Arguments around carbohydrates and their role in optimal health have dominated debates about the human diet for nearly 5 decades.
Diet fads and recommendations have continued to change rapidly year after year. At the same time, researchers continue to discover new information about how the body digests and responds to carbohydrates . So you may still be wondering how to get carbohydrates into a healthy diet, or what makes it so difficult to say no to some carbohydrates sometimes.
Find out if carbohydrates really are addictive , and what that means for the human diet.
What are carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates are one of the main macronutrients that your body needs. In fact, of all the macronutrients, carbohydrates are arguably the most important source of energy for your body’s cells, tissues, and organs.
Carbohydrates not only produce energy, they also help store it. Still, serving as a good source of energy is not its only function. Carbohydrates also serve as a precursor for ribonucleic acid (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), transport molecular data, and help cell signaling processes (Cocinero and Çarçabal, 2015).
Its chemical composition includes three primary elements: carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
Are Carbs Addictive?
You may have noticed that sometimes it can be difficult to resist junk food, especially carbohydrates that are high in refined sugar, salt, and fat. Many people have wondered if this is a matter of willpower, behavior or psychological traits or even brain chemistry. Some people have even begun to question whether carbohydrates can be addictive in the same way that other substances or behaviors can be (Hebebrand, 2014).
A major study revealed strong evidence that carbohydrate-rich foods stimulate regions of the brain that are associated with cravings and rewards. This study found that obese or overweight men showed higher brain activity and higher number of reports of hunger after eating a high GI meal, compared to a low GI meal (Lennerz et al., 2013) .
GI stands for glycemic index , a measure of how the carbohydrates in a meal affect blood sugar levels. A high GI food raises blood sugar levels more dramatically than a low GI food.
This suggests that the human desire to consume refined carbohydrates may have much more to do with brain chemistry than was initially believed.
What Really Causes Obesity?
There is a great debate on this topic. Most believe obesity is caused by too many calories in the simple “calories in, calories out” equation. This suggests that obesity is due to a lack of self-discipline or willpower or even a psychological problem.
Many others believe that obesity has more to do with hormonal imbalances , specifically a dysregulation of the hormone insulin. This is because insulin is often central to what we crave, what we eat, and how much fat we accumulate.
If insulin levels rise (even slightly, as in the case of a piece of banana bread), the body switches from burning fat for fuel to burning carbohydrates for fuel. This triggers a snowball effect because the more insulin that is released, the more carbohydrates are craved .
Is it possible to eat carbohydrates in moderation?
Unfortunately, when it comes to sugar and simple carbs, all the hard work avoiding them won’t prevent their addictive nature. This also explains why we crave carbohydrates so much, and why eating just a few of those fries can quickly become a real problem, even if we’ve controlled our carb intake for a long time.
The solution many doctors, nutritionists and health experts, may lie in fat. This is because fat is the only macronutrient that does not stimulate insulin . Another thing to do is avoid highly glycemic foods completely and avoid environments where they are easily accessible.
conclusion
Early research on carbohydrates suggests that they may have addictive properties. They seem to stimulate certain parts of the brain and even influence the types and amounts of chemicals your brain releases. However, more rigorous research in humans is needed to find out exactly how these brain mechanisms are affected by carbohydrates.
Some of the most addictive carbohydrates appear to be highly processed foods like pizza, potato chips, cakes, and candy. However, there are several techniques you can try to combat carbohydrate cravings . Consider trying a few to learn what works best for you.
References
- Cook, EJ and Çarçabal, P. (2015). Carbohydrates. Topics in current chemistry . doi: 10.1007 / 128_2014_596
- Lidicker, G. (2019). Science Explains Why It’s So Hard To Eat Carbs In Moderation. For. MindBodyGreen. [Revised February 2020].
- Hebebrand, J., Albayrak, Ö., Adan, R., Antel, J., Dieguez, C., de Jong, J.,… Dickson, SL (2014). “Eating addiction”, rather than “food addiction”, better captures addictive-like eating behavior. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews . doi: 10.1016 / j.neubiorev.2014.08.016
- Lennerz, BS, Alsop, DC, Holsen, LM, Stern, E., Rojas, R., Ebbeling, CB,… Ludwig, DS (2013). Effects of dietary glycemic index on brain regions related to reward and craving in men. The American journal of clinical nutrition . doi: 10.3945 / ajcn.113.064113
