SECTION FOUR
Hunger Hypnotizers
This section was challenging for me to write.
Why?
Because I’ve said over and over again in my books and articles that I don’t tell people what to eat—and I still don’t.
My overall philosophy isn’t about this food or that. It’s about mindful eating. In my practice, I don’t tell people what foods to eat or take off their menu. So I don’t want to give the perception that I’m advising something like “You must eat more mushrooms to get vitamin D.”
But over the years, my definition of mindful eating has evolved and broadened. It’s not just about being aware of your food habits so that you don’t mindlessly gobble a sleeve of crackers while watching TV. It’s also about being mindful of how certain foods affect your body, mood—and hanger level. When you really tune in to how your body responds to particular foods, you have a much greater ability to harness your hanger.
My client Nicole, for example, is very mindful of how much cheese she eats. She loves every kind of cheese—blue, cheddar, provolone—you name it, she adores it. Although she does not have any dairy or lactose allergy, too much of it doesn’t sit well in her stomach. She has told me on many occasions that she pays very close attention to how much cheese is sprinkled on pizza, how many slices of cheese are in a sandwich, and the number of cubes she snacks on. She explained that she completely enjoys a little bit of cheese. But perhaps it’s the amount of sodium or saturated fat that can make her to feel sluggish and constipated when she eats a lot of it. Yuck! No one wants to feel that way from food! Thankfully, Nicole is a whiz at knowing how she reacts to certain foods. She uses this knowledge to make sure pleasurable foods don’t cause pain.
In this section, your job is twofold. First, you’ll learn to understand how foods and nutrients may be supporting or sabotaging your mood and hanger level. Your next job is to experiment. This includes being very tuned in to what happens after you eat food—whether it’s a specific food mentioned in this section or something else. Be mindful of how your hunger changes in intensity after you eat. How long does a particular food keep your hunger at bay? How satisfied do you feel after eating it? And most important, does this food make you happy?
About six years ago, my doctor told me that my iron level was low. This wasn’t a complete shock to me. I’d been anemic at other points in my life. What did surprise me was that I thought I had stayed on top of it.
I already ate a lot of iron-rich foods. But when I started to boost my iron intake with more of these foods, like leafy greens and meats, something amazing happened. It was like flipping a light switch. My energy level started to rise almost overnight. I had not even realized how much I had been dragging. When my iron levels were low, everything seemed to take more time. But I had chalked it up to more clients on my schedule and having small kids. “Who wouldn’t be tired?” I told myself.
When our energy drags, our go-to is often coffee or sugary foods to perk us up. But if your iron level is off, neither one will help at all. And the same is true for any other nutrients you need.
So from here on out, your job is to pay close attention to how your body, hunger, and mood respond to certain foods.
Which foods make you hangry?
And which ones make you happy?
HUNGER HYPNOTIZER #25: HOW TO HANGER-PROOF YOUR DAY
“I am a reformed stress eater. I no longer eat everything I can get my hands on when I’ve had a crummy day. This is an amazing feat. When I am stressed out, which happens quite a bit, I try to be even more thoughtful about what I eat. The kind of stress I have isn’t good for me and tears my body up. I know this because when I have a really terrible day or a huge presentation coming up, I get sick about two days later. My body just gives out from the stress. So I eat lots of oranges, berries, and nuts to help prevent this crash. It’s like putting sandbags up to brace against a stress storm.”
When I get stressed…
a) I crave comfort food like mac and cheese, tater tots, or chocolate.
b) I care less about my food choices.
c) I completely lose my appetite.
d) I eat food that helps nourish me and prevent the wear and tear of stress.
Every day, I help my clients to stop stress eating.
We work on breaking the complicated “I-feel-stressed-I-want-to-eat-comfort-foods-right-now-to-feel-better” cycle. So often, we use food to soothe uncomfortable and unpleasant feelings, and don’t even realize it until after the fact. But then it’s too darn late! Other times, we are painfully aware that we are stress eating, and we struggle desperately and unsuccessfully to break the habit.
To break the cycle, I teach my clients and readers to identify when they are truly physically hungry. If they aren’t physically hungry, there are natural and healthy alternatives to eating that can also help you to calm down and relax. (See my book 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food and the sequel, 50 More Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food!)
I always offer a very important caveat, as well. I remind people to keep eating when they’re stressed. The key is to make sure you’re getting foods that fortify your body. Comfort foods make you feel better for a few moments. And honestly, sometimes we just want grilled cheese and french fries—and that’s okay. But stress-busting foods can keep your mood from getting worse, and even improve it!
Basically, stress can be like a wrecking ball to your body. It causes inflammation and changes your hormones, which makes you more irritable. So let’s try flipping that effect on its head. Eating certain foods that help boost your immune system can help prevent or even repair the stress damage. It’s amazing. Food can help build your tolerance to irritation and fortify it to minimize the wear and tear that comes from stress.
When my client Lori, who’s a hospice worker, has a stressful week, she makes sure she includes two foods in her diet. She commits to eating more fish that has omega-3. Her choice is backed up by a study from Ohio State University that looked at the impact of an omega-3 diet on stress levels on a group of graduate students before and after exams—a very high-stress time in their lives. Researchers found that students with diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids had 20 percent less anxiety compared to participants who didn’t eat omega-rich fish.72 The food students ate actually reduced their stress.
The second type of food Lori eats during a stressful week is berries, particularly blueberries. She does this because when she is overly stressed, her eyebrows naturally furrow, and she noticed that the furrows were making deep wrinkles in her face.
We talked about a recent study that found a significant relationship between deep forehead wrinkles, stress, and higher risk of dying of a cardiovascular issue. The study found that these deep forehead wrinkles can be a quick and easy screening tool that health-care providers can use if they suspect a patient may be at risk for heart issues. They hypothesize that these wrinkles come from several factors, including stress, high cholesterol, and hypertension.73 Blueberries are high in antioxidants, which can help prevent oxidative stress, a process in the body that causes cell damage—and wrinkles! So when Lori eats her blueberries, she’s helping to rebuild the cell damage caused by stress.
One of my personal favorite foods for stress management is mandarin oranges. Inhaling the scent of an orange for ninety seconds has been shown to cause a significant reaction in the right prefrontal cortex of the brain—which increases comfortable and relaxed feelings.74 The sweet orange scent decreases the symptoms of anxiety and improves mood. Not to mention that oranges are high in vitamin C, which can help boost your immune system—help we all need when we are stressed out!
During my day, I take a “mindful time-out” and close my door. I sit in my office chair with my orange and peel each segment mindfully. One at a time. Breathing in the sweet citrus smell. I also love cut kiwi and mango, which offer the same benefits, since they also contain vitamin C.
Many people don’t utilize the power of food to cope with stress because they believe that they shouldn’t eat when stressed. But when we’re feeling stressed out and overwhelmed, eating can actually be the best thing for us.
Hangry to Happy
Stress check: Be honest with yourself. Where is your stress level right now? Is it sky-high, through the roof? Do you say to yourself or others daily, “I am so stressed out!” Or maybe you just have some minor annoyances in your life that you can manage. Everyone has some stress. That’s to be expected. But if you answered, “It’s really high,” minding what you eat can help prevent hanger—and reduce the symptoms of stress.
Stress-busting foods. On a stressful day, be sure to arm yourself with stress-busting foods. A mindful snack will help to inoculate the body from cravings and stress eating. And a number of foods help minimize inflammation caused by stress and help you gear up to endure stress that could turn into hanger. Here are a few examples:
Antioxidant-rich Foods: The good news is that these foods are yummy! They include blueberries (which have the highest amount of antioxidants of any berries), cranberries, strawberries, raspberries, spinach, kale, oranges, beans, pecans, and cilantro.
