How to eliminate food cravings

Does this sound like you?

The posts from Wellness Repair ring true. You read about wellness and fitness all the time. You’re interested! Yet your weight, poor physical fitness and various aches and pains point to the need for a change… and at your age, you know there’s trouble coming if you don’t get on board.

But like lots of others, you just don’t want to give up the things you love. Then you start comparing. “I eat much better than many”, you tell yourself . “AND….I like my sugar and dairy! And did I mention the 101 reasons I don’t have time to exercise? It’s so hard when my family brings me pie. I think I’m broken.”

I lived these thoughts for most of my life.

Perhaps you’ve heard these words: “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” – A guy named Paul wrote it to a church in Rome back in A.D. 56-57. It’s in the Bible (Romans 7:15) Paul wasn’t talking about nutrition and fitness, but does remind us that face palming has been around a very long time.

People sometimes remark that I am a freak of nature when it comes to willpower and disciplined eating. While I have learned to maintain a healthy weight and eliminate food cravings, I want to be very transparent and tell you that it has nothing to do with willpower — And “discipline” may not be what you think it is.

Have you wondered how to eliminate food cravings? There are repeatable steps and principles that helped me get control. Weight loss and healthy eating does not equal pain and deprivation.

Know your ‘Why’

I recently heard an interview with a young 30’s CEO that recounted his experience running one of the most difficult foot races in the world. It involved running a marathon each day (26.2 miles) for four days in a row. On the third day, they run the distance of two marathons (52 miles).

He described getting food poisining after the second day, which left him in terrible shape for the 52 mile run. The race was through a desert, so daytime temperatures were well over 100 degrees and evening temperatures would fall below freezing.

All day, he struggled with the sickness and heat, but managed to make it to nightfall. But by then, he had had enough. He began to cry from the pain and was just about to quit, when he heard the sound of another runner in the darkness behind him; two actually. As they passed and talked a bit, he learned that one of the runners was over 60 years old and blind. The other was his guide. The blind runner ran the race every year to raise money for the hospice facility that cared for his brother.

The blind man had a ‘Why’ that propelled him through the most severe challenges of the race. It also turned out that the dedication of the blind runner inspired the CEO to keep going and they both finished.

In any difficult endeavor… establishing new habits, succeeding in business or raising a family… we each need a ‘Why’ that allows us to press on in the face of all odds.

For some, changing nutrition swells from a determination to avoid the painful deterioration a loved one went though. Others want to go hiking with their grandchildren or are seeking to optimize mental clarity that they can apply to their calling. My ‘Why’ for nutrition began as a combo of those and has expanded to include a desire to help others press on in their marathon for wellness.

Define your 'Why'. You'll know its right when there's nothing that can keep you from it. Click To Tweet

No one can beat food cravings with willpower

No one says, “To get off crack cocaine, you just need to have enough willpower.” No one has that much willpower. And yet, some foods trigger the exact same chemicals that make cocaine or heroine addictive.

Dr. Robert H. Lustig is a neuroendocrinologist. He says, “No one can exert cognitive inhibition, willpower, over a biochemical drive that goes on every minute, of every day, of every year.”

Dr. Mark Hyman told New York Daily News, “When we treat alcoholics or cocaine addicts, we don’t say “practice moderation” and advise them to cut down to just one drink or snort one line of cocaine a day. We know they must clear the brain and body of these powerful drugs completely, ideally through a well-designed program that supports the detox process.”

Your hormones, taste buds and brain chemistry have been biologically hijacked by the food industry.

Here are some of the biggest culprits.

Sugar causes an intense release of dopamine that reduces dopamine receptors

James DiNicolantonio is a cardiovascular research scientist at St. Luke’s Mid-America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Mo. He told NPR station WBUR, “You get this intense release of dopamine upon acute ingestion of sugar. After you chronically consume it, those dopamine receptors start becoming down-regulated — there’s less of them, and they’re less responsive. That can lead to ADHD-like symptoms … but it can also lead to a mild state of depression because we know that dopamine is that reward neurotransmitter.”

Neuroscientist Joseph Schroeder conducted a study that found cocaine and heroin to be less addictive than Oreos to rats. He told Forbes magazine, “Our research supports the theory that high-fat/high-sugar foods stimulate the brain in the same way that drugs do. It may explain why some people can’t resist these foods, despite the fact that they know they are bad for them.”

