Jason Steed Certified Primal Health Coach
Reframe Cravings by Scrutinizing First Impulses
Why do our brains insist on doughnuts for survival? I recently heard a great perspective by blogger and life coach, Jody Moore, who shared the analogy of the Krispy Kreme doughnut display at Walmart. When we catch a whiff or a glance at these übersweets, our brains create a dopamine surge, essentially exclaiming, "If we don't eat those doughnuts, we're going to die!
No exaggeration here, that's the basic message our bodies are getting. Saying it out loud, it sounds absolutely ludicrous, dousn't it. After all, we really know that a doughnut will merely fill us with temporary satisfaction, and will more likely harm our health than save our life. In this post I'll give you some ideas on reframing cravings and empowering you toward healthier decisions.
To change an old habit, you have to replace the routine but still look forward to the same reward.Dr. BJ Fogg, Brain Wiring
Dopamine can be a powerful motivator for good. Dopamine can help us do the right things for quick satisfaction or a longer-term reward. Dopamine is also sometimes very misguided. And from my experiences as a health coach, I think we would all be a lot better off if we listened more to our bodies than our brains. I call this process "Body to Brain Wiring" and you can learn more about this in my recent post called Willpower Doesn't Work – Your Brain Can't Tell Your Brain What to Do. It's, of course, a balance between both body and brain. Our brains are sometimes very good at saving our lives, but maybe just a little too vigilant. The fact remains, though, that we will find longevity and more peace of mind by getting the brain to listen to and respect our body's signals. Here's how...
Inflamed Bodies Confuse our Hormones and Panic our Brains
Bear with me for just a little science...
When our bodies fall victim to systemic inflammation for poor diets, important hormonal signals become confused. One of those confused hormones is insulin. Insulin helps keep your blood sugar level from getting too high (hyperglycemia) or too low (hypoglycemia). When insulin is poorly regulated (constantly spiking), you're more likely to store fat (i.e. promoting systemic inflammation) because your brain senses a crisis situation in your body. In actuality, you don't need to store fat because you're not really facing famine at the end of a meal. Your brain doesn't know this, and instead sends out an alert to prepare for the worst.
Healthy Bodies Tell the Brain to Avoid False Alarms
Let's look at a better scenario: If your genes and hormones were properly regulating things and doing their jobs well, insulin would recognize that you already have adequate energy in stored fat cells. Your body could then tell your brain, "Hey, there's no need to panic." Did you know, even the most lean of individuals have days worth of energy and nutrients stored away in fat cells. Given this truth, your body could send the "all is well" hormonal signals to your brain, and in turn the brain wouldn't send out the subconscious orders to deal with false threats (i.e. reducing system-wide inflammation.)
Body-to-brain wiring tells your brain you have options.
Okay, back to the irresistable doughnut: Through proper metabolic balance, you now have 2-way stimuli happening: Your brain may still give you a "Gotta have Krispy Kreme" dopamine hit, but in response, your body can remind your brain that this is not actually a life or death situation. Body-to-brain wiring lets your brain know you now have options.
Try Out These Easy Body-to-Brain Exercises
Here are some quick rewiring tricks you can try for yourself to bring some more rational behavior into daily decisions.
- Put your brain in a box: Recognize that your brain is always trying to do the right thing, even though it's not always seeing the situation in a true light. Say out loud, "Good job, brain. You spotted that doughnut at lightning-fast speeds. Turns out, though, this isn't a life or death situation.
- Ask the "What if..." question: When blindsided by the sights and smells of an amazingly sweet treat, ask the "what if..." question: What if I just enjoyed the doughnut for what it smells like instead of what it tastes like?
- Trick Your Brain: When you spot that doughnut, tell your brain it's actually just dog food, or just scratch-and-sniff plastic. With a little conscious manipulation, you can actually reposition the grooves of habit and subconscious instinct. Your brain forms neuronal connections based on what you think and do repeatedly in your life—both good and bad. Every time you act in the same way, a specific neuronal pattern is stimulated and becomes strengthened in your brain. The adaptive quality of your brain is known as neuroplasticity.