Vitamin E–rich Foods: Sunflower seeds, almonds, hazelnuts, mangoes, avocados, butternut squash, spinach, kiwis, broccoli, and tomatoes are all packed with vitamin E. Vitamin E helps because it has great anti-inflammatory properties, assists immune functioning, and protects your cells from free radicals that break down the body.
Omega-3-rich Foods: Atlantic mackerel, salmon, walnuts, chia seeds, herring, flaxseed, tuna, and egg yolks each contain a big dose of omega-3, which helps reduce the inflammation caused by stress. And avocados are an amazing source of omega-3 as well. To get the benefits, try smashed avocado on whole wheat toast, a simple, filling stress-buster that even young children can make and enjoy.
Pumpkin Seeds: Chock-full of zinc, magnesium, and omega-6, pumpkin seeds are one of my favorite mineral-rich, go-to foods. And if you need a savory fix, reach for pumpkin seeds sprinkled with sea salt or spices.
Teas: Cinnamon tea is clinically shown to regulate blood sugar, making it easier to keep away the hanger. Chamomile tea has been shown to help reduce anxiety and encourage restful sleep. Green tea calms the body during stress. Black tea boasts benefits, too: a study of 75 men found that six weeks of drinking black tea decreased cortisol levels in response to a stressful task, compared to other caffeinated drinks.75
Dark Chocolate: More than one study proves that consuming dark chocolate helps reduce cortisol when your body is under stress.76 Yes, I’m saying an ounce of dark chocolate a day helps keep the stress away!
Bone Broth: Filled with amino acids, bone broth is great for replenishing the body. It increases collagen stores to replace those depleted under stress. And bone broth and good old chicken-noodle soup have anti-inflammatory properties.77
HUNGER HYPNOTIZER #26: FOODS THAT KEEP HANGER AT BAY
“I’m in a huge rush in the morning, after I hit snooze repeatedly before class. I tend to skip breakfast all the time, even though I love it. Then it’s like a surprise when I am starving by 10:00 a.m., desperate for something to eat.”
Do you always start your day with breakfast?
a) I’m just not hungry when I wake up.
b) Nope, coffee will do.
c) I typically forget or don’t have time.
d) Yes! Are you kidding? I need it! I just can’t function without breakfast.
You know you’re “supposed” to eat breakfast. You’re well aware of the saying “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” You don’t dispute that.
But, gosh darn it, none of that helps when you just rolled out of bed and only have ten minutes to get to a meeting. Or if you aren’t really hungry because you mindlessly ate while you were binge-watching TV until 3:00 a.m. Or maybe you just aren’t a “breakfast person.”
But the old saying is onto something. The drawbacks of skipping breakfast are often serious for your mood. Without breakfast, your blood sugar drops, putting you at risk for low energy and hanger.
In some cases, the consequences of skipping breakfast are even more extreme. My clients who have diabetes have learned firsthand that they can’t skip breakfast. They get significantly low blood sugar, called hypoglycemia, which makes them anxious, tired, and shaky.
On the other hand, eating breakfast offers all kinds of benefits. The instant you eat breakfast, good things begin to happen. Research published in the Journal of Frontiers of Human Neuroscience shows that eating breakfast helps restore glycogen and stabilizes levels of insulin.78 And the positive effects of breakfast persist all day. One study shows that women who ate breakfast ate less throughout the day than those who skipped it.79 In other words, they didn’t overeat later because they were well fed from the start.
The most compelling reason for eating breakfast is that it helps you enjoy life more. One study of contemporary dancers looked at what happened when some dancers in the study were given an energy bar to eat, while others fasted with water before ballet class.80 The study found that dancers who consumed the energy bar had greater peaks in blood-glucose levels than those who fasted. This is important because blood-sugar drops are directly related to hanger. To ward off hanger, keeping blood sugar stable is the goal. And researchers also found that participants who had the bar reported significantly greater pleasure in the class than those who drank only water. In other words, the dancers who ate breakfast enjoyed what they were doing more—likely because they had more energy and were able to focus better.
You might not be dancing in a studio during the day. But you are dancing through your life. Sometimes it is very fast-paced and you may feel like you are twirling this way and that. But no matter the tune, you will take more pleasure in it and be able to be more mindfully present if you’ve had breakfast.
Keep in mind that breakfast doesn’t have to be the traditional bacon and eggs or bowl of cereal. When I travel to Europe, I am often reminded that breakfast looks different to everyone. In the morning, Europeans often eat things Americans might eat for lunch, like an array of sliced meats and cheese. Protein like this is a great start for the day. In Japan, people often begin the day with a bowl of rice.
I tell my clients to let go of their idea of what they think breakfast “should” look like and start thinking about what works for them. What would you like to eat in the morning? And when? Maybe breakfast doesn’t work well for you first thing, when you roll out of bed. Perhaps it would work better for you a bit later, for a few minutes at your desk before you start your day.
No matter what you choose for breakfast or when or where it happens, being more mindful of your breakfast routine may be one of the most important factors in managing hanger. Not only does breakfast have a profound impact on the body, it also affects your mood and ability to function for the rest of the day.
Hangry to Happy
Mind your breakfast. Be mindful of how your body responds with and without breakfast. How do you feel in the mornings if you eat breakfast or skip it? How do you feel throughout the day?
Define breakfast. What does it mean to you? And what could it look like? What time? What place? Specify a goal. For example: “Eating before 10:00 a.m., at my kitchen table, before I leave my house.”
What are your obstacles to breakfast? Begin by assessing what has been standing in the way of eating breakfast. Why you aren’t hungry for breakfast is the bigger issue to solve.
If you “aren’t a breakfast person,” think outside the box. Breakfast doesn’t have to be cereal. What would you actually like to eat? It could even be a bite of last night’s leftovers. Or a bowl of soup. Whatever powers you up!
If you aren’t hungry at breakfast, it’s likely that you are eating very late at night or your body is slow to wake up. Your body sets its internal clock by sleep patterns and eating. If you aren’t hungry when you get up, drink some warm water or tea first thing. This can help wake up your digestive system. The first thing you eat sends a signal to your body—it’s almost as if it turns on the lights and opens your metabolism for business. It fires up all systems in your body. If you are staying up too late, maybe that is the real issue to tackle. Another issue might be eating too late in the evening.
If you don’t have time, portable items can be key. A banana is easy to throw in your purse. Or a yogurt that you can eat at your desk. Or anything else that you think is delicious and that is also easy to carry, like a hard-boiled egg, bag of granola, some slices of lunch meat rolled around cheese, a protein bar, or a breakfast tortilla with peanut butter and apple chunks rolled up inside.
Cookies! I love making what I call breakfast cookies. They are mainly oats, and I mix in whatever else I feel like or have, such as nuts and cranberries. I put them in a container and they are so easy for my family to eat or take along. Everyone has time for a cookie!
HUNGER HYPNOTIZER #27: NIGHTTIME NIBBLING
“‘I stand in front of an open refrigerator door, looking for answers.’ This is a quote I saw on social media. It really struck a chord with me. I do this. Particularly at night. I find that I pick and pick and pick at food at night, when really, I just need to go to bed.”
After dinner…
a) I always snack at night.
b) I sometimes want a snack in the evening.
c) I try not to eat after dinner.
d) I generally don’t eat late at night.