A 2013 study concluded: “At the neurobiological level, the neural substrates of sugar and sweet reward appear to be more robust than those of cocaine…”

I have embedded a video below that expands on why this happens. Dr. Robert H. Lustig and psychologist Dr. Elissa S. Epel, explain that eating sugar results in a massive amount of dopamine being released in an area of the brain called the Nucleus Accumbens.

Eating sugar and processed junk foods in large amounts cause dopamine receptors to down-regulate. That is, the number of dopamine receptors is reduced. So the next time you eat sugar, the pleasure is blunted and you need more to achieve the same level of reward. This is called tolerance.

With very little dopamine activity, you start to feel unhappy if you don’t get your sugar “fix.” This is called withdrawal.

Chris Gunnars of Authority Nutrition shares a very candid experience in a post called How Sugar Hijacks Your Brain And Makes You Addicted.

I am a recovering drug addict who has been to 6 rehabs. I was also a smoker for many years and it was a long battle for me to quit. You could say that I know addiction like the back of my hand.

I’m here to tell you that addiction to sugar and junk foods is exactly the same as addiction to abusive drugs like nicotine, amphetamine and cannabis.

There is no difference, except the substance of abuse is different and the consequences of relapse aren’t as severe.

Since learning about this, I’ve spoken to several other recovering addicts and all of them say that they experience cravings for junk foods in the exact same way as they used to crave drugs and alcohol.

I personally haven’t touched sugar or gluten in about 5 months now. I’ve lost almost 30 pounds and I never crave these foods anymore.

There is only one thing that consistently works for true addicts to overcome their addiction and that is complete abstinence.

This is what worked for me giving up drugs and this is the only way I have ever been able to cut back on my consumption of sugar and other junk foods.

Sugar causes an intense release of dopamine that reduces dopamine receptors. Click To Tweet

Wheat gluten activates opioid receptors that make you hungry instead of high

Have you ever wondered why you crave bread or a donut (other than for the sugar)?

A 1992 study determined that gluten breaks down into small protein peptides. The peptides are called gluten exorphins. An exorphin is a peptide that is not formed in the body, that can activate opioid receptors in the brain. Exorphins can find their way into the bloodstream due to the increased gut permeability caused by modern wheat. When exorphins reach the brain, addiction results. (1, 2, 3)

Dr. William Davis is a cardiologist that has studied the effects of wheat extensively after seeing how his heart patients benefited after removing it from their diets. He has an article called Wheat is an Opiate, where he states:

Modern wheat is an opiate.

And, of course, I don’t mean that wheat is an opiate in the sense that you like it so much that you feel you are addicted. Wheat is truly addictive.

Wheat is addictive in the sense that it comes to dominate thoughts and behaviors. Wheat is addictive in the sense that, if you don’t have any for several hours, you start to get nervous, foggy, tremulous, and start desperately seeking out another “hit” of crackers, bagels, or bread, even if it’s the few stale 3-month old crackers at the bottom of the box. Wheat is addictive in the sense that there is a distinct withdrawal syndrome characterized by overwhelming fatigue, mental “fog,” inability to exercise, even depression that lasts several days, occasionally several weeks. Wheat is addictive in the sense that the withdrawal process can be provoked by administering an opiate-blocking drug such as naloxone or naltrexone.

But the “high” of wheat is not like the high of heroine, morphine, or Oxycontin. This opiate, while it binds to the opiate receptors of the brain, doesn’t make us high. It makes us hungry.

This is the effect exerted by gliadin, the protein in wheat that was inadvertently altered by geneticists in the 1970s during efforts to increase yield. Just a few shifts in amino acids and gliadin in modern high-yield, semi-dwarf wheat became a potent appetite stimulant.

Wheat gluten activates opioid receptors that make you hungry instead of high. Click To Tweet

Dairy contains a morphine like chemical that may activate opiate receptors

Dr. Neal Barnard, MD explained why dairy is addictive in an article written for the Dr. Oz website: “Here’s why: the main protein in milk and cheese is called casein. As you digest casein, it breaks apart to release opiates, called casomorphins – that is, casein-derived morphine-like chemicals. Shortly after you swallow a bite of cheese pizza, these chemicals enter your bloodstream and pass to your brain and attach to your opiate receptors.”

