Finally the world is waking up and realizing dietary fat is not the enemy of a healthy body, but rather refined and processed sugars and carbohydrates are the culprits.
So when you’ve joined the revolution and are ready to cut back on the worthless carbohydrates, you have motivation in your sails. But unfortunately your body and the food industry conspire against your willpower.
Cutting back on empty carbs can be more difficult that quitting smoking! Sugar is hiding in everything, constantly spiking your blood sugar and urging you to eat more.
There are, however, strategies, which I will share, that can reduce your cravings for empty carbohydrates. But first, what do I mean by empty or worthless carbohydrates?
- Refined or processed sugar, especially high fructose corn syrup. Enemy #1. Watch this video to find out why.
- Starches with little (or even negative) nutritive value, including corn and potatoes.
- Grains, primarily those containing gluten, including wheat, barley, rye, etc.
- Fake sugars which mimic sugar’s effect on the body, namely aspartame (Nutrasweet), saccharin, sucralose, etc.
Just to clarify, there are good carbs: veggies and berries. And ok carbs (depending on which dietary philosophy you subscribe to): fruits, beans and legumes, dairy.
Strategies to Reduce Carb Cravings
- Eliminate sugar, starches, grains, processed foods, and fake sugar. I know this is a Catch-22: if I’m craving them, how can I quit carbs? See #3 # 4 to deal with the mind. But first, by reducing the number of times a day you eat anything that spikes the blood sugar, you’re reducing the body’s need for more-more-more. Stable blood sugar requires less carbs than the roller coaster of insulin spikes. Have you ever noticed after you had a big meal of pasta you want dessert? Your body starts demanding increasingly sweeter satisfaction when you introduce carbs. Pasta is like the gateway drug to sugar–it makes you crave more. ‘So, what do I eat?’
- Replace pasta with spaghetti squash
- Dip fresh veggies (instead of chips) in salsa, hummus, guacamole, spinach-artichoke dip, etc
- Use lettuce instead of buns on burgers (In-N-Out Protein Style)
- Throw a stir-fry over salad greens or crunchy lightly-steamed veggies
- Opt for kale chips or beet chips instead of potato chips
- Don’t allow the bread basket to be placed on the table (or at least not near you)
- Order a salad or protein dish at the restaurant
- Off-set the decrease in carbs with an increase in protein, which offers a higher satiety factor anyway
- Encourage normal hormonal regulation and balance. So much of our cravings are tied up in hormones: cortisol (stress hormone that makes you crave carbs), leptin (satiety hormone), TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone which regulates metabolism), etc. If your hormones are out of whack, you’re going to eat more and make worse food choices. And if you eat a lot of processed food, sugar, or GMO food, your hormones will have gone haywire. Straighten all that out and reduce carb cravings with one naturally-derived supplement: Otropin-a blend of amino acids and herbs.
- Play mind games with yourself and equate those little white granules to rat poison. They are in fact, a form of poison. Think: Diabetes–did you watch the video I linked to above? Grains release lectins inside the digestive tract which trigger an inflammatory immune response and can lead to a host of auto-immune conditions, not to mention bloating and indigestion. Fake sugar is thought to be carcinogenic. I’m not joking. If long-term health isn’t important enough, then demonize the empty carbs in your mind such that every time you look at them you see the poison symbol. Its about making that association in your mind so that you’re not just afraid of them, but actually repulsed by them. It may sound crazy but it takes the decision-making element out of the battle: when they are that scary to you, there isn’t a decision to be made, you simply run the other way.
- Engage in a mindfulness practice. This may be a mind-body practice such as yoga. This may be meditating. This may simply mean becoming aware of yourself of the present moment repeatedly throughout the day. All of these help us find peace, strength, love, and contentment within ourselves, instead of through food. They also help to relieve stress, which reduces cortisol, the stress hormone that makes you crave carbs. Take a simple action such a sitting in child’s pose anytime you crave chocolate, sweets or other carbs–this brings comfort and fulfillment so you don’t seek it in the sugar.
Have you succeeded in curbing carb cravings? How’d you do it?
thanks for sharing the video Toffler. the professor in the video makes interesting claims, one of which is similar to the claim that Tim Ferriss makes about carbs and sugar, not dietary fat, being the cause of weight gain. do you have any opinion on the 4-hour body slow carb diet?
Hi Franklin,
Thanks for reading and the comment.
Yes, I have lots of opinions on “4 Hour Body”, Slow Carb Diet, etc.
In January of this year, I did a 30-day No-Carb (Grain, starch) Challenge, and only lasted ~20 days. It approximately equated to Slow Carb Diet. You can read the about the challenge, including the limits I put on it here: http://worldvitae.com/30-day-no-carb-challenge/ And then the final report of the challenge here: http://worldvitae.com/no-carb-challenge-total-fail/
Soon back to your question and what I like/don’t like about slow carb, but first, questions to see if its even feasible for you.
