Carboholics Anonymous

It’s been a hard day at school, I come home and the only thing I can think about is the butter pecan Haagen Dazs in my freezer. Then I sit in my mushroom chair watching Netflix and before I know it…the whole pint has mysteriously vanished. When I was in High School, I used to get these odd cravings for baked potatoes…plain with no toppings….weird right? We’ve all been there…snuggled up with our giant dishes of pasta and suddenly the world is so much better. You might say, “Now Glory, its simple, endorphins right?” True, but it’s only a small part of a much bigger story.

We’ve all heard that high calorie foods cause your body to release endorphins, the “pleasure” hormone, but there is a more complex reason that comfort foods seem to bring us back from the brink of insanity. Tryptophan.  When we think of Tryptophan, we tend to think of those Thanksgiving turkeys and the associated food coma that follows, but get this…Tryptophan shares the same transporter to carry it out of your gut into your body as several other amino acids and those amino acids like to take its spot, which is why when you eat a complete protein (contains all essential amino acids) such as meat, you are actually absorbing less tryptophan than if you are eating a carbohydrate.

Well, what’s so special about tryptophan anyway? Tryptophan is the amino acid precursor to a neurotransmitter called Serotonin. Neurotransmitters are your nervous system’s messenger molecules, sending messages from nerve cell to nerve cell. Serotonin is actually an inhibitory neurotransmitter, telling your nervous system to calm down and destress. Basically, your body’s way of telling itself to take a chill pill! People with low serotonin levels begin to show negative, obsessive or irritable behavior, even insomnia and depression. Sounds like how you feel when stressed right? 

The effects of Serotonin in the nervous system are so well studied that anti-depressant drugs are based on a SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) mechanism of action, which is a topic for another discussion.

So those endorphins are not only rewarding you with pleasurable sensations for extra calories, but also for giving the body what it really wanted, tryptophan.

The down side…you are now addicted to carbohydrates as a coping mechanism for your stress, which no matter how much you say, “I only eat organic, whole grain, natural carbs” doesn’t make the other effects of those carbohydrates go away.

Resources:

Dr. Kimberly Sanders N.D. http://www.arthrowellnaturopathic.com/

Walderhaug, E. et al. Interactive Effects of Sex and 5-HTTLPR on Mood and Impulsivity During Tryptophan Depletion in Healthy People. Biological Psychiatry, September 15, 2007. 62:6.