I think we are genetically wired to seek sweet things. Its in our best interest to have this in build into us. It held us in good stead in the past when we would forage for food. Fast forward to modern society with an over abundance of food and it is working against us. In my opinion refined carbs are as bad as it gets. You want carbs? Get them from veggies which have the carbs encapsulated in fibre. I have yet to read a single post that has said I binged on broccoli.

In my opinion are 2 different types of cravings:

1. physiological – caused by insulin resistance / sugar addiction – so INTERNAL stimuli. And yes, by restricting the junk / carbs, this type of cravings dissapear – with 3 exceptions, that I will address at the end. In your posts you are speaking only about this type of cravings, but not this is the subject of the study. The subject is “temptation”, so the next type of craving.

2. psychological – caused when a part of our mind (and not our body), wants something, and other part of our mind says “Junk is poison. You are not allowed to eat it.” And this starts an internal conflict in our brains, and this is what it cause the restrict – binge cycle I was describing in my first post. This cravings appear when we are emotional / stress eaters (and this is partially also a hormonal / physiological response to low dopamine, serotonin, etc / depression, anxiety, etc.) or when are exposed to strong EXTERNAL stimuli, in my case: my husband drinking beer next to me, or eating ice-cream or chocolate cake, or me going with friends to eat, and 100% their choice is pizza, or me seeing windows with tens of different cakes or smelling warm bread and pastries. Yes, it is possible to control the environment, but only to a point. I can ask my husband not to eat junk next to me, but I can not ask my friends not to eat pizza and drink beer. And I can not anticipate what shop will be in front of me walking in new locations, or a food orgy in a movie I’m seeing.. and so on. Going keto will not erase my memories about how much I liked the taste of certain junk foods. And this is the object of the study, this kind of “temptation”, not the one caused by insulin. You say “And I notice that the study is based upon the assumption that we need refined carbs. Basically what I am saying is that I reject the findings of the study .” Partially correct. Yes, our body doesn’t need refined carbs. But, for some of us, our soul does need them. Junk is comfort food, remember? Yes.. you say “and I embrace the thought that attitude and self-examination is very important.”, but not all of us are so strong or are so.. evolved. And that’s why I consider the study to be statistically relevant. It doesn’t matter what YOU can do (completely abstain from junk), but what the rest 99% of us can do. This study is a statistic of real people, real life, not “but hey.. they are not on keto and they are not practicing self-examination”. This is real life: most of us don’t do low-carb / self-examination. Is this a bad thing? Surely. But not this is the subject of the study. Exception (you) does not make the rule (the study).

To close: the study does not say that we all need refined carbs to lose weight. Not at all. The study says: IF you know yourself that you are easily tempted by junk in your environment, or you are an emotional eater, then you will lose more weight by allowing daily small doses, otherwise you will regain weight if you completely forbidden. BUT if you DO NOT WANT the junk, you do not need to eat it, in order to lose more weight. The role of eating small doses of junk helps in losing weight by avoiding binge episodes after x months of restriction. But if in your case, YOU do not crave / want junk, and logically you will not have later binge episodes caused by restriction (because there is no “restriction” recorded in your brain, if there is no “wanting”), you don’t need to eat the junk, and you can lose even more weight than those who eat small doses of junk.
But what the study finds, is that are very few people like you (without junk cravings on long term keto), and many people like me, that go “crazy” when they try to restrict.

Sorry, I hope I’ve had some coherence in my explanation, I am not a native English speaker. (Sorry also for the Caps Lock writing, for the purpose of drawing attention to an ideea.)

_____

I was saying about 3 exceptions for physiological junk cravings (and hunger) on keto:
1. Forcing the body to go lower than what he thinks is healthy (under 10% body-fat, I think said Dr. Fung).
2. Very big daily caloric deficit (over 25%), for a long period of time. In other words: caloric starvation. Like low carb, low protein, low fat, low-everything-diets.
3. Carbs deficit. To explain (yes, yes, I know that “essential carbs” do not exist): more important than caloric deficit is nutritional deficit / micro-nutrients starvation. Keto is a very restrictive diet and after x months the body creates strong cravings (sometimes also strong hunger) in the hope that he will receive what he needs.
I think this story is statistically relevant: http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2011/12/jay-wright%E2%80%99s-weight-loss-journey/
And for me, Jaminet’s theory about nutritional deficit (confirmed statistically by this diet-restrict-crave-hunger-binge cycle) is the proof that diets that are based on zero-some-large-group-of-foods (like veganism or keto) are not optimal for long term health. (This is my opinion and I do not wish to debate it.)

Some details about carbs deficit on keto, here:
http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2014/04/28/safe-starches-and-the-perfect-health-diet/

“In the cyberspace crowd of health-oriented blogs and Facebook groups, I noticed more and more people saying they developed problems on a strict very-low-carb diet – low thyroid function, cold hands and feet, high fasting glucose, dry eyes, etc. – which went away when they added some “safe starches” back into their diets as prescribed in the Perfect Health Diet.
….