The specific suspect component of dairy is beta-casomorphin-7 (BCM-7) . BCM-7 is the opioid peptide released during the digestion of A1 beta-casein. (2013 study, 2010 study) A1 milk comes from breeds like the Holstein, Friesian, Ayrshire and British Shorthorn. By contrast, A2 milk does not contain BCM-7 and comes from breeds like the Guernsey, Jersey, Charolais and Limousin (2004 study, 2005 study).

Limited studies have not found BCM-7 in the blood of healthy adults after drinking cow’s milk, but a few studies indicate that BCM-7 may be present in infants (2011 study, 2009 study). But regardless, functional medicine doctors find that eliminating dairy helps the majority of their patients feel better.

You’ll find casein listed a number of ways on ingredient labels: casein, caseinates, calcium caseinate, potassium caseinate and sodium caseinate.

Dairy contains a morphine like chemical that may activate opiate receptors. Click To Tweet

Food manufacturers conduct research to find the ‘bliss point’ of processed food

New York Times investigative reporter, Michael Moss, published an article about the science behind taste and junk food addiction. It was a four-year investigation that interviewed more than 300 people in or formerly employed by the processed-food industry. Moss found there is a conscious effort on behalf of food manufacturers to get you hooked on foods that are convenient and inexpensive to make.

Moss’ work also resulted in the book Salt Sugar Fat. In a Time Magazine interview discussing his book, Moss says: “One of the things that really surprised me was how concerted and targeted the effort is by food companies to hit the magical formulation. Take sugar for example. The optimum amount of sugar in a product became known as the ‘bliss point.’ Food inventors and scientists spend a huge amount of time formulating the perfect amount of sugar that will send us over the moon, and send products flying off the shelves. It is the process they’ve engineered that struck me as really stunning.”

The optimum amount of sugar in a product is known as the 'bliss point'. Click To Tweet

Tastebuds can be reprogrammed

I used to think people were just born liking some foods and not liking others. I didn’t eat many veggies for years because they didn’t taste good to me. In actuality, I had two problems going on. First, my tastebuds had been hijacked by sugar. As a result, vegetables were bland by comparison. Second, I wasn’t eating my veggies with grass-fed butter and sea salt.

Once you eliminate sugar, your taste buds recalibrate after about a week. Then if you eat vegetables with healthy fat like grass-fed butter or avocado and sea salt, you will be amazed at how the flavor explodes in your mouth. Now that I have detoxed from sugar, the taste of veggies, butter and sea salt is absolutely wonderful to me and I no longer crave sugar, bread or dairy at all.

Once you eliminate sugar, your taste buds recalibrate after about a week. Click To Tweet

Guilt and shame activate the brain’s reward center to feed bad habits

Alex Korb, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral researcher in neuroscience at UCLA. In his book, The Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time, he writes, “Despite their differences, pride, shame, and guilt all activate similar neural circuits, including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, insula, and the nucleus accumbens. Interestingly, pride is the most powerful of these emotions at triggering activity in these regions — except in the nucleus accumbens, where guilt and shame win out. This explains why it can be so appealing to heap guilt and shame on ourselves — they’re activating the brain’s reward center.”

Guilt and shame activate the brain's reward center to feed bad habits. Click To Tweet

Swap old habits for new

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

It would be really nice if we could just decide to get healthy and do it. But you and I both know it doesn’t work that way.

Logically, it doesn’t make any sense to give your tongue ‘hits’ of sugar for a couple seconds and pay for it with years of belly fat, chafing thighs, fatigue, brain fog, constricted arteries, hunger and increased risk of cancer. Yet, we have all succumbed, despite knowing the consequences. There’s a pattern, or habit, that kicks in an takes over. You’re not broken. It’s a feature, not a bug.

According to behavior researcher and Stanford professor, BJ Fogg PhD, every habit – good or bad – follows the same pattern. There are 3 steps.

Reminder (the trigger that initiates the behavior)
Routine (the behavior itself; the action you take)
Reward (the benefit you gain from doing the behavior)

Identify your triggers

An illustration of a trigger is when your phone rings. Depending on your previous experience, the action of habit would be to answer the call – or not. Then the reward would be speaking to one of your children or not having to speak to a pushy sales person. It begins with a trigger.

