I think, therefore I crave

5th September 2008

posted in Eating Disorders, Mental Health, New Research, Personal |

I don’t mean to derail the series on hypothyroidism, but I just had an ‘A ha’ kind of moment where the mysteries of the world revealed themselves to me in a moment of rare clarity and I wanted to share in the zen moment.

If you were to place my eating disorder within a neat and tidy chronological order, it would be ordered as such: dieting, disordered eating, anorexia, a brief bout with bulimia, anorexia again, and a grand finale of bulimia. I have had relapses in the past three years in which I purge (without binging), but for the most part, that urge to binge has not been at issue for me. This accomplishment is due, in part, to being better able to manage my stress levels and emotions, but also because I eat healthy and do not deny myself foods that I want and crave. The only problems I still have with binging are restricted solely to those times I need to critically read a history book for my graduate classes, or when I am writing an academic paper. Even then I don’t binge in the traditional sense (devouring thousands upon thousands of calories in one sitting) but I do feel the urge to munch on something. Unlike most of my eating disordered behaviors, I am still unable to completely understand this unique urge. My only explanation is that it’s like I have to keep one part of my brain busy so that the other part can concentrate.

I’ve always attributed this to having ADD, but a LiveScience article published today on MSNBC shows that it is more common than I thought. Researchers split 14 university student volunteers into three groups for a 45-minute session of either relaxing in a sitting position, reading and summarizing a text, or completing a series of memory, attention, and vigilance tests on the computer. After the sessions, the volunteers were invited to eat as much as they wanted. The students who completed the more intellectual tasks consumed significantly more calories than the group who relaxed. Blood samples taken before, during and after the activities revealed that intellectual work causes greater fluctuations in glucose levels than rest periods, perhaps owing to the stress of thinking.

Glucose is kind of like gasoline for your body. Since brain cells need twice as much energy as other cells in the body, researchers speculate that the body reacts to these fluctuations by demanding food to restore glucose. In essence, the more intellectually stimulating the activity, the more the body uses glucose. When glucose levels are depleted, the body sends out messages demanding more. Glucose is converted by the body from carbohydrates, so this demand takes the form of hunger and cravings, especially for carbohydrate-rich foods. This may be why my attempts to much on healthy things while studying — carrot and celery sticks — aren’t as successful as when I munch on Fruity Cheerios.

Research has shown that people with AD/HD metabolize glucose even slower than others, which helps to explain part of the links between AD/HD and eating disorders. If people without AD/HD require more glucose during times of intellectual stimulation, the person with AD/HD whose brain doesn’t metabolize glucose properly in the first place will have an even more difficult go at it. It is no accident that binge food is usually high in sugars and carbohydrates; these are the foods that will most restore glucose levels. As one researcher noted, “This suggests that the binge eater is using these foods to change his or her neurochemistry.”

I’ve tried in the past to fight these urges to munch on something whenever I needed to study, but I usually spend most of my time obsessing about it and fighting it than I do on the material at-hand. When you’re reading two, often dense and dry history books a week and writing critical papers on them while holding down a full-time job, you don’t have this kind of time, so I usually give in and chalk it up to a lack of willpower. It helps to know that there is a physiological reason behind the cravings. Our brains have evolved for centuries with one singular goal: survival. And this is an instinct not even the strongest willpower can overcome.

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This entry was posted on Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 2:25 pm and is filed under Eating Disorders, Mental Health, New Research, Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On September 5th, 2008, Laurie Anne said:

This is a really fantastic post–I’ve just started graduate school myself and am a recovering bulimic, so everything you’ve written sounds very familiar to me. I’ve always suspected that my cravings were in some way linked to brain chemistry, and I’m always looking into natural, healthy ways to improve mine.

posted on September 5th, 2008 at 3:27 pm

2 On September 5th, 2008, Cammy said:

Wow, fascinating study, thanks for the link! We are always told that statistic about the brain using over 25% of our energy requirements, but I had never contemplated that ADHD connection. Interesting!

posted on September 5th, 2008 at 3:51 pm

3 On September 5th, 2008, Anonymous said:

I have been lurking for a while but I had to post on this – THIS HAPPENS TO ME TOO! I have been practicing intuitive eating for a while, and most of the time I’m really good at eating only when I actually want to eat, as opposed to when I’m bored or tired or upset. But the ONE time I totally cannot control what I eat is when I’m up late studying. I will literally eat my own weight in chocolate and chips and cheese dip and whatever other junk I can get my hands on. I swear it helps me study. But I have no idea why I do this or why this is the only time that, regardless of how well I KNOW that I’m not hungry and don’t actually want to eat I will still eat like a starving gorilla. Weird.

posted on September 5th, 2008 at 4:22 pm

4 On September 5th, 2008, Melissa said:

WOW!
That post just explained so much for me.
I was thinking a few weeks ago about something very similar, but this article puts it all into perspective.

posted on September 5th, 2008 at 5:13 pm

5 On September 5th, 2008, Kate said:

Wow. I never heard of the link between eating disorders and ADD before, even though when I was in the military I was sent to an inpatient mental facility for ED-related treatment, and ended up with diagnoses of ADD and depression (no treatment though, thanks guys.) I’m a frustrated academic now, several years later; pretty much recovered from ana but still probably a textbook “orthorexic.”

