- Hey Jigsaw fans, that food you're eating is doing
more to you brain, than it might even be doing
to your body.
Let's talk about cravings for a second,
but let's also talk about hunger,
and let's talk about the things you can do
to start controlling both,
and get a better grasp on your body all in all.
Alright, so first and foremost,
we want to talk about what is truly happening
when you're hungry.
Because, being hungry is about survival,
whereas cravings are more about psychology,
what you actually want or how you're feeling
at that point in time, and what you're really trying
to utilized as a void fill, for lack of a better term.
You see, when you look at hunger, it's pretty simple.
You have some hormones, that stimulate
specific areas of your brain that tell your brain
to either turn on, or turn off, hunger signals.
Now, when it comes down to cravings,
it's a little bit more complicated.
You see, things like fat and sugar,
they trigger specific neuro-chemistry
in your brain, that kind of trigger
these electrical signals that throw things off.
So, what I want to do, is give a biological breakdown
of what happens with hunger first,
and then, I'll explain what's happening with cravings,
so you can have a better understanding
of what's truly happening in your situation.
So, it all starts in the hypothalamus.
The hypothalamus is the orchestrator of your brain.
It is what triggers all kinds
of different things to happen.
And, inside the hypothalamus, you have
all kinds of nerve responses.
And, these given nerve responses do different things.
And, in the case of hunger, what ends up happening
is the brain releases a specific protein,
known as neuropeptide-y.
And, also, another one know
as agouti-related peptide.
So, these two proteins trigger the release
of all kinds of electrical impulses
that cause you to be hungry.
So, it's not as simple as hormones,
it's more about the electricity in your brain,
and what kind of message it's sending down
to your stomach.
Now, on the contrary, we have another neuron,
that causes another situation, and it sits right
next to the neurons that release those proteins
in the hypothalamus.
This one is called melanocyte-stimulating hormone.
And, melanocyte-stimulating hormone
is an inhibitory hormone.
So, what that means is it stops you from being hungry.
So, these two different electrical impulses
sit right next to each other.
And, you can see how very easy it would be
to trigger one or the other,
and cause a different waterfall
of different reactions within your body,
whether you're totally hungry or totally satisfied.
But, it really does come down to three hormones,
and they're epi-centered in the gut, in the fat,
and even in the pancreas.
So, the first one that I want
to talk about is ghrelin.
Ghrelin is one that you've probably heard
about before, and it's mostly classified
as the hunger hormone.
And, in reality, it is,
but I'll explain a little bit more in a second.
You see, what ghrelin is, is a hormone
that lets your body know your stomach
is emptied or full.
So, once your stomach is emptied,
your stomach releases ghrelin,
and this ghrelin travels up to the hypothalmus,
and triggers that electrical signal
to produce those proteins I talked about,
like neuropeptide-y.
So, that's how the process starts.
But, ghrelin isn't what makes you literally
feel hungry or literally feel full.
You see, that's the job of another hormone
known as cholecystokinin, also know as CCK.
So, CCK is produced in the upper portion
of the small intestine.
And, CCK is what literally tells your brain
to have you stop eating.
To give you an example, researchers have looked
at mice that were literally eating,
and then injected them with CCK,
and they immediately stopped eating.
Like, immediately, while they're eating.
That shows you the power of CCK.
Now, the other one that we want
to talk about is Leptin.
Leptin is a hormone that's created
by fat cells, and believe it or not,
Letpin triggers your body to stop being hungry.
So, the more fat that you have,
the less hungry that you ultimately are.
However, now this is a topic for a different day,
the more leptin that you have,
the more leptin resistant you become.
So, you need more Leptin to do the same job.
So, it's not always as cut and dried as it seems.
But, our body fat plays a big role
with how hungry or not hungry we are.
And, then of course, there's insulin,
which is produced by the pancreas.
And, insulin obviously is gonna cause you
to have these blood sugar rises and falls,
that can trigger other actions on the hypothalamus.
So, these hormones act on the brain,
they trigger the electrical signaling,
and voila, there you go.
You're legitimately hungry.
And, it all has to do with how much food is in your system,
and how much blood sugar is in your system.
Which, is a great segue into the world of cravings.
Which, really, has not much to do
with whether you're truly hungry or not.
See, cravings are more of a dopamine response.
And, dopamine is something that allows us
to feel good.
Recreational drugs, things like that,
that allows us to get that sense of reward really quick.
Or, just that pleasure that comes
along with satisfying an itch.
To give you an example, there's a study
that was published in the Journal of NeuroImagery.
This study took a look at test subjects
that had consumed a nutritional beverage,
to completely stop all hunger hormones.
So, what they did, is they gave these test subjects
a drink, that would make it so
that they're not hungry.
They're not producing grehlin,
their body's producing CCK,
and they're in great situation as far as hunger goes.
But, then they had them think
about tasty beverages, and tasty food.
And, they did a brain scan.
