Interesting article re. food consumption leading to cravings

I briefly reviewed this article by Dr. Arya Sharma (Obesity Notes) and am more than intrigued and will definitely read the associated paper today. It speaks to how your gut/intestines recognizes foods with different properties (ie. carbs vs other food sources) and thus sends messages to your brain where it is determined whether your body wants more of it (yes, extremely simplified definition/summary, I know but...). This research supports the ideation that eating certain types of foods (ie. carbs) stimulates the gut and brain in a way that leaves you wanting more (and cravings for those of us who have dealt with obesity and eating issues).

It certainly speaks to my personal theory that eating carbs leads to cravings for, and eating more, carbs. Perhaps it's not all "in our head"!

http://www.drsharma.ca/how-your-gut-tastes-what-you-eat?utm_ source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DrSh armasObesityNotes+%28Dr.+Sharma%27s+Obesity+Notes%29 

Thanks Karen - I met Dr. Sharma at an Obesity Conference years before I had GBP. It was the first time someone actually explained the process and the benefits. I know a lot of his research was used in developing milestones for for provincially paid for Obesity surgery programs - he is a Canadian health care gem! 

I can surly say that for me it is true about the carb situation! I don't have any refined carbs in the house for that reason... a cracker leads to another cracker lol 

I appreciate Dr. Sharma's commitment to the overall issue of obesity and his crusade to educate and create awareness on obesity issues - he's a great "hunter/gatherer" of information. Beyond that, his expertise seems a little superficial to me, but agreed - it is fabulous to have a doctor "on our side" so to speak. I am more appreciative of the work of Dr. Yoni Freedhoff (actually I have a huge geek-crush on him lol).

As for crackers - I have always said that they are very aptly named: CRACK-ers. ;)

I remember reading something about this a long time ago but it was theories and not backed by any science. Basically it goes back to hunter/gatherer days. We "bulked up" in the summer/warmer months with fruits (laden with sugar) and such and when winter came.. we stuck to meats which made us lean. We adapted to crave salt, sugar etc in times of feast so we could survive the famine. Sadly, there is no longer a famine and we just keep piling on the weight.

Come to think of it, I think I saw it on "Sugar, the bitter truth" which is a fascinating video.

I think the hunter/gatherer theory certainly rings true (though I'm not sad there's no longer a famine lol) and there's been a lot of development on that, including the paleo diet that many people commit to. Frankly, I find any/all research on nutritional impact fascinating.

I think what struck me most with the paper Dr. Sharma referenced is that there remain a lot of unknowns with respect to the actual physiological responses in the human body with relation to specific food groups/nutrient content. This reference paper opens up so many "possibles", most interestingly to me, the body's ability to identify certain properties of food and correspondingly sending messages to the brain on how to manage/respond the input (food/nutrient) - and I don't mean the simplistic/base information/response of "this is high calorie, tell the body to grab it and hold on", but more to the creation of "impulses" (the gut telling the brain this "tastes" great, the brain agreeing and demanding more) based on what the food "is" (carbohydrates most specifically).

Admittedly I'm a science geek when it comes to nutrition (and thereby obesity) - I am just fascinated at how the old saying "carbs beget more carbs" (eat carbs, "crave" more) has some science behind it.