Understand Endorphins And Gain Better Control Of Your Food Cravings  

So what are Endorphins, and why is it useful for us to know about them if we suffer from Binge eating?

picture by lili vieira de carvalho

Well, its yet another example of how what we EAT can affect how we FEEL!

We can think of endorphins as one of our body’s natural painkillers and ‘feel good’ chemicals. They are one of many types of chemical messengers called ‘neurotransmitters’. These help deliver electro-chemical signals throughout our brains and nervous systems.

Under conditions such as stress and pain, our bodies can release more of this chemical, which work on parts of our brains called ‘opiate’ receptors. This produces an effect that can help us feel better, so enabling us to cope with situations more effectively.

Importantly, this can produce a soothing or ‘dulling’ effect on both physical and EMOTIONAL pain!

Drugs such as morphine and cocaine work on the same opiate receptors, and apparently because their molecules are of similar shape, so can other substances such as sugar, cocoa and alcohol.

So by stimulating this chemical-endorphin response, all of these substances can give us similar feelings (of varying degrees) of euphoria and well-being. This helps explain how we can get a temporary ‘high’ from eating sugary food (as well as the blood-sugar response), and why we may get food cravings for things like chocolate. Especially when we are stressed or upset – they really do help us to feel better.

But only temporarily! As the effect wears off – if the original problem or stress is still there, we feel just as bad as before … and so we might turn to eat more chocolate or similar sugary foods again.

One theory is that some people have naturally low occurring levels of endorphins in their system. As a result (so the theory goes) their bodies open up more receptors in the brain to better capture the little amount they do have. So when they do eat sugary foods they get a bigger ‘hit’ from it, and they feel the effects from it more intensely than other people.

They may therefore become more likely to turn to sugary food or chocolate for comfort, and may even feel they have a chocolate or sugar ‘addiction’.     

Having ENOUGH endorphins in our system helps us to:

• Have a sense of well being  
• Have high self esteem
• Feel able to cope with things
• Feel connected and in touch with others
• Be sensitive and compassionate
• Have a high tolerance for pain
• Have a balanced attitude to sweet foods

NOT having enough of this important brain chemical might lead us to:

• Feel tearful / emotional / over whelmed / over react to things
• Have low self esteem
• Suffer from a ‘victim mentality’
• Feel isolated
• Be prone to depression
• Have a low pain tolerance
  Crave sugary foods

Ring any bells?

(One interesting point is that a woman’s levels of natural endorphins are reportedly at their lowest while pre-menstrual – and how many women get more chocolate cravings during those times!)

So how can we try to get MORE natural-endorphins into our lives?

Well, rather than depending upon chocolate, sugar, or alcohol - anything that gives us a healthy pleasurable ‘FEEL-GOOD’ factor may help to create an endorphin-response.

Such as:

• Exercise, sports, games and other activities

• Listening to your favourite music

• ‘Losing yourself’ in an emotionally powerful film, novel or other work of art

• Dancing!

• Having fun with friends or pets

• Laughter

• Getting out into the countryside, viewing beautiful scenery

• Good healthy delicious food (especially with good company!)

• Meditation, prayer and positive thinking

• Massage and some other complimentary therapies

So by enjoying ourselves more often in such active, stress-relieving ways, we are actually encouraging our bodies to produce their own supply of endorphins-naturally (rather than the highs and lows produced by eating sugary foods).

By combining this with regular balanced meals and good nutrition, we can help bring more balance to our lives, reduce our chances of getting food cravings, and therefore lessen our tendency for binge eating!