People snack at night for different reasons.
Sometimes they’re genuinely hungry. One of my clients has a husband who’s retired. He has dinner waiting for her the moment she walks in the door from work at five o’clock. Then, they walk around the high school track. By nine, she’s really hungry and wants a little something. For her, the trick was to find a filling snack that honors her hunger but doesn’t have too much sugar or caffeine that could stimulate her system and keep her up all night.
For other clients, eating at night is just a habit. Like my client Aubrey. She and her husband, Eric, like to watch TV together at night. After a full day’s work, they are both exhausted, and it is the only time they regularly spend together. At eight o’clock almost on the dot, her husband would wander into the kitchen, get a snack, and bring back a plate for both of them. Often, she didn’t even want anything. But it was such a sweet, thoughtful gesture from Eric that she went ahead and ate anyway. Their daily routine meant she often went to bed feeling regretfull. And she didn’t know how to get them both out of the habit.
My anxious clients are probably the ones who struggle the most with night eating. They are often up late because they just can’t fall asleep or stay asleep. As soon as the lights turn off, their brains turn on. They begin to worry about everything under the sun. When we dig deep into their night eating habits, they often realize that they’re trying to find foods to help them get to sleep and quiet down the brain. For them, eating helps to quash or mute anxiety. They sometimes eat until they fall into a “food coma,” their stomachs so full that they can feel only that.
Hangry to Happy
Go to bed. Believe it or not, the majority of my clients who eat at night are not really hungry. They are simply tired. Exhausted, in fact. So before you take a bite at night, ask yourself, “Am I just tired?” I know it sounds simplistic, but if you answered yes, try going to bed. You would be amazed at how many of my clients have turned around night eating by giving themselves permission to go to bed. Their head often resists and says, “But I should stay up and do laundry… or pay bills… or read.…” But when they acknowledge that their body is maxed out and it’s okay to call it a day, they hit the sack instead of eating—which in the long run makes them very happy. Ask yourself, how tired are you on a scale from 1 (wide awake) to 10 (almost asleep and can barely keep your eyes open)? If you are anywhere above a 5, it’s worth considering going to sleep.
Try sleep-aid snacks. If you do genuinely feel hungry before bed, there are some snacks that have been shown to help people fall asleep fast. In one study, participants fell asleep faster—in only 17 minutes, on average—when they ate healthy snacks, lower in saturated fat and higher in protein than the meals they chose for themselves.81 In contrast, it took an average of 29 minutes for participants to fall asleep after eating the less healthy food and drinks they picked for themselves. Many of the foods contain helpful sleep compounds, including tryptophan, which contributes to production of serotonin, the feel-good neurotransmitter; melatonin; magnesium; and calcium—all of which are known to have a calming effect and help people go to sleep.82
Tart Cherries. In two studies, adults with insomnia who drank 8 ounces (237 ml) of tart cherry juice twice a day for two weeks slept about an hour and a half longer and reported better sleep quality, compared to nights they did not drink the juice.83
Kiwifruit. In a four-week study, 24 adults consumed two kiwifruits one hour before going to bed each night. At the end of the study, participants fell asleep 42 percent more quickly than when they didn’t eat anything before bedtime. Additionally, their ability to sleep through the night without waking improved by 5 percent, while their total sleep time increased by 13 percent.84
Oatmeal. Whole-grain oatmeal is mostly carbohydrates—which can help you to become drowsy. Also, oats contain stress-reducing B6 as well as melatonin, another natural sleep aid. Try eating a small bowl at night before you go to bed!
Tryptophan Foods. Tryptophan (also called L-tryptophan) is an essential amino acid. It acts like a natural mood regulator and can help you sleep! If you struggle with sleep, try a food that is a good source of tryptophan, such as a banana, sunflower seeds, pistachios, cashews, almonds, tofu, cheese, red meat, chicken, turkey, fish, oats, beans, lentils, potatoes, or eggs.
These are just a few examples. Experiment to find out which foods help you count sheep faster!
HUNGER HYPNOTIZER #28: FOODS THAT TURN FROWNS UPSIDE DOWN
“When I eat healthier foods, I notice that my mood is so much better. It’s not dramatic, like I break into song or anything. But I very much notice the absence of that overeating ‘I regret-eating-that’ feeling. I hate that feeling. But a really good banana that is ripe the perfect amount, spread with some almond butter, is just a great snack. I feel like I made a good choice for me—even that is cool.”
As far as healthy foods go…
a) I don’t like healthy foods or how they taste.
b) I like healthy foods once in a while.
c) I eat a variety of foods—some healthy, some not.
d) There are a lot of healthy foods that make me happy.
Think for a moment about the last food you ate that made you unhappy. Maybe it wasn’t the food itself but how it made you feel. Were you regretfull, too full, bloated? Did you get hungry again immediately, or too sugared up?
Most of us are well aware of which foods leave us feeling unhappy. My clients talk a lot about how heavy, fatty, fried, or sugary foods make them feel bad if they don’t eat them mindfully. “I love BBQ chips,” one of my clients told me. “But I always eat way too many of them and then feel just awful.” And he’s not alone. Many of my clients focus a lot on how terrible mindlessly eating certain foods can make them feel.
Now answer the flip side of that question. What food have you eaten recently that made you happy? Personally, I love mangoes. I don’t buy them every single time I go to the store because they are expensive and not always in season. But I buy a lot of things that have mango in them, like mango smoothies and mango flavored tea, and I always jump at the chance to have one. For me, mangoes hit all the right sensory pleasure buttons. I also know that they are packed with vitamin C, and I feel good when I know I’m doing something good for my body. There’s not much I like better than a perfectly ripe mango, from the sweet taste to the great smell.
When I go to the grocery store, my kids ask me to buy the “happy fruit.” I know what they are talking about. The container has a logo on it of a kiwi with a happy smile. However, my kids didn’t give kiwi its nickname because of the jolly little mascot. It’s because I told them about an interesting study about kiwis, published in the Journal of Nutritional Science.85 Researchers recruited 139 male students, 18 to 35 years old, to examine the impact of eating kiwifruit on mood. After researchers gave them a battery of tests on mood, the researchers discovered there was an inverse association of vitamin C levels with depression, confusion, and anger. In other words, those who ate the most fruit had the fewest problems with their mood.
In a previous study by this same author, just giving men two kiwis a day boosted young men’s moods. Those who had the daily kiwi noted a decrease in fatigue, an increase in energy, and a trend toward a decrease in depression: a powerful confirmation that food can have a big impact on mood.
In the Hanger Management program, I ask my clients to shift their focus away from how some foods make them feel bad and instead toward noticing how some foods make them feel good—how some foods positively influence their mood. Often, they start out thinking that healthy foods don’t affect them much: “I don’t feel anything when I eat an apple.” But when they start to pay attention, they begin to see this absence of feeling as a positive.
It’s a little like if you were to twist your ankle. You don’t usually appreciate how wonderful it is to walk around pain-free. But if you’ve suffered a big injury, the absence of pain is a delight. When my clients start tuning in to how foods make their body feel—relaxed, content, pleasant—it’s the same thing. They start to tune in to the positives that are often overshadowed by the negative.
A study in Frontiers in Psychology looked at what specific foods often help people to be happier.86 In particular, they looked at how both raw and processed fruits and vegetables influence depressive symptoms, anxiety, negative mood, positive mood, life satisfaction, and flourishing, among young adults in both the United States and New Zealand. Does eating fruits and vegetables help our mood? According to both this study and the many firsthand reports of my clients: Yes!