Eating junk food out of habit also starts with a trigger. Common triggers would be boredom, stress, loneliness or even happiness. It can also be a circumstance like passing a certain donut shop.

The good news is, once you learn to identify your junk food triggers, you can take steps to reprogram the behavior that follows.

Food cravings start with a trigger like boredom, stress, loneliness or even happiness.. Click To Tweet

Identify the need your habit is filling

All habits have a reason; a function. The reason it is so hard to stop a bad habit is because each habit fills some sort of need. Changing habits becomes much easier when you identify the need and find a healthier way to address the need.

Dr. Mark Hymen mentions in one of his videos (embedded below) that he advises his patients to ask themselves two questions: “What am I feeling and what do I need?” And then he illustrates, “Am I feeling tired? Do I need a nap? Am I angry? Do I need to work it out with someone? Am I lonely? Do I need a hug?.. What do I need and how do I get that need filled, not by stuffing my face but by actually meeting that need?”

You can put a little sign on your refrigerator that says, “What am I feeling and what do I need?”

Sometimes the need is to deal with a fear. There are many fears associated with improving nutrition.

Fear of being deprived or of what you will have to give up. I struggled greatly with this fear, thinking I would never be able to enjoy my favorite foods again. I learned that what I had to gain from health was a vast improvement over what I didn’t want to let go of. I actually enjoy the taste of healthy food more than I ever enjoyed the taste of junk food. Who knew!
Fear of pain and struggle. This is often based on past dieting experience that relied on reducing calories while still eating processed and addictive foods. Talk about painful! Eating real, nutrient-dense food offers exactly the opposite experience. After the detox period, most people report feeling the best they’ve ever felt, without hunger and cravings.
Fear of failure… that you won’t get the great results others get or that you won’t have enough willpower and will be embarrassed. The truth is, you WILL get positive results – at your own pace – and no one has enough willpower. Don’t compare yourself to others. You only see their outward story anyway.
Fear of succeeding! I can testify first-hand that if you get fit, some will ask if you are sick or accuse you of being a fanatic or a health nut. But most people are very encouraging and will ask you what your secret is. You get extra points if you tell them wellnessrepair.com.
Fear of social awkwardness. This is still a daily struggle for me, since most people around me celebrate with donuts, cake and pizza. For the longest time, I would try to eat a little to avoid being rude. But then I would have to go through withdrawal over and over. My usual response now is to smile and say, “Oh, no thank you. I’m good.” No one controls what you put in your mouth except you.
Fear of inconvenience. I’ll give it to you straight: Eating healthy and exercising takes time and effort. What I learned about this fear is that every change seems terribly inconvenient – at first. But eventually, I am able to trade old habits for new and the sense of inconvenience diminishes greatly.

To change a bad habit, identify the underlying need and find a healthier way to address the need. Click To Tweet

Habits can also work for you

Habits are not just bad. Good habits are a powerful tool to help you make healthy living easy and natural. Good habits help us automate good decisions.

Good habits = automated good decisions = discipline

I used to arrive home from work in the evening feeling hungry. Actually there’s a new, better word: “Hangry”. It was a self-inflicted discomfort.

My lunch was always a high carb sub sandwich with minimal nutrients but a maximum blood sugar spike from the bread. Sensing the lack of useful nutrients, my brain would release hormones to signal that I was starving.

Extreme hunger, combined with the trigger of arriving home, made me feel justified in attacking the pantry and refrigerator. I would typically eat far more calories in junk food prior to dinner than during. And then I would sit and watch TV, which made me feel sluggish… so I would down bowls of sugary cereal to get another dopamine hit. It was a vicious cycle of addiction and hijacked hormones.

So did the problem begin when I arrived home? No, because my lunch was causing a negative hormonal cascade. Did my problem begin at lunch, then? Closer, but still no. My habit replacement needed to begin the weekend before.

