When the Cookie Monster Strikes
April 19, 2004
By Julie Monheim, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent
ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The scene is all too familiar for many. It’s late at night, and hunger strikes. Unfortunately, so does the cookie monster! What should you do? Nancy Clark, MS, a registered dietician in Boston, offered some tips on how to deal with sugar cravings at the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health and Fitness Summit in Orlando, Fla.
Clark says sugar cravings occur because people do not eat enough throughout the day. She says cookies are not the problem but are the symptom. “People tend to get too hungry, and when this happens they tend to crave carbs and sweets,” she says.
Studies show when people starve themselves or diet, they become depressed, irritable and angry. When these same people resume normal eating habits, they tend to eat more and are unable to feel satisfied.
Clark says extreme dieting does not work because dieters end up overeating and eventually gain more weight. When blood sugar drops, the body craves sugar. Thus, Clark says denying one’s body of food can spark sugar cravings, which can lead to overeating.
Clark’s solution for taming sugar cravings is, ironically, to eat. She says people should not deny themselves food when they are hungry. “You don’t make yourself wait if you have to urinate. It should be the same way with food. Hunger is a physiological response. We shouldn’t tell ourselves, ‘OK, I have to wait until noon to eat lunch,’ if we’re hungry at 11:00,” she says.
Knowing your calorie budget can be helpful, according to Clark. However, she says it’s important to see calorie counting “as a tool and not an obsession.” She recommends spreading out calorie intake throughout the day by eating a 500-calorie breakfast, a 500-calorie lunch, a 300-calorie “second lunch” later in the day, and a 500-calorie dinner.
Clark says eating adequately will help prevent sugar cravings, but if you still have them, it’s better not to deny yourself. “One cookie a day is okay, but 10 is not ... Remember the cookie monster only visits hungry people,” she says.
SOURCE: Julie Monheim at the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health and Fitness Summit in Orlando, Fla., April 14-17, 2004
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