothing to do with sugar.
The advice to eat chocoloate is not a bad idea, but try adding some fat, rather than chocolate/sugar/carbs.
Clinton! You ruined the surprise of the second part of the article!
You should go ahead and expand on your statement and talk about balancing out the diet with adequate amounts of fat and climbing back from insulin resistance. I’m sure the readers would like to hear it.
Hi Ray!
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by the way…….i think we’d all like to know….are there any other ways…as in healthier ways we can get serotonin for our bodies other than in the chocolate?
My Quick Google Search: Serotonin levels may be increased by supplement of tryptophan. However, increasing foods rich in tryptophan (eg, meats, proteins) do not increase serotonin levels, due to competition with other amino acids. What is required to increase serotonin production is an increase in the ratio of tryptophan to phenylalanine and leucine.
Fruits with a good ratio include dates, papaya and banana. Foods with a lower ratio inhibit the production of serotonin. These include whole wheat and rye bread.
Much research has indicated that vigorous aerobic exercise improves mood, believed to be facilitated by an increase in serotonin levels.
Research also suggests that eating a diet rich in whole grain carbohydrates and low in protein will increase serotonin by secreting insulin, which helps in amino acid competition.
However, increasing insulin for a long period of time can sometimes onset insulin resistance, which is related to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and lower serotonin levels. It is also believed that muscles use many of the amino acids except tryptophan, allowing men to have more serotonin than women.
Bright light therapy is another popular method which prevents the conversion of serotonin to melatonin.
A similar effect is obtained by spending more time in natural sunlight. Recently, acupuncture has been shown to stimulate the release of serotonin levels in lab animals.
waw that helps….but one things for sure…………the other day i had like half a papaya……..and i was actually felling good….well, better than usual…….i’d like to think ……now, that it was serotonin.