How I automate healthy eating:

I make a list of only nutrient dense real food before going to the grocery store and then only buying what is on the list. Can’t eat what isn’t there.
On weekends, grass fed ground beef is prepared and separated into glass jars; enough to have 4 oz. per day for the coming week. Some jars are put in the freezer for later in the week.
When preparing dinner each evening, enough extra veggies are set aside to have for lunch the next day – or the next couple days. I take 3 servings (cups) of veggies to work each day for lunch.
I assemble my lunch the night before. It generally consists of 4 oz of grass fed ground beef, three servings of veggies, raw almonds or raw walnuts and a serving or two of fruit (depending on the training schedule for the day).
The next morning, I skip breakfast but blend grass fed butter and pure C8 coconut or palm oil into my coffee. This provides tremendous mental focus and I don’t feel hungry until about 1-2 pm, extending my morning fat-burn enjoyably and effortlessly.
The next day, I don’t have any decision to make when I’m hungry at lunch time. The lunch I packed the night before doesn’t cause a big insulin spike for hours so there’s no crash after work. There are also plenty of nutrients, so there’s no hormonal signal that I’m starving. I also eat plenty of healthy fat like avocado and grass-fed butter, so there’s no mental fatigue either.
I eat the same basic things each day and at the same times. I get variety by having different meats, veggies, nuts and probiotics. Variety seems nice, but also requires a lot of mental energy. Eating roughly the same things each day simplifies shopping, preparation and the point of decision when hungry.
Instead of going straight home, I often do some kind of exercise right after work. Exercise releases endorphins and blunts hunger, so I end up happy instead of hungry. Exercise to improve mood and reduce stress; not to burn calories. Stress has now become a trigger for me to pick up weights or take a walk.
Since it takes time for exercise, I eat dinner later than I used to. By eating later, there’s far less time to snack.
I also learned that it really helps to go to bed earlier, so that eliminates evening snacking altogether. My bedtime ritual allows me to wind down and begin sleep earlier than I used to. I protect my bed time carefully because it dramatically impacts my focus, drive, mood and willpower the following day.
Accountability is very important. The way I stay accountable is to weigh myself and also to enter all the food I eat into an app called LoseIt. Tracking your food intake isn’t necessary for everyone, all the time. However, tracking is extremely helpful to reveal overeating and for teaching the basics of calories and macronutrients (the breakout of carbs, proteins and fats in various foods). You can’t improve what you don’t measure.

The Wellness Repair Diet is designed to help you reprogram your habits and eliminate blood sugar crashes and food cravings.

While the recipe for quitting sugar, gluten and dairy is to eliminate all at once and let your body detox, the formula for changing habits takes more time. Take small and steady steps and don’t expect radical life transformation overnight. For example, don’t decide to work out. Rather, take a walk; just one walk. Master that. Then take one every week. Then work up to two a week and go a little longer, etc.

As you learn and transition, be careful not to think of the changes as ‘a diet’. Rather, you are learning what foods make you feel in the best mood and allow you to think most clearly. The rewards go far beyond a trim waistline.

Good habits help us automate good decisions. Click To Tweet

Black coffee can bind to opioid receptors to help reduce cravings

According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, “…coffee is an opioid receptor antagonist, meaning caffeine can bind to your opioid receptors, occupy them and essentially prohibit you from being addicted to something else. This may attenuate the addictive impact of another substance, such as sugar. So, coffee could conceivably be a viable aid in ridding yourself of sugar addiction.”

In order for coffee to help, it must not activate insulin release. So drink it black or Bulletproof. I generally have Bulletproof coffee first thing in the morning and then black coffee through the morning.

Black coffee can bind to opioid receptors to help reduce sugar cravings. Click To Tweet

Gratitude activates the brain’s reward centers

In the book The Upward Spiral, neuroscientist Alex Korb, Ph.D points out ways to take advantage of the brain’s reward centers to develop good habits.

He writes, “The benefits of gratitude start with the dopamine system, because feeling grateful activates the brain stem region that produces dopamine.”

In addition to dopamine, gratitude also causes a serotonin boost which gives us a feeling of wellbeing. Alex Korb states, “One powerful effect of gratitude is that it can boost serotonin. Trying to think of things you are grateful for forces you to focus on the positive aspects of your life. This simple act increases serotonin production in the anterior cingulate cortex.”