When I was in high school, I had a this weird ritual of eating those gummy fruit slices from the Pick & Mix display at the supermarket while I was doing my homework, especially the writing intense homework. At the time I was pretty ashamed and have actually never admitted this to anyone before–but it makes sense in light of what you’ve written above.

posted on September 5th, 2008 at 7:23 pm

6 On September 5th, 2008, Amanda said:

Holy crap. That makes so much sense…I’ve always been a homework-muncher, too. Always crunchy foods, which may have nothing to do with anything. It was hell on the (extremely tight) budget in grad school.

Thanks for this — I’m going to go read the linked article now.

posted on September 5th, 2008 at 9:19 pm

7 On September 5th, 2008, Rachel2 said:

A-HA! Thank you! That sheds light on why I do the exact same thing. I hadn’t ever found it to be a huge problem, but it is indeed a problem during heightened intellectual stimulation. Either that, or once I zone back into reality, I’m absolutely ravenous!

posted on September 5th, 2008 at 9:45 pm

8 On September 6th, 2008, CordyQ said:

This makes a lot of sense.. I get this craving to when I am working on a project. I also used to get it big time taking tests, which usually there is no food allowed during those so my poor little nails took a beating! I really think a big part of it for me is the fact that I tend to have to be doing two or three things at once… and if forced to focus on one thing for a lengthy period my mind goes a little crazy and so distracting it with something trivial helps.

posted on September 6th, 2008 at 2:46 am

9 On September 6th, 2008, Symph said:

A big ME TOO from here too (the AD/HD, the cravings when working). I recovered from my eating disorder (compulsive overeating) more than 15 years ago now and I couldn’t believe that there was anything other than a physiological reason for wanting to munch, often on sweet things, when trying to knuckle down to hard mental work.

Unfortunately my job involves a lot of deadlines, a lot of intense intellectual work and I can’t help feeling that somehow the signalling is wrong – it ends up asking for too much food because it can’t get good enough hold of the glucose it is craving. What to do about that, I don’t know. I don’t mind being fat at all, perfectly nice thing to be, but I do mind that my knees are struggling to cope with the weight they’re being asked to bear, even with doing exercise supportive of knees. Hmmm.

posted on September 6th, 2008 at 9:28 am

10 On September 6th, 2008, pennylane said:

I’ll join in the Me Toos! I have the same issue which isn’t good given that this stuff is my job. Funny that you mention cereal which has been a common “study food” for me. Are there ways to maintain glucose levels without eating? Or is it best to “give in?”

posted on September 6th, 2008 at 9:53 pm

11 On September 7th, 2008, Phaedra said:

Here, here. Great post. I have been eating disordered for 15 years, 10 of which have been battling with bulimia. I used to binge/purge for weight loss, now it’s done as a release during stressful times, when I try to cope by eating something totally wrong for me(crappy, processed carbs that I never normally eat), and getting rid of it is like letting go of the stress.

I have adult ADD, among other issues, so all this makes sense. I just don’t keep anything thats a danger food in my house (I live alone) so it’s harder for me to react. Yerba mate quells hunger pangs and is good for you whilst studying.

posted on September 7th, 2008 at 2:39 am

12 On September 7th, 2008, miquiecrew said:

this does explain so much.

posted on September 7th, 2008 at 10:41 pm

13 On September 8th, 2008, Jackie said:

This is extremely common. It’s why people also do other things, while learning. Like doodling in a notebook, or listening to music while doing homework. I guess at least part of the brain has to be entertained, if you’re going to study something that may be boring to you.

posted on September 8th, 2008 at 1:09 am

14 On September 8th, 2008, mccn said:

Thanks, Rachel!

For my two cents, I’m a T1 diabetic, and I notice that my blood sugar often goes up during exam times or other stressful intellectual endeavors – which at first sounds like it contradicts what you were saying. But actually, my endocrinologist and I both believe it goes up because of my body’s response to stress hormones, which means that it metabolizes extra glucose and it’s just that I don’t produce insulin, so my body can’t use that energy, and it gets stuck floating around in my bloodstream. So I believe that research and experience it on a very real level, throughout my life.

posted on September 8th, 2008 at 12:58 pm

15 On November 22nd, 2008, Dino Delellis said:

Interesting article , I agree with the increased food craving during more cerebral activities , I myself experience these nasty munchies while working. And it’s very distracting not to mention bad for my waistline.

And I usually end up hogging down cookies instead of veggie sticks and that’s not a good thing.

posted on November 22nd, 2008 at 3:50 am