Hangry to Happy
Would you like to perk up your mood with healthy foods? My ten-day Hangry-to-Happy Challenge incorporates the top ten raw foods (in no particular order) that, according to that study, had the best effect on mental health. The great news: these foods don’t require any cooking—just eat! I’ve made some suggestions for how to turn these raw foods into great snacks. But feel free to do whatever works for you.
10-Day Hangry-to-Happy Challenge. Each morning, rate your mood, from 1 to 10. And each day, eat one of the foods listed below. At the end of the day, rate your mood again.
Carrots. Dip them in dressing or hummus, or spread with almond or peanut butter and sprinkle cinnamon on top. Arrange in a flower by spreading baby carrots around a center ramekin. Roast into carrot fries. Bake slices into chips.
Bananas. Add Nutella or peanut butter; put on cereal; mash with avocado; blend into a smoothie. Freeze for a frozen confection. Layer between crackers. Make into energy balls or muffins.
Apples. Sprinkle with cinnamon or granola; spread with nut butter or cream cheese. Cut in half and make into a sandwich. Make applesauce or apple butter. Bake to make apple chips. Dice and put on yogurt, cottage cheese, ice cream, or toast. Layer with slices of sharp cheddar or Swiss cheese. Drizzle with caramel, honey, or dark chocolate.
Dark Leafy Greens (like spinach, kale, or swiss chard). Fill a salad bowl; put in soup, layer on sandwiches; or use as garnish for your plate. Add to breakfast items like eggs. Include in wraps. Use as pizza topping. Add to pasta. Tuck into tacos or use on baked potatoes. Use them as wraps. Bake into chips.
Grapefruit. Sprinkle with sugar (white or brown) or salt. Grill; blend into smoothies; drop into drinks. Garnish a salad. Add vanilla, honey, and yogurt. Make a grapefruit salsa. Drink grapefruit juice. Put on ice cream.
Lettuce. Use as a wrap instead of bread. Chop and put in soup. Grill. Top it like a cracker. Make it a filling in spring rolls, wraps, or tacos.
Other Citrus Fruits (like oranges, mandarin oranges, lemons, limes, and pomegranates). Put them in water. Sprinkle them in salads. Grill them with meat. Top a dessert like cheesecake with them.
Fresh Berries. Add to overnight oats; put in salads; serve with ice cream as a dessert. Blend into smoothies; make into salsa. Freeze and drop into drinking water; mix into muffins. Freeze into ice cubes. Make into fruit spread or jam.
Cucumber. Make into salad or tabouli. Add to pasta. Stuff into pita. Top it like a cracker; scoop into a dip like salsa or hummus. Make into a chunky salad. Skewer with fruit. Top with cheese.
Kiwifruit. Blend into smoothies; add to salad; use as a garnish. Put on toast or crackers. Chop into parfait. Use in salsa. Top with cinnamon or nutmeg.
HUNGER HYPNOTIZER #29: EAT BETTER, THINK BETTER
“My friends call me the snacking queen. I take snacks everywhere. I never leave home without them because I am a distracted hot mess who can hardly find her way home if I’m too hungry. I tried for a long time to give up snacking. But that really didn’t work for me. Now I pack my bag with snacks. If I’m hungry, I pull out a bag of pistachios, and it’s all better. When I didn’t do this, I was at the mercy of the vending machine. I would eat whatever I could find to get my head on straight again.”
If I’m feeling hungry…
a) I am often very distracted and can’t think clearly at all.
b) thoughts about food interrupt what I’m doing.
c) my focus isn’t as good as it is when I am well fed.
d) I don’t have any problems focusing.
Hanger isn’t just about being irritable. For many people, it shows up most prominently in how it decreases their ability to think clearly.
My clients will often come in rubbing their heads in utter dismay: “I just couldn’t get anything done. I gave up working on the project because it was pointless unless I got something to eat. I was going in circles.”
I experience food-related changes in my concentration level in my own life. I sit for eight hours a day straight, listening intently to people. I have to be able to concentrate. My mind can’t wander for a second, or I might miss an important detail. So I have to bring snacks. Every day I pack up my bag for work: phone charger, keys, to-do list, and, most important, snacks.
Nothing’s more frustrating than not being able to get things done when they need to be done. And sometimes the only thing that stands in the way of being productive is having a good meal or snack.
Ever wished you could take a magic pill that would make you smarter and better at your work? It may just be that apple sitting on your desk.
In one study, researchers had healthy participants eat the equivalent of a chocolate bar—48 grams of dark chocolate (70 percent cacao, with organic cane sugar). Then their brains were scanned with an EEG, which measures brain waves, 30 minutes and 60 minutes after eating. Gamma waves increased across multiple areas of the cortex, mainly related to cognition and memory.87 The changes were most pronounced after 30 minutes and returned to normal by the 60-minute mark. In other words, eating dark chocolate helped people remember and make decisions.
Another study found that students who ate bananas before an exam did better than those who didn’t, perhaps because bananas provide potassium, an essential mineral crucial for keeping your brain, nerves, and heart in tip-top shape. And a report published by the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry showed that people who drank blueberry juice every day for two months significantly improved their performance on learning and memory tests.88 But it doesn’t have to be blueberry juice. For example, a study of schoolchildren showed that eating 1½ cups of fresh blueberries can provide important cognitive benefits, including improved reaction time and better short memory recall on tests.89
The take-home message: when we snack and eat foods mindfully, we have more focus, and we’re better at our job—and our lives.
Hangry to Happy
Need a focus fix? Quickly assess how much focus and concentration you need today. Do you have to be completely on your game and paying attention to every single detail—because you’re doing surgery, taking a test, or counting money? Or perhaps it’s Saturday and you are going to veg out in front of the TV. You don’t need or want to focus on anything! Hanger comes when there is a mismatch between how much focus you need and the food fuel you have given your brain. Nothing is more frustrating than being unable to concentrate!
Begin to tune in to your own concentration level throughout the day. Notice how it changes with different tasks, the time of day, your interest level in a project, distractions—and hunger level. What is your concentration level right now?
Make a snack tradition around concentration lags. I’ve learned some lessons about snacking while traveling to other countries. In France, I was introduced to a goûter, an eating occasion between lunch and dinner. The English have afternoon tea. Merienda (sometimes spelled marenda or merenda) is eaten in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Hispanic America, and the Philippines. It is a small meal between lunch and dinner. All over the world, snacking is a tradition and custom. It’s an accepted part of daily life.
Observe your daily routine and create your own snacking tradition. When do you struggle most with concentration? Morning? Afternoon? Many people experience a lull in their energy level around 3:00. Find a time during the day when you need more concentration—and plan to have a snack. And give your snack time a name, like “Focus Fuel.”
Foods that help concentration. When it comes to concentration, some foods help more than others—a lot more. Below is a list of foods that naturally boost concentration—and how they can help you.
Chocolate! Have some dark chocolate or a cup of cocoa! A study in the journal Neurology concluded that those who drank two cups of cocoa every day for a month had improved blood flow to the brain and performed better on memory tests.90 And in another study, people who ate 48 grams of 70 percent cacao chocolate (1.5 ounces, or about two square inches) saw an improvement in brain functioning thirty minutes after consuming it.91
Omega-3. People who have high levels of omega-3s, healthy fatty acids found in fish, soybeans, and walnuts, show increased blood flow in the brain and better cognition, or thinking abilities.
