Her book, The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings, tells readers how to stop food cravings in their tracks. Here, the author and nutritionist outlines three top reasons we crave sugar and starch – and how to stop.
#1. Control your blood sugar. “If you’ve got low blood sugar, your brain cries out for something. It wants sugar or carbs for quick fuel. You feel shaky and irritable.” The solution: breakfast is key; it should be eaten within an hour of getting up. Be sure to eat something rich in protein – instead of a bagel, have a smoothie, or an egg with bacon. Then eat regularly throughout the day: three meals plus mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks. Lunch and dinner should have a good helping of protein. Good snacks include a hard-boiled egg, a handful of nuts and a piece of fruit, beef jerky, or zucchini and hummus. “Once you stabilize your blood sugar, you can hop off the roller coaster of emotions.”
#2. Balance your brain chemistry. “When your neurotransmitters are off, you try to self-medicate with carbs and coffee. A common symptom of low serotonin levels are afternoon and evening cravings.” Women make less serotonin than men do. There are several things you can do to raise your levels, if you’re suffering cravings (other symptoms include depression, anxiety, irritability and poor sleep). Exercise boosts serotonin; so do sunshine and light so try to work out outdoors. Scott uses two amino acids with her patients: tryptophan and 5-HTP. “Within five minutes of taking tryptophan, the craving is diminished,” she says.
#3. Conquer candida. “If you’ve got candida or yeast overgrowth, you’ll crave carbs – bread, cookies, whatever. If your blood sugar and brain chemicals are good, we have to consider this.” Symptoms of candida include digestive issues (bloating, diarrhea, constipation) as well as foggy brain or anxiety. Taking probiotics, or healthful bacteria, can be helpful because they crowd the bad guys out. Eating fermented food like sauerkraut, or yogurt, can help. Scott also recommends oregano oil (get the capsules so it won’t burn your tongue) and garlic. Cutting down on the sugar that candida craves is another important step. “Candida is tough. Sometimes you need a stool test to figure out exactly what organism is bothering you,” Scott says. “Sometimes you need medication from a doctor to eradicate it.”