That peak health range is the amount of glucose our bodies require on a daily basis — somewhere in the range of 100 to 150 grams. It’s this chapter of the book that started all the hubbub over “safe starches.” Yes, your body will convert protein into glucose – even if it has to raid the protein stored in your muscles to do so – but the Jaminets argue that forcing your body to meet its daily glucose requirement through gluconeogenesis can eventually cause the health problems Chris Kresser described seeing in some of his patients: slow thyroid, dry eyes, cold hands and feet, low energy, weight-loss stalls, etc.
…

I see a fair number of patients in my practice struggling with symptoms like hair loss, cold hands and feet, plateaued weight loss, low energy and mood imbalances after following a VLC diet for several months. In many cases they adopted this approach to lose weight, which was successful – at least to a certain point. However, others were not overweight to begin with and simply chose to eat VLC because they got the impression that “carbs are bad”, even for people without metabolic problems. I believe many of these issues are related to the decrease in thyroid hormone levels seen on VLC diets.

In cases where there is no significant metabolic damage, when I have these folks increase their carbohydrate intake (with starch like tubers and white rice, and fruit) to closer to 150g a day, they almost always feel better. Their hair loss stops, their body temperature increases and their mood and energy improves.

For people that are overweight and are insulin/leptin resistant, it’s a bit trickier. In some cases increasing carbohydrate intake moderately, to approximately 100g per day, actually re-starts the weight loss again. In other cases, any increase in carbohydrate intake – in any form – will cause weight gain and other unpleasant symptoms. A different approach is required for these patients.

As always, there’s no simple answer and no one-size-fits-all approach. If I could leave your readers with one point, that would be it.”

PS: I’m really really sorry for such long response. Very bad habit of mine. 🙁

Have a nice Sunday! 🌞

Sorry, I don’t really understand what “instantaneous and fortunately temporary crushing of willpower that happens to me” means. Like you are very tired and you don’t have the energy to do what you want / need to do? Like the symptoms of low blood sugar, after the sugar-high disappears? If this is, you can try to control better the glycemic response:
– make them with more fats and fibers; or put some butter on top? (I don’t really know, because I am not a fan of brownies. Except these: http://www.hungryhealthyhappy.com/raw-chocolate-fudge-brownies/ 🙂
– eat them like in the study: after your breakfast / first meal of the day, which should be proteins+fats+fibers & small dessert, and no later than 3 pm (because insulin response is lower)
– if your way of eating is more like a late lunch and dinner and you still have problems after eating the brownie at lunch, try to eat it at dinner – because when some of the negative side effects (tired, low energy) manifest, you should be sleeping. But if this is causes insomnia.. you do not have too many alternatives.

Also maybe some ingredients cause insomnia in your case: cocoa / chocolate.
The Claim: Chocolate can be disruptive to sleep?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/health/13real.html

Stimulants in Chocolate That Are not Caffeine: Sugar, Theobromine, Phenylethylamine, Anandamide.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/67188-stimulants-chocolate-not-caffeine/

Even small amounts of caffeine such as those found in decaffeinated coffee or chocolate, may be enough to cause insomnia in some people.
https://doctormurray.com/health-conditions/insomnia-sleep-wake-cycle-disorder/

Also:
This case – sugar-high before the low:
– “Foods containing simple sugar can cause a big spike in blood glucose levels. This makes excess energy available for the body which can cause restlessness.
Because the brain consumes a lot of glucose, a high blood glucose level can keep the brain ticking long after it should have powered down.”
http://www.progressivehealth.com/foods-that-disrupt-your-sleep.htm

– “Avoid nocturnal hypoglycemia. In my clinical experience I have found nocturnal hypoglycemia (low nighttime blood glucose level) is an important cause of sleep-maintenance insomnia. When there is a drop in the blood glucose level, it causes the release of hormones that regulate glucose levels, such as adrenaline, glucagon, cortisol, and growth hormone. These compounds stimulate the brain. They are a natural signal that it is time to eat.”
https://doctormurray.com/health-conditions/insomnia-sleep-wake-cycle-disorder/

Here is the high-low blood sugar mechanism in this brownie-case:

“Normally, you eat some food, your blood sugar goes up, insulin rises to take care of the nutrients, the nutrients are partitioned to their respective holding places, your blood sugar normalizes, and all is well. You’ll get hungry again, only when you need the food, when your body truly needs an input of energy. In some people, however, eating food (especially carbs) causes the pancreas to secrete an inordinately large amount of insulin, way more than you actually need. Your blood sugar drops from its postprandial high, but the insulin goes above and beyond, and your blood sugar continues to plummet past “normal.”

Your body implores you to “eat, eat,” even though there’s no real need for added energy; it’s just that your low blood sugar is indicating a need for caloric energy. In people with well-functioning metabolisms, lower blood sugar generally matches up with a need for calories and nutrients. In the reactive hypoglycemic state, the two do not match up. Hunger is constant, but you’re not really nourishing yourself. You’re just eating to push up that blood sugar.