Berries. A review of the benefits of berries (including strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and blackcurrants) found great benefits to the brain. In particular, berries improve communication between brain cells. And they make a great “fuel-up” finger food.92
Vitamin E–rich Foods. Sunflower seeds, almonds, hazelnuts, mangoes, avocados, butternut squash, spinach, kiwis, broccoli, and tomatoes also help you think better. Vitamin E has antioxidant properties that protect your cells from stress and aging.
Beets and Beet Juice. These increase blood flow to the brain, helping concentration. In one study, forty healthy adults received either a placebo or 450 milliliters of beet-root juice during a ninety-minute period, then were given a series of tests. The result? Their cognitive performance was improved on simple subtraction, as well as other tasks. These results show that even a single dose of beet juice can help you think better.93
Foods with Natural Nitrites. Found in high concentrations in celery, cabbage, spinach, and other leafy green vegetables, nitrites are known to widen blood vessels. And researchers have recently discovered that nitrites also increase blood flow to the brain, boosting its performance.94, 95
Vitamin K–rich Foods. Foods rich in vitamin K include kale, edamame, pickles, broccoli, asparagus, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, and blueberries. They help visual memory and verbal fluency. In other words, vitamin K helps us remember what we see and speak easily and clearly.96
Green Tea. It has been shown to be great for sharpening memory and attention.97 Try some when you need to boost your powers of concentration!
HUNGER HYPNOTIZER #30: FOODS FOR ALL-DAY ENERGY
“By 3:00 in the afternoon, I could lay my head on my keyboard and fall fast asleep. I think to myself, ‘Oh my gosh, I have got to wake up. I am never going to make it through the day.’ But I can’t drink coffee past noon because there is no way I will sleep at night. So a candy bar seems like a great option to help me power through until 5:00.”
When I’m feeling low energy…
a) I eat sugary snacks for an energy boost.
b) I eat anything near me for some fuel.
c) I sometimes choose healthy foods to give me a boost.
d) I generally choose snacks that improve my energy levels.
We live in a word that is full of energy-sucking vampires—from toxic people to busy schedules to constantly being plugged into one’s phone. Almost everyone feels tapped out at some point.
For me personally, most tasks without human-related interaction completely zap me of energy. Things like paperwork. Bills. Insurance papers. Filing.
What drains you of your energy the most? This is important to specify: exactly what tugs down your energy level. Because that’s when hanger can pounce.
People who are dragging through their day for whatever reason often turn to what I call energy-drained eating. They have the right idea, basically. They know food can help fuel them up when they’re low on energy. But the foods they choose can either help their mood—or drag them further down, into hanger.
One of my jobs in Hanger Management is to help people to think through what are they snacking on and how it is working for them. First, I ask them to tune into why they are snacking. Are they trying to get more energy? Trying to forget they’re tired? Searching to find a bit of pleasure in the midst of an otherwise dreary day?
The clients in my virtual practice who often think the most about how food relates to energy level are teens involved in organized sports or adults who spend a lot of time playing a sport. Cory, a forty-five-year-old mom who plays tennis twice a week in a league, is a good example. She noticed that how she talks about and chooses food is very different from the ways a lot of other moms do. “I’m not interested in dieting or starving myself to be skinny,” she told me. “I take my tennis league really seriously. The tennis league is the only thing that helps to curb my competitive edge. I google things like high-protein foods and foods that help me play way better. And I really like to win!”
People involved in sports and physical activities get the idea that food truly is fuel. It’s often because they can see a very direct correlation between what they eat and how they perform. When they eat better, they can run the same exact distance much faster. They get really tangible results that others often can’t see day to day. And that’s convincing. I don’t get a timer out to see how long it takes me to do paperwork. But I have noticed that I can get my notes done, shut off my computer, and be out the door within an hour after seeing patients—if I am well fed and focused. If not, it’s easy to get distracted and have to finish up my paperwork the next day.
The good news is, lots of foods help to maintain energy and endurance. For example, a recent study showed that eating a banana prior to a 75 km cycling trial was just as effective as consuming a carbohydrate drink for improving the performance of endurance athletes.98
And in a small trial, participants who ate a dark-chocolate bar (but not a milk-chocolate bar) had significantly improved contrast sensitivity and visual acuity for two hours after eating it. Not only that, dark chocolate helped people to feel more satisfied.99
And this is where we have the opportunity to turn hangry into happy.
Hangry to Happy
Mind your energy need. One of the first things you need to do to prevent hanger is identify how much energy you need. Hanger happens when there’s a mismatch between the energy we expend and what we eat to power ourselves. When we expend more energy than we consume, we run out of gas and get grumpy. So do a quick assessment in the morning as soon as you get up. What energy does your day require? Will you be moving a lot, working in the garden all day? Or do you plan to sit at your desk for eight hours? High-energy days require more fuel to keep you happy, not hangry!
Make a snack menu. Snacking is one of the best ways to prevent hanger. But my clients are often caught off guard by hanger, without a snack. It’s helpful to have your snack options ready ahead of time, so you don’t need to take time to think them through when you’re already hungry. Consider how often and how comfortable we are consulting menus. So create your own! Stick a snack menu near your desk or on your fridge, or put it on a chalkboard. List at least three snack options, covering common snacking desires—salty, sweet, and savory options. When you need one, you won’t even have to think too hard—just choose from your predetermined menu. Be sure to stock up on these snacks and any ingredients you need for them.
Eat energy-boosting foods. Energy-boosting snacks provide fuel for your body, and that fuel can come in many forms: apple slices with peanut butter, popcorn sprinkled with spices or cheese, cheese kabobs, spicy chickpeas, almonds, hard-boiled eggs, energy bites, pumpkin seeds, dark-chocolate squares. Apples have a high antioxidant content, and research has shown that antioxidants may slow down the digestion of carbohydrates, so energy is released over an extended period of time. Bananas are great for fueling up because they are an excellent source of carbohydrates, potassium, and vitamin B6, all of which can help boost energy levels in your body. And yogurt contains sugars that can provide ready-to-use energy.
Remember: these are just ideas. Everyone’s different, and what you need may be different from what anyone else needs.
You need to find what provides YOU with sustained energy. What is most important is that your snacks provide the right kind of fuel to power your day—whatever it may bring you.
Make custom trail mixes. Creating your own blend of trail mix can be the best of all worlds. You can put together all kinds of things, as long as they include a lot of nutrients to benefit your mood and reduce your hanger level. Choose any combination that sounds good to you: chocolate or yogurt bites; dried fruit such as bananas, apricots, or cherries; cranberries; goji berries; pumpkin seeds; sunflower seeds; M&M’s; peanut butter chips; popcorn; nuts; coconut flakes; coffee or espresso beans; oatmeal; granola; cereal; sesame sticks. Enhance your mix with Cajun seasoning, sea salt, or cinnamon. Then put the mix in a baggie and carry it with you for an energy boost.
Stash emergency hanger snack kits. This is one of the best tricks my clients have learned, to keep them from grabbing the first thing within arm’s reach. Think of it like the other emergency items you may have in your bag—a Band-Aid or extra cash. And choose things that can stay fresh in your bag until you need them.
HUNGER HYPNOTIZER #31: THE BALANCING ACT
“Whenever I feel overwhelmed, all I crave are highly processed carbs and comfort foods—like bagels, sugar cereals, and cookies. But eating them makes me sleepy. So I started making sure that I had more balance whenever I eat. If I eat a piece of bread, I put a piece of cheese on top, for example. Making sure I don’t drown myself in comfort food completely helps my mood.”