They found that even when they were satiated,
the MRI showed that these test subjects
were activating the same portion
of their brain when thinking about food
that would be activated when they were
on any kind of recreational drug,
showing that it's working along
the same dopamine pathway.
But, what exactly does that mean?
What is dopamine, and how does down regulation work?
And, why do we get these cravings?
Well, an example I like to give,
is looking at your phone.
Okay, you might find that you have this urge
to look at your phone frequently.
And, the more that you do it,
the more that you feel you need to do it.
You need to check your email,
you need to check your text messages,
all kinds of things.
That's a perfect example
of a neuro-transmitter response with dopamine.
Okay, you're satisfying something.
You feel the need to check something.
Well, the same thing is kind of happening
at a subconscious level with food.
Every time we eat something
that even tastes remotely good,
or actually just satisfies even the feeling
in our mouth or in our stomach.
We feel like we need it more, and more.
So, we go down this vicious circle
of feeling like we need food,
when in reality, what's happening
is it's triggering dopamine receptors
that are allowing you to feel good.
You're getting that feel good neuro-transmitter.
But, what ends up happening down the line
is your body always tries to keep in balance.
So, when you elevate your dopamine,
your body says, "Wait a minute, dopamine levels
are too high."
So, it starts taking away dopamine receptors,
so that you don't get your dopamine as high.
So, what ends up happening?
Well, you still want your dopamine high,
so you eat more.
And, you consume more.
It's the same kind of thing with recreational drugs.
People need more, and more, and more,
because their dopamine receptors are going away.
So, this is happening with food,
and MRIs are proving it.
Now, what ends up happening
when you have fewer dopamine receptors,
and you're not consuming food?
You start feeling unhappy.
You may not even realize it,
but you're subconsciously kind of unhappy,
until you get the instant gratification
of eating something like that.
That's why it's also been shown
that people that are more prone
to addiction, obviously end up
having harder, stronger cravings.
So, if you're someone that is developing
a pathway for yourself, of repetition, repetition,
repetition, and constantly seeking out
that reward system, for any kind of avenue,
you're going to trigger the same kind of response
with food too.
Let me give you an example.
If you're getting obsessed with checking your phone
all the time, then chances are,
it's going to be easier for you to develop cravings.
But, let's take a look at sugar, for a second, too,
because sugar is a whole different world.
You see, sugar does some
other crazy neuro-chemistry stuff.
It actually specifically acts upon what are called
D1 dopamine receptors, which means
it triggers a huge dopamine spike.
But, it also deactivates D2 receptors.
So, when you deactivate D2 receptors,
you are eliminating the ability to balance dopamine out,
so, you're really being one sided.
Sky-rocketing it up, and getting rid
of the ability to balance it.
So, how can you start to control these cravings.
Well, obviously, there's a lot of different things
you can do from a psychological standpoint.
But, let me give you some food options.
Okay, the first thing is, getting
a little bit more protein is going to do it.
Doing it in the right way, but specifically,
getting tyrosine.
You see, tyrosine is amino acid
that is obviously in many proteins.
But, you can also take a tyrosine supplement,
specifically, that will help you out with that.
You see, tyrosine is a pre-cursor to dopamine.
So, if you can allow your body to create dopamine
a little bit easier, you're sort of cutting
out the middle man, and you're allowing your body
to create it seamlessly, so it doesn't have to work
as hard, and you're able to get to
that reward sensation a little bit easier.
The other thing that you can do,
is eat probiotic rich foods.
This has nothing to do with satiating the gut.
We're not talking about hunger hormones,
we're talking about the effect on the brain,
and cravings, here.
Now, what's interesting is l-rhamnosus
and lactobacillus planterus have been shown,
specific probiotics, have actually been shown
to encourage proper dopamine utilization
within the body.
So, we're talking about the connection
between the gut and the brain,
the enteric nervous system.
Very, very powerful thing here,
and that is one of the things
that you can do today that will start
making an impact, also, today.
Now, the other interesting thing
is something that is known as velvet beans.
Now, if you are on a ketogenic or low carb diet,
you don't want to eat a lot of these,
but velvet beans are very interesting,
because they can actually contain l-dopa,
which is the legitimate pre-cursor to dopamine.
So, if you consume something that has l-dopa
in it, it's going to cause you to have
that little bit of a dopamine spike,
without having to reach into the cabinet
to get something else.
And, lastly, if you make sure
that you keep your magnesium levels
up to snuff, you can in a situation
where your body can more easily
process dopamine, and flush
this entire process out better.
You want your body to be (rock music)
in homeostasis, that's where we want to be.
Homeostasis means no cravings.
Homeostasis means balance, it means clarity.
And, that's what we want our bodies to do.
Every time we shift the lever way too far
to one side, we throw things off completely.
So, when it comes to magnesium,
you know who to trust.
Jigsaw has magnesium SRT, a diomagnesium milteliai,
that is going to make sure
that you have a nice sustained release bout
of magnesium that allows you to feel your best.
So, as always, if you click on the link,
you can learn more about Jigsaw's products,
and what they can do for you.
I'll see you soon.
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