Gratitude causes a release of dopamine and boosts serotonin. Click To Tweet

Make that decision

Ever notice how making a decision makes you feel better right after? Turns out, that’s not a random occurrence. Dr. Korb says this in his book The Upward Spiral:

“Making decisions includes creating intentions and setting goals — all three are part of the same neural circuitry and engage the prefrontal cortex in a positive way, reducing worry and anxiety. Making decisions also helps overcome striatum activity, which usually pulls you toward negative impulses and routines. Finally, making decisions changes your perception of the world — finding solutions to your problems and calming the limbic system.”

Dr. Korb adds that the best kind of decision is a a “good enough” decision.

“Trying for the best, instead of good enough, brings too much emotional ventromedial prefrontal activity into the decision-making process. In contrast, recognizing that good enough is good enough activates more dorsolateral prefrontal areas, which helps you feel more in control…” He sums: “We don’t just choose the things we like; we also like the things we choose.”

Good enough is almost always good enough. Don’t let perfect become the enemy of the good. Some people quit completely because they can’t get grass-fed/organic/pastured/wild/perfect everything. Remember: “Direction, not perfection.”

To reduce anxiety, make a 'good enough' decision. Good enough is almost always good enough. Click To Tweet

10 strategies to eliminate food cravings

Define WHY you want to get healthy. I suggest not having a ‘why’ related to weight or clothing size, as those goals are attainable in a relatively short amount of time. My goal is to point you to a lifestyle change that will improve long term cognitive ability while dramatically reducing your risk of diseases like cancer, Alzheimers, Parkinson’s, ALS, MS, and arteriosclerosis.
Eat real food. Be sure to include healthy fat and protein in every meal.
Avoid carbs in the morning. When you do have carbs later in the day, stick to vegetables because they don’t spike blood sugar. Try to limit fruit to the evening with dinner. Delaying breakfast is especially effective for weight loss. It’s called intermittent fasting and you can learn more about how that works here. Black or bulletproof coffee is okay as it helps blunt appetite and reduce food cravings by binding to opioid receptors.
Ditch the sugar, gluten and dairy cold turkey. If you decide to reintroduce any of them, wait 2-4 weeks, do it one at a time and take careful note of how they make you feel. Most people find their cravings go away in that time. The majority also like how their clothes begin to fit which motivates them to keep going longer. Artificial sweeteners and processed food always harm health and need to be eliminated permanently. For detailed steps on how to pull this off, see my simple elimination diet.
Reduce stress. You are most likely to reach for the chips when feeling stressed. Learn to address the root cause of your stress and respond with new habits like taking a walk, prayer and meditation or deep breathing.
Exercise smartly. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is especially helpful in reducing food cravings. The key is to achieve close to your maximum heart rate during the burst of exercise, then to allow your heart rate to drop. You can use any exercise you like. If you already like the elliptical, go as fast as you can for 30 seconds followed by a rest for 90 seconds. You can even hop off and stand still for the 90 seconds. Then repeat for a total of 20 minutes. If you do the math, you are only exerting effort for 5 minutes. Yet HIIT is more effective for weight loss than an hour of steady cardio.
Sleep well. Studies show lack of sleep increases cravings. To help improve your sleep, check out these 26 tips here.
Some supplements can help with food cravings. Dr. Hyman advises, “These include vitamin D and omega-3s. Glutamine, tyrosine, and 5-HTP are amino acids that help reduce cravings. Stress-reducing herbs such as Rhodiola rosea can also help. Chromium balances blood sugar and can help take the edge off cravings. Glucomannan fiber is very helpful to reduce the spikes in sugar and insulin that drive cravings and hunger.”
Get your dopamine and serotonin rewards from gratitude instead.
Make a decision to do these things.

I would like to hear from you!

Pick at least one of these strategies to start today and let me know which one you pick. You can leave a comment below or message me from my Facebook page or Twitter feed.

Then would you pass this post on to someone else to help them eliminate food cravings also? You could email them the link or post it on social media.

And finally, if you found this information helpful and would like to keep learning about Wellness Repair, please subscribe to my email list. It’s free and gives me a way to notify you when new posts are published that may interest you.

Thanks for reading!

Jeff

Resources

8 Ways to Beat Your Junk Food Habit

The Skinny on Obesity (Ep. 4): Sugar – A Sweet Addiction