When it comes to eating…
a) I find myself craving carbohydrates.
b) I like a lot of carbs but eat other foods.
c) I eat some different kinds of food.
d) I intentionally eat a diversity of foods.
My clients talk a lot about desperately craving carbohydrate-rich comfort foods such as donuts, muffins, pasta, mac and cheese, cake, and cookies, particularly when they are stressed or hangry. This makes sense. Carbohydrates are a quick way to get a dopamine hit and release serotonin, a feel-good chemical, in the brain.
What my clients learn over time is that when anything is out of balance in what we eat, it can lead to hanger. If we’re overdosing on or craving just one type of food, whether it is carbohydrates or fatty fast food, it should give us pause. In fact, take a pause right now to think about how any kind of imbalance might be contributing to your hanger level. Is there something that you eat significantly more of than any other food?
My clients tell me about their good times with food—like how delighted they were to discover a spicy shrimp appetizer at the Thai bistro down the street. And they talk about the bad times, like the guilt they experienced when they ate an entire pepperoni pizza on their own, no sharing. But they don’t just talk about their emotional response. They also talk about how different foods affect their hunger levels. Some foods leave them feeling hungry, seemingly no matter how much they gobble. But others leave them feeling satisfied all afternoon.
When we take a close look at what they are eating that leads to hanger, we often find that they are the most unsatisfied when their food choices are out of balance.
Sandy, a forty-seven-year-old single mom, worked as a teacher in a public school. Her job was stressful—managing a class full of hormonal middle schoolers. And teaching required her to be on her feet all day long, with very little time for herself. She had barely any time to use the bathroom and only a few moments between classes for snacks or lunch.
When she started working on her Hanger Management, she noticed that all she was eating during the day were carbohydrate-rich foods that were easy to eat as students streamed in and out between classes, such as pretzels, cookies, and muffins. “All I ate for days was carbohydrates,” she told me. “I almost put myself into a carbohydrate coma each day.”
For Sandy, all the pieces really began to fall into place one day when she ran out of her standard bagels at home. The bagels she was used to eating were huge, so she’d assumed that they’d keep her feeling full through her hectic mornings. But when she ran out of bagels, she grabbed some eggs from her fridge, scrambled them, and topped them with cheese. And even though it didn’t seem like as much food as her giant bagel, she found she was much less hungry throughout the day.
She began to notice how different types of food affected her mood. So one day, after starting the Hanger Management program, Sandy decided to switch things up. She brought a baggie full of almonds with her to school.
“When I ate the almonds,” she said, “I noticed a huge difference in my hanger level. And my students did, too. I wasn’t irritable by the end of class, giving them my raised, stern teacher voice. The almonds tackled my hunger amazingly, in a way that a muffin couldn’t even touch.” (And this is no surprise, as almonds have been shown to help people feel more satiated.)100
The secret, for Sandy and for many of my other clients, was making sure she wasn’t stuck on a one-way track, eating only carbohydrates. To remedy this, Sandy didn’t stop eating carbohydrates, which she loves. Instead, she added protein-rich foods like eggs, almonds, and cheese during the day.
Sandy’s strategy was based on good science, because study after study links protein with higher levels of feeling satisfied—exactly what she needed!
In one study, researchers asked subjects to eat two different yogurt snacks in the afternoon. The snacks were similar—except that one group of the participants had a high-protein yogurt, and some had a low-protein yogurt. The result? The people who ate the high-protein snack were less hungry and ate less later than those who didn’t get as much protein.101
Another study found that eating eggs for breakfast, rather than a bagel, increased fullness and led to less calorie intake over the next thirty-six hours.102 And yet another study found that a protein-rich breakfast of eggs and lean beef increased fullness and helped people make more mindful food choices throughout the day.103
In this tip, I’ve talked about carbohydrates being out of balance, because carbohydrates are what my clients who stress eat talk about craving the most. And they also talk about how much their mood and satisfaction level benefit when they balance carbohydrates with other foods. But carbohydrates aren’t the only culprit—you could be overloading on any type of food.
Hangry to Happy
Balance check. For a moment, think about whether your food choices are out of balance in any way. Do you seek out one type of food above the others when stressed or hangry—carbohydrates, sugar, fruit, fast food? If so, how does relying so heavily on these foods affect your mood? Does it make you feel tired? Guilty? Bored? Something else?
Your hanger balance challenge: To maintain a good mood, intentionally add some balance whenever you eat. Maybe you pair a piece of chocolate with a piece of fruit. Or wrap a piece of meat in a tortilla. Put a piece of cheese on a cracker. If you eat mainly sweet snacks, pair them with something savory. Adding a contrasting food helps ensure you are getting all your nutrient needs covered, to help maintain your mood. If you eat a fast food, balance it with something homemade.
If you are someone who craves carbohydrates, remember, that is okay! Try an experiment in managing your hanger by adding more protein. As discussed above, people feel fuller and therefore happier when they have enough protein in their diet. So include foods containing protein in each meal. Some good options:
• chicken
• turkey
• beef
• fish
• eggs
• milk
• cheese
• yogurt
• oats
• soybeans
• chickpeas
• lentils
• spinach
• Brussels sprouts
• almonds
• peanuts
After you eat protein, write down how hungry you are on a scale of 1 to 10.
Then keep track of how long it takes you to get hungry after you eat protein: Three minutes? Thirty minutes? Three hours?
And keep asking yourself, “Do I feel hangry or happy when my food choices are more balanced?”
HUNGER HYPNOTIZER #32: DRINK UP!
“I used to get a lot of headaches and felt low energy—which made me pretty grumpy and hangry. Now, I do two things that help a lot. I carry a water bottle everywhere. And I eat a lot of foods that have a lot of water in them. Watermelon is my favorite—92 percent water.”
When it comes to water…
a) I don’t drink enough.
b) I hate it. It’s so boring and bland.
c) I drink water with meals if it is served to me.
d) I make an active effort to hydrate. I carry a water bottle with me all day long.
Imagine for a moment that you are at a restaurant.
“Would you like a glass of water?” the waiter asks.
And if you say yes, do you actually drink it?
This is a pretty typical scenario at just about any American restaurant. We often take for granted the fact that water is free, readily available, and routinely offered or provided at the beginning of meals at American restaurants.
But in other countries, it’s not.
One of my clients realized this on a recent trip to Sicily. In Sicily, a glass of water with a meal isn’t free. And it’s not free in many other places in the world. At every meal, she had to buy water and decide whether she wanted it “still” or “with bubbles.” The charge for water is due to many factors, such as higher cost associated with water, filtration, and simply building in a fee for service.
That trip helped shift my client’s mindset about drinking water. When she had to pay for water at a restaurant, my client suddenly became conscious of the role water plays in her meals. She craved it. She thought about how thirsty she was. She became aware of how not having water makes her feel. And how refreshing a glass is before a meal.
Even though American restaurants routinely serve water with meals, only a small percentage of people do the same at home. The good news is that water is one of the best tools we have for managing hanger.
Research has shown this time and again. For example, researchers from the University of Birmingham showed that drinking 16.9 ounces, or about one tall glass of water, before every meal can help to manage your appetite.104 In this study, 84 adults were invited to participate in a twelve-week program. They all received advice on improving their diet and physical activity. Then they were put into two groups. The first group was instructed to drink 16.9 ounces of water thirty minutes before their three daily meals every day for twelve weeks. The second, a control group, was told to imagine having a full stomach before every meal without drinking any water. This was just to make the subjects think that they were receiving an intervention.
The result?
