CRUSH Food Cravings in 5 Easy Steps
I just read your article that talked about how eating late at night can cause you to gain weight. My problem is that about an hour or so after dinner, I’m always starving again! Is there anything I can do to beat these late-night cravings?
–Susan H.
Dr. G: If you find yourself reaching for a bag of chips, or scooping up a bowl of ice cream every night, that’s a big, flashing sign that your hormones are out of whack.
I know that most people don’t think about hormones in relation to eating, but you should.
Hormones like insulin, leptin, and ghrelin send important signals between your belly and your brain that tell you when to eat—and importantly, when to stop.
If your hormones aren’t working properly, the signals get jammed, and the result is that “hungry-all-the-time, never-quite-satisfied” feeling. I also call it “the munchies.”
For example, leptin is known as the satiety hormone. It sends signals to your brain to tell you when you’re full.
The problem is that loading up on sugar, processed foods, and flour interrupts that important signal. And if your brain doesn’t get the message, it won’t tell you to stop eating.
Insulin plays a role too. When insulin goes up and down because of eating too much sugar, it makes you hungry all the time.
Talk about a double whammy!
To make matters even worse, the hunger hormone (called ghrelin) gets triggered when we’re sleep deprived. That means that staying up late and/or not getting enough sleep will tell your brain that your tummy is hungry—even when it’s not.
Looks like that double whammy just turned into a triple threat!
The good news is that balancing these hormones helps beat cravings and prevent late-night eating.
Here are 5 steps that can help you do just that:
- Eat a high-protein breakfast.
- Eat three meals a day and avoid snacking. This helps balance your blood sugar.
- Get adequate sleep. When we’re sleep deprived, the hunger hormone goes up, and the satiety hormones go down.
- Don’t eat right before you go to sleep. Going to bed right after you eat will cause you to store fat instead of processing it or burning it.
- Finally, get plenty of sunlight. Vitamin D helps to regulate hormones and balance insulin.
To a brighter day,
Dr. Richard Gerhauser, M.D.
