Here is the second recap of this book.. There are parts that I find very interesting.. And parts that don't really relate to anything that I care about.
I mean I shouldn't say they don't relate.. They do a little. I'm just looking for key points that can carry over to myself and my clients.
So here we go!
-Technology has created foods that are more "seductive" than what occurs in nature. There are so many things that are processed. Added sugar in foods that shouldn't have sugar in it! Craziness.
-The United States is the most fattening food environment. This is so true and so sad. I always talk about surrounding yourself with good, like-minded people.. But this fact can make that very difficult at time. Like I mentioned in Recap 1; there is literally food EVERYWHERE! And not healthy food.
Processed foods, advertisements for food... Everywhere you look! Making people crave and eat more. And we wonder why people overeat and gain so much weight.
*Stores even place food in places that make people more likely to buy it (checkout lines, in the middle of the isles).
-Our brains still think/function like we are hunter-gatherers. We seek/crave calorie dense food, even thought we no longer need it. We do not burn as much as hunter-gatherers. They lived an extremely active life, and food was limited. Nowadays, people are sedentary and "we" don't even have to leave our couch to get food.
-That brings me to the next point. The convenience and simplicity of getting food is most definitely contributing to over eating and weight gain.
-TIP TO AVOID OVER EATING: Don't keep easy and tempting food around (your house or office). Make it more difficult to eat. No bowls of candy on the coffee table; put it on the top shelf or across the room. You can also get nuts with the shells still on them. That way you have to work a little harder to eat.
Seems so simple, and almost silly... But those little things help you eat just a little less. A little less calories each day can add up to a lot of calories in a week.
-Back then, people would "binge" eat because they came across food so rarely. Today, people still "binge" because our brains are "wired" to do so, even though we have food available to us at all times.
I understand where the scientists are coming from with this.. But I believe that we can RE-WIRE our brains to NOT binge. It will be difficult. It will take time. But it is possible!
-There is a section in the brain that is in charge of the satiety factor. It is called the Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC). The first bite of food always tastes the best (unless it is something you don't like, lol). As you continue to eat, the OFC will eventually signal that you are full and you will stop eating. If that area in the brain is damaged... The brain will be unable to know if you are full, causing you to over eat.
The book states that with a damaged OFC, each bite of food tastes just as good as the first.
-Dopamine: A neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centers.
It allows us to create or find the motivation to get food or something else you may want. Lack of dopamine means lack of motivation.
Larger dopamine spikes = larger rewards (chocolate bar).
Smaller dopamine spikes = smaller reward (vegetables).
At this point in the book, it has made dopamine sounds like a good and a bad thing. It's a little contradictory!
Dopamine is what can cause addictive behaviors. For instance, you get a large dopamine spike after you eat a chocolate bar, so you brain views that as a reward, causing you to crave chocolate more and more.
Now they are also saying that dopamine is what makes people motivated and driven. It does make sense, because when one is addicted, that means they are motivated to find and eat more chocolate bars...
So what I am getting form this is that you need to be in charge of what motivates you. Do not let this hormone control you.
-Your intuitive brain has no concept of the future. No understanding of things like health and finances. Your rational brain is the opposite. People tend to want immediate reward versus larger reward in the future. What this means is that we would rather eat the tub of ice cream NOW, because it tastes so good. Not thinking/caring about our future health. People who value their future self tend to be about 15lbs leaner because they think with their rational brain (not intuitive, when it comes to eating).
-The body likes to maintain it's weight.
Fat tissue increase = satiety levels decrease
Fat tissue decrease = satiety levels increase
Both of these bring the body back to it's "happy place."
UNLESS, you have a damaged Ventomedial Hypothalamic Nucleos (VMN). Then you no longer have a satiety factor; and your brain thinks you are starving.
That was a lot of notes. WOW!
All of it makes sense.. But at the same time, I strongly believe that YOU are in control of what you eat and how much. You just have to practice healthy habits. Sure all of the stuff I noted above plays a roll in things... But I would imagine not very many people have these "dis-functions."
Let me know what you think.
Ps. I will be making a video about overall nutrition + nutrition as you age. STAY TUNED!