1) Do you have the willpower and resources to cut most (refined) carbs? Obviously, the first time I tried (in the challenge), I didn’t. Then I learned, and that’s how I came up with this post of 4 Tips.
2) Do you tolerate beans well? And are you willing to soak them to remove the gaseous enzymes? I don’t do well with beans, so it didn’t work for me.
3) Does the cheat day work for you? The stricter of a healthy diet you follow and the longer you do it, the less you’ll feel ok doing a cheat day. It becomes more like a single cheat item once or twice per month.
Overall, I think the concept is right: move people away from refined sugars, starches, highly-processed grains, and empty calories to higher satiety foods, which stabilize blood sugar. We need more stable energy, not the blood sugar roller coaster and insulin spikes characteristic of high carb, and that’s exactly what Ferriss argues for. I think more and more research, as you saw in that video, is pointing to the dangers of a high-carb diet and its role in creating metabolic syndrome.
So, yes, I agree with the premise, the theory behind it, and the concept in general. It brought wide exposure to the disadvantages of a high carb diet and a lot of people have great results when they move from SAD to slow carb. So I thank Tim for that.
But no, I don’t agree with the specific dietary recommendations. They don’t work for me. But the slow carb diet, with beans and cheat days, may be a good transition from SAD (standard American diet) to a lower carb diet. While cheat days may initially help the transition into a lower carbohydrate diet–to deal with cravings and a sense of deprivation–in the longer-term I think they may actually make it more difficult to stay low carb, because you never totally rid your body of the cravings and memory of sweet, starchy things.
My personal diet of choice is Paleo/Primal. Check out: marksdailyapple.com & robbwolf.com/ Both have books published. And for more rapid fat loss, overcoming plateaus, and short 1-3 days efforts: Intermittent Fasting or Attack phase of Dukan Diet http://www.dukandiet.com/The-Dukan-Diet/4-Phases
I hope I’ve answered your question. If not, ask more specifically and I’ll try to answer.
thanks for the thorough response Toffler. I will definitely check out your links.
I should have prefaced my initial comment with the fact that I’ve already tried out the Slow Carb Diet and it worked well for me to reduce body fat.
1. I found that I do have the will power to resist carbs. This willpower is seriously reduced when I am with large groups and in family style eating situations (many people serving from a table full of shared dishes, as is customary in Asia).
2. I do tolerate beans well but I have had friends tell me that they do not and could not handle the slow carb diet because of what it “does to my social life.” i’ll let your imagination fill in the blanks 😉
in fact i think legumes has been key for me to being able to stay on the diet. as slow carb eliminates so much, carbs, diary, fruit i find legumes as my only real calorie source to keep me feeling ‘full’ throughout the day.
3. the cheat day does work for me. in fact, I think that Ferriss says its almost a necessity (that is shocking your thyroid with carbs and sugars) in order to prevent your body going into starvation mode, and therefore storing everything that goes in as fat.
as time has gone on and ive been longer on the diet (i even dislike using that term because of the deprivation connotations it stirs up among people that i speak with) i find myself binging less harshly and just getting in those delights that i cut myself off from during the week. without this cheat day though i think it would be much harder to be honest with myself and stay away from all the bad stuff that surrounds us. the psychological battle would be all that harder. the modern food industry just puts out so much bad stuff out there.
the only thing i dislike about the slow carb diet is its elimination of fruit. living in se asia where yummy, sweet, fresh fruit is available everywhere (i love mangoes), it is hard to say no to something that is supposed to be ok.
i’ve heard good things about paleo/primal and will take you up on your suggestion. thanks for the great info.
Ahhh the wonderful fruit of Southeast Asia, so yummy!
Fruit is one of the conundrums of s/low carb eating. Yes, fruit is allowed on Paleo, but typically the recommendation is to opt for berries and to keep daily carb intake under 100 or 150g per day. Some quick online research shows carb counts:
– a whole mango contains 30-35g,
– 10-12g in a half cup of cut fresh pineapple,
– whereas a whole dragonfruit seems better at 9g.
But fruit has so many good enzymes, micronutrients, and vitamins that they’re still a much healthier option than the empty calories of sugar or starches.
I guess, as in everything, its about finding balance and the right mix.
The longer I’ve been paleo and the more committed I get, the less I’m interested in cheating for 2 reasons: 1) the way I feel afterward, 2) there’s not nearly as much realized satisfaction eating outside paleo as I imagine there will be, which just means double disappointment.
But yes, you make a good point about about carb refeed to prevent the body going into starvation mode & conserving fat. The other benefit of a cheat day is the calorie cycling: high calorie days & low calorie days. These issues and more for advanced fat loss, I discuss here: http://worldvitae.com/weight-loss-overcoming-plateaus-set-point/