Those in the group who were instructed to “preload” with water lost, on average, 1.3 kilograms (2.87 pounds), while those in the control group lost only 0.8 kilograms (or 1.76 pounds).
The bottom line: when you are trying to manage your appetite and eat more mindfully, staying hydrated is key.
Hangry to Happy
To help my clients make water work for them, I often tell them to start increasing the amount of water they drink every day. It’s one of the easiest changes you can make to curb your hunger.
Hanger hydrating food challenge: Add at least one hydrating food every day, such as watermelon, strawberries, cantaloupe, peaches, oranges, skim milk, cucumbers, lettuce, zucchini, grapes, celery, yogurt, tomatoes, bell peppers, grapefruit, or coconut water. One of my favorites is frozen grapes! Think of it as an experiment, and take note of how adding these foods affects your mood and appetite.
Drink when you eat. Drink water before mealtimes. How much, and how close to a meal? Research shows that drinking 568 milliliters of water (about 2.4 cups) thirty minutes before a meal is ideal to help you to eat more mindfully at the next meal. Compared to those who did not drink water before a meal, pre-meal water drinkers reported increased fullness, satisfaction, and decreased hunger after the meal.105 So pretend your dining table is a restaurant, and take some time to have a drink before your meal arrives. Studies show that people who drink two glasses of water immediately before a meal eat 22 percent less than those who don’t drink any water.106 But remember: Hanger Management is not about eating less, it’s about being more mindful.
Start with soup. Because soup is high in liquid content, starting your meal with soup may also help manage your appetite. Researchers have observed that eating a bowl of soup at the beginning of a meal decreased hunger and reduced total calorie intake from the meal by about 100 calories.107
Set a specific goal. Observe your hydration habits to get a baseline of how much water you typically take in. Then increase your daily intake by half a cup at a time, or whatever amount you can manage. Knowing your goal helps you hit what you’re aiming for. If you tend to forget, phone hydration apps can help. Go right now. Get a glass of water and give it a try!
Set deadlines and reminders. Set alarms to remind you to take a drink! Or
set a deadline: “I will drink a glass of water by 10:00 a.m.”
Keep cold water handy. Stash it in a jug in your fridge to have on hand at a moment’s notice. If you don’t like plain-Jane water, add sliced limes or lemons to make it more flavorful.
Connect hydration with established routines. When it’s hard to remember a new behavior or routine, it’s helpful to link it with one that is already first set in place. For example, you probably brush your teeth twice a day without any thinking or effort. So drink a glass of water after you brush. Easy!
HUNGER HYPNOTIZER #33: MOOD-BOOSTING VITAMIN D
“I have struggled a lot with feeling tired and down, and using emotional eating to cope. I feel a lot of guilt and self-blame for feeling this way when there is nothing wrong in my life besides ordinary daily stressors. I was shocked when my doctor indicated that feeling blue might be related to my diet. My vitamin D level was off the charts low. Getting my vitamin D level back on track made a phenomenal difference to how I feel and eat. It helped me put the brakes on my stress eating.”
When it comes to vitamin D…
a) I have no idea if I get any.
b) I don’t eat a lot of fatty fish, dairy, or eggs, so I doubt I get much vitamin D. I also don’t spend much time out in the sun, which is where people often get it.
c) I try to eat a diverse diet and exercise outdoors, so it’s likely I have enough vitamin D.
d) I often eat vitamin D–rich foods and have had my vitamin D level tested.
When Melanie was struggling with overeating, particularly emotional eating, one of the first things I recommended was to ask her doctor to have her blood work evaluated. Hormone, vitamin, and mineral levels can all influence your mood and hunger level. And Melanie was surprised when she found she was very low in vitamin D.
The signs that you might be low on vitamin D are all the kinds of things we often brush off or chalk up to other causes: depression, bone issues, exhaustion, muscle fatigue, weight gain, and issues with mood. It’s easy to tell ourselves we must be upset or tired because of something besides a vitamin deficiency. And it’s hard to keep track of our vitamin D levels because we can’t see them without running a test.
Time and again, my clients who struggle with hanger and feeling regretfull turn out to have a low vitamin D level. And they’re not alone. Almost three out of every four people in the world are low on vitamin D.108
What does vitamin D have to do with reducing hanger? A lot! Multiple studies have shown that people who are overweight are low in vitamin D levels.109 But why? One theory says that vitamin D helps your brain produce serotonin, which increases feelings of happiness. Scientists have found that people with low vitamin D have a higher incidence of depression than those with normal levels.110 And when you’re feeling blue, you are much more likely to turn to food for comfort or to change your mood.
But vitamin D doesn’t just affect our mood. It also improves strategic and analytic thought, planning, and decision-making. So getting enough vitamin D can also help us think through our food choices more mindfully.111
Hangry to Happy
Talk to your doc. If you struggle with appetite, emotional eating, and hanger, you may want to talk to your doctor about your vitamin D level and have it checked.
Let the sunshine in. The best way to get vitamin D is also easy: from sunlight between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Spend five to thirty minutes outside a few times a week. A light box (easily found online) can also help you soak up vitamin D from the rays when you’re unable to get outside.
Try a supplement. In one study, clients who added vitamin D supplements lost nearly twelve pounds and 5.48 cm around the waist.112 And while vitamin D is well tolerated at doses higher than the recommended daily allowance, it is best to know how much YOU need. To find this out, talk with your doctor.
Vitamin D hanger challenge. Boost your vitamin D and see if it has an impact on your hanger level. Try to add one vitamin D–rich food every day, such as fatty fish like tuna and salmon, milk, vitamin D–fortified soy milk or orange juice, some cereals, Swiss cheese, and egg yolks, and note the impact on your mood and hanger level. Mushrooms grown outdoors naturally create vitamin D components from sunlight. If you love mushrooms, be sure to try chanterelles, maitake, and morels.
Bright and early. What’s a particularly good time to consume vitamin D? You may find it easiest to weave vitamin D into breakfast. Almost all milk sold in the United States is fortified with vitamin D, and a growing number of food manufacturers are fortifying breakfast cereal, yogurt, margarine, and orange juice. For example, a cup of fortified orange juice contains 100 IU of vitamin D. People who eat breakfast have been found to have better levels of vitamin D than those who skip breakfast.113 According to studies, consuming vitamin D positively affects serotonin levels, which helps you feel good.114 Also, every tissue in the body has vitamin D receptors: every part of you needs vitamin D to function well.
HUNGER HYPNOTIZER #34: MOOD-BOOSTING MAGNESIUM
“My metabolism is very, very slow and I have cravings all the time. My doctor asked if I was getting enough magnesium in my diet. She said it could have an effect on my anxiety, not just my cravings. I had no idea what magnesium had to do with my body or what it did.”
a) I have a lot of anxiety.
b) I have mild anxiety.
c) I only worry about important things.
d) I don’t worry much.
Each session, my client Jessica shares all the things that set her heart off beating faster and leave her feeling restless. She knows she struggles with anxiety, and she could come up with a never-ending list of worries, from Will it rain tomorrow? to Will I get Alzheimer’s when I am old? It doesn’t take much to trigger her anxiety. But Jessica notices it most when she is traveling for work or otherwise out of her normal routine or when a change that she can’t control comes up.
Jessica and I work together on ways to calm her fight-or-flight system. And one of the tools we use is to increase how many magnesium-rich foods she eats.
