Address Serotonin Imbalance To Help Reduce Binge Eating 

So what has Serotonin got to do with Binge Eating, and what exactly is it anyway?

Well actually, this gives us another good example of how WHAT we eat can be closely linked to how we FEEL – the ‘food and mood’ connection!

And when we learn about this (as well as the impact of blood sugars, endorphins and stress hormones) we can gain a good understanding of what is going on in our bodies, how it can affect our feelings, and more importantly, what we can DO about it to help improve things and feel better!

Serotonin is an important ‘neurotransmitter’, a natural biochemical produced in our brains, and it helps regulate our mood – enabling us to feel stable and to control impulsive behaviour. (Many modern antidepressants work in different ways to help maintain our levels of this biochemical).

picture by survivephotography on flickr.com

Having ENOUGH in our system helps us to:

• Feel hopeful and optimistic
• Have self-control
• Feel focused and be able to concentrate
• Be creative and thoughtful
• Have that ‘everything’s okay’ feeling

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

• Suffer depression or feelings of sadness
• Be impulsive & over react to things
• Be unable to concentrate
• Have scattered thoughts
• Crave carbohydrates

Many people with binge eating problems might identify with the second list, and did you see that last one? – food cravings for carbohydrates! How does that happen?

Well, to simplify a rather complicated process, two main things are necessary for the production of serotonin - Tryptophan and carbohydrates.

Tryptophan is an amino acid and we get it from the protein that we eat. Carbohydrates are then necessary for the Tryptophan to be able to move across into the brain where it can be used to produce serotonin.

So if we are feeling low and stressed and we eat some sweet or high carbohydrate food, this may then have the knock-on effect of increasing the serotonin in our brains (as well as having other effects such as on our endorphin and blood sugar levels) giving us a feeling of relief and well being (like a natural anti-depressant!).

And so, when we next feel bad again, we will repeat the same behaviour – well why wouldn’t we – we are actually self-medicating with food!

The trouble is, the effect will be short lived, especially if we are naturally low in the chemical and are eating poorly. And if we keep repeating the behaviour as in binge eating or compulsive over eating, then we can become sort of ‘de-sensitised’ to the effect - our brains can actually shut down some of the serotonin receptors which means that we need more of it - and therefore more carbohydrates - to get the same effect (a bit like needing a higher and higher dose of a pain killer because your body has gotten used to it).

This effect is called ‘down-regulating’ of the receptor sites, and the same effect is seen with the endorphin system.

So how can we help to make sure we do have enough serotonin in our system?

Well of course, please speak to your doctor if you are feeling depressed, as there may be other causes and you may benefit from some support with an anti-depressant medication or professional counselling.

Otherwise, there are three main factors to bear in mind:

• It can be helpful to ensure that we are getting enough protein in our diet, as this is necessary for our bodies to be able to produce Tryptophan. Try some sprinkled nuts and yoghurt on your morning breakfast cereal, some chicken or egg in your mid-day sandwich or some beans or other good quality protein in your evening meal.
  
  
• Reducing the amount of refined carbohydrates and sugary foods that we eat can also help as our bodies respond best to a state of balance – not too much and not too little – to stop the ‘down-regulating’ effect mentioned earlier. Start having more wholemeal and wholegrain varieties of carb’s to give a slower, more sustained release of energy.
  
  

• Proper meals spaced regularly throughout the day is very important – breakfast, lunch and dinner with a healthy snack in between if needed. Building such stability regularly into our daily routine (even if we might still be binge eating!) is the first and perhaps one of the most important ways to start to offset our food cravings and help optimise our levels of serotonin.