In one sense, listening to your hypoglycemic body is working, because eating carbs raises your blood sugar and you feel better. But in the long run, it isn’t working, because you’re eating more than you need to eat, you’re gaining weight, and you’re not fixing the situation. Sticking with foods that don’t elevate your blood sugar to such dizzying heights (protein and fat) should give you better control over your blood sugar.”
Source: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/when-listening-to-your-body-doesnt-work/#ixzz4HzZoEM87

It seems that you have to avoid:
– brain stimulants: sugar and cocoa / chocolate.
– too much blood sugar variation: both too high followed automatic (if you have insulin problems) by too low, apparently cause insomnia.

So the only option in my opinion is to eat them in lower quantities, early in the day, always with other foods that lower the glycemic load of the total meal.

So.. very interesting information for me. Good that you have opened the subject. 🙂

And I’m happy to hear that, except when eating sugar, you have solved your insomnia problems.

About binge episodes after eating only one piece of junk, I’ve talked about in my first post about 3 causes, my money being on diet-restrict-crave-binge cycle, mainly psychological and not physiological reasons for the binge.

About binging on Netflix:
– after previous binging on brownies: if you have insomnia problems, they are caused by factors described in my last post (brain stimulants and high-low blood sugar)
– if you try to resist the binge on brownies and have insomnia, may be because the mental effort to resist the binge is very big, stress hormones are released and your brain can not shutdown as usually.

Other ideas I don’t have.

Have a great week!

Thank you Merryme for your message.

I’ve also noticed that gluten triggers my compulsive eating and gluten addiction for days in a row, until I find the strength to resist the withdrawal symptoms.

Your experience reminded me of this article:

“One reason many gluten-sensitive people have trouble following a gluten-free diet is that they crave the very foods that they need to eliminate. When they consume the grains that cause intestinal damage, the stress causes their bodies to release natural opiates that are aptly named gluteomorphines. Hours later, the subsequent drop in the levels of these morphine-like brain chemicals can trigger a craving for gluten, a craving for that “good” feeling.

When I recommend that patients give up gluten, they often react like addicts being told to give up their drug of choice. And when they do eliminate gluten, there is often a period of temporary discomfort thought to result from a temporary drop in the opiate levels in the brain. If you eliminate a food that triggers an opiate reaction, the resulting drop in your natural “high” can renew craving for the food in a vicious cycle of addiction. In these cases, patients may experience withdrawal symptoms such as headache, nausea, tremors, difficulty sleeping, depression, or irritability for several days or weeks after eliminating gluten. On the other hand, some people stop gluten and simply feel better right away. The level of discomfort experienced seems to be proportional to the level of gluten sensitivity present.

Within two months of following a gluten-free diet, most of the physical cravings disappear. The stronger the gluten sensitivity and the associated craving, the more dramatic the response to being gluten-free. Some people will slip back into eating foods that trigger reactions, and may need ongoing work with a nutritionist and even psychological counseling to stay on course.”

Source: http://www.coreonehealth.com/gluten-sensitivity-and-female-hormones

I’m sorry. I honestly do not understand this concept of using your willpower to “get to bed at a reasonable hour”. For me, if I’m sleepy, I go to bed; if I am not sleepy, I watch TV, read a book, surf the net. And if I have problems with insomnia, I try to find the initial / original problem that prevents me to sleep at normal hours, and solve that. Forcing me to get to bed early will not cure my insomnia.
I can’t use my willpower to fall asleep. Yes, I can use it to lie in bed and not in front of the TV, but sleep.. hell no. It can make me stay awake much more, because if I’m not sleepy, I start to think at problems and solutions and my brain works at full speed for another 2-3 hours. So for me is way better to keep my brain occupied with something light (TV, net) until sleepy, than to go to bed and waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait.

About what response will the cop receive, it depends mainly of my mood. Which also depends, among much others (cortisol, ..), of blood sugar imbalance.

“Symptoms associated with a Blood Sugar Imbalance are:
Irritability Anxiety Depression Mood swings Poor concentration Fat storage, especially around the midriff Brain fog Insomnia Cravings, especially for sweet foods Excessive thirst Addictions to caffeine containing drinks and/or alcohol and cigarettes Drowsiness during the day Excessive sweating Difficulty losing weight”
http://www.smartnutrition.co.uk/conditions/energy/blood-sugar-imbalance/

“Blood Sugar and Mood Swings
An extreme example is people with diabetes, who are very vulnerable to blood sugar highs and crashes. Highs and crashes can cause instant changes in mood and behavior, making the person angry, irritable, and even aggressive or violent. This study found that…
– Low blood sugar was associated with “negative mood states,” especially nervousness
– High blood sugar was sometimes associated with “positive mood states,” but it could also be associated with different negative moods, especially anger and sadness. This study found that high blood sugar increased “sadness and anxiety.””
http://paleoleap.com/how-diet-can-affect-mood-swings/

In my opinion, willpower is useless against biological imbalances. Like you can not control your body temperature with your willpower, the same way you can not control many other reactions of the body, like falling asleep, or not being always calm, or diet / restrict indefinitely without binge, etc.

I’m sorry that you see this way my efforts to explain.

Wish you all the best.