If you worry a lot or struggle with feeling anxious, magnesium-rich foods may be a key to help to reduce your hanger. It’s important to be mindful of your body and what it is telling you. Sometimes, your body is trying to tell you that some wires are getting crossed. And magnesium may help you untangle these wires. It’s the fourth most abundant mineral in your body. It is part of over 300 of the chemical reactions that power and heal you.
Foods rich in magnesium have also been linked with reduced anxiety levels.115 And magnesium is found in many foods. But it’s virtually nonexistent in processed and fried foods, which is why many people, like Jessica, have a magnesium deficit. Approximately two thirds of individuals in the Western world have low magnesium levels.116
Magnesium-filled foods aren’t a magic wand. But when Jessica began to introduce foods with magnesium into her diet, she noticed that her anxiety level seemed to be a notch lower. And that helped her to think more clearly, make better decisions—and also just relax every now and then. It was huge triumph, she told me, when she was able to sit and watch a few minutes of TV without needing to have something else in her hands or to hop up and down during a program. Instead, she just put her feet up and enjoyed the show.
Hangry to Happy
Hanger challenge: Magnesium week. Add some magnesium-rich foods to your diet for a week—at least one of these foods a day. Magnesium-rich foods include spinach, dark chocolate, tofu, whole grains, Swiss chard, black beans, almonds, cashews, potatoes, pumpkin seeds, avocados, bananas, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, flaxseeds, oatmeal, and carrots. At the end of the week, ask how you felt over the course of the week. Did you fret less? Feel calmer? Less hangry? Does it make sense to make magnesium a more permanent part of your diet? A good rule of thumb is that foods that have fiber often have magnesium in them.
Pumpkin Seeds. One of my favorite magnesium-rich foods is pumpkin seeds. Studies show that eating 65 grams of pumpkin seeds reduces spikes in blood sugar following a meal—which makes it a great snack for turning hanger to happiness.117
Avocado. Cut a slice of avocado and use it to top a sandwich or salad. Fill an avocado half with meat or veggies. Or mash the avocado like butter and spread it on toast. An interesting study looked at people who put a slice of avocado on a burger vs. those who did not. Turns out, the avocado was helpful in reducing inflammation, which is often related to anxiety.118 Yes! Just adding one slice of avocado to a hamburger made a difference!
Magnesium Body Butter. This is not the kind of butter you eat! You can absorb magnesium through your skin to your bloodstream with a cream. You can buy a jar of it or look up an online tutorial on how to make a magnesium-rich cream yourself. (Be sure your doctor says it’s okay.)
HUNGER HYPNOTIZER #35: MOOD-BOOSTING CINNAMON
“Since my dietitian recommended that I increase my use of cinnamon on my food I have been carrying it around like it is a shaker of salt. It’s a wonderful spice and I can sprinkle it on about anything—even things that I had not thought of—yogurt, in my coffee, on toast. In my eyes, it’s a win-win. It tastes great and it helps to regulate my blood sugar and in turn makes me a happier, more even-keeled person.”
When it comes to cinnamon…
a) I don’t really like it.
b) I don’t use cinnamon at all, unless it shows up in a recipe.
c) I like the smell of cinnamon and eat foods with cinnamon in them.
d) I love cinnamon and use it often.
I may be a doctor of psychology, but many of my clients are scientists in their own right—especially when it comes to experimenting on themselves.
And one of the things my diabetic clients study most closely is what happens when their blood sugar gets out of whack. I’ve learned a lot about how blood sugar affects mood by listening to them. And what they describe isn’t pretty. Blood sugar has an immediate and serious impact on how people feel. No matter what else is going on, blood sugar that is too low or too high can completely overtake your emotions.
So many of my clients become experts on how to tell when their blood sugar is out of range. My client Julie, for example, tests her blood-sugar levels several times a day. And it was when she first started doing this that she began to recognize the connection between her emotions and her blood sugar. Seeing the numbers and comparing them to how she felt convinced her of the connection.
Now she’s gotten so good at recognizing how she feels that she can usually guess her blood-sugar level correctly before she takes a test. “I started to feel really terrible. I feel irritable and worn out,” she’ll tell me. “So I tested my blood sugar, and I was absolutely right. It was way off.”
And Julie isn’t the only one who notices how blood sugar affects her. Before he saw the connection between her blood-sugar numbers and mood, Julie’s husband thought she must just be moody, about all kinds of different things. Now, he’ll sometimes say, “Is your blood-sugar level off? You just aren’t yourself today. Do you want to check it?”
Remember: you don’t need to have diabetes for your blood sugar to affect your mood. And one of the natural ways my clients have found to influence their blood sugar is through using cinnamon. This spice has been used for centuries in cultures around the world. And it doesn’t just taste great. Some promising studies have shown that it offers health benefits;119 for instance, it may lower blood-glucose levels in people with diabetes.120 In one study, participants ate 1 to 6 grams of cinnamon for forty days and lowered their blood-sugar levels significantly.121 So if you have trouble with high blood sugar, consider upping your cinnamon.
Keep in mind that more research is being conducted with cinnamon to understand how the different kinds of cinnamon affect people and whether it is helpful for everyone—some studies have not seen the same results. Some current studies are small and need to be replicated.
You can do your own experiments to see if cinnamon is a helpful tool for managing your hanger!
Hangry to Happy
Start small. Even a tiny amount of cinnamon can pack a big health punch. In a 2016 study, twenty-five people with poorly controlled diabetes consumed just 1g (a bit less than half a teaspoon) of cinnamon daily for twelve weeks and still reduced their fasting blood-sugar levels.122 So add just a bit to your own diet—and be mindful of whether it has any effect on your mood.
Shake it up. Toss a shaker of cinnamon in your bag or purse. Easy access will make it more likely for you to reach for it.
Try cinnamon sticks. Buy some cinnamon sticks and use them as a spoon to stir your coffee, tea, yogurt, or soup. Or throw a whole stick in the pan while cooking meat or vegetables.
Change up coffee. Add cinnamon to your coffee or cocoa. A few sprinkles can boost the flavor, too!
Have a bit at breakfast. Start your morning with cinnamon: on oatmeal, granola, toast, yogurt, cereal, or whatever you like for breakfast.
Spice up fruit. Cinnamon is a great complement to berries and apples.
Important: Cinnamon is a natural way to help manage high blood sugar, but it contains a blood thinner and may have negative side effects, particularly for those on blood thinning medication. Also, do not use if you have liver damage. Consult your doctor to make sure it doesn’t conflict with your medications or create health risks.
SUMMARY OF HUNGER HYPNOTIZERS
In this chapter, we drilled down on a specific point: what you eat doesn’t just fill your belly. That’s just one small, teeny-tiny part of it. What you eat also has an impact on whether you are happy today, how irritable you are, how you move, and how comfortable you feel in your skin.
From this day forward, you can become an expert at connecting the dots each day, between this is what I ate and this is how I feel.
I’ve mentioned a few themes that I hear my clients connect the dots for themselves. But there are so many more. And what we’ve talked about here is just a way to get you started.
So keep making your own connections by completing these sentences:
When I eat (fill in the blank) food, I feel…
When I eat (fill in the blank) food, I think…
When I eat (fill in the blank) food, I move…
And the checklist below can be a handy reference to connect the dots about opportunities in your life to hypnotize your own hunger.
I choose foods that keep me satisfied for a long period of time.
I eat foods at night that help me sleep.
I eat foods that help improve my mood.
I eat foods that help me think better.
I eat a balance of foods.
I drink enough water.
I make sure I get enough vitamin D.
I make sure I get enough magnesium.
I use cinnamon and spices to help manage taste and mood.