London - So, just one more biscuit or square of chocolate, then you’ll stop, you say. But before you know it, you’ve demolished the whole lot.
Overeating is not just bad for the waistline, but your health. Experts have warned that record numbers of women under the age of 50 are being diagnosed with breast cancer, with overeating and obesity some of the key risk factors (others include excess drinking and not exercising).
But why can’t we stop stuffing ourselves? Here, we reveal the possible causes...
HAPPY PILLS THAT FUEL YOUR HUNGER
Certain drugs may work to increase appetite - these include the antihistamine cyproheptadine, which is used for allergies such as hay fever, and is sometimes prescribed for migraines. Antidepressants can also trigger an increase in appetite.
However, the exact reason for this is still not understood, says dietician Sophie Roberts from the British Dietetic Association.
“It’s a difficult area to research because factors other than the medication interfere with results.
“These include people being less active because of their depression, increased appetite as a by-product of mood improving through other treatments and also a general tendency in adults to put weight on year on year.”
CUTTING CARBS MAKES IT WORSE
Research suggests cutting too many carbohydrates from your diet can actually push you to overeat.
A study from Ohio State University found that people who skimp on carbohydrates at lunchtime tend to compensate by eating more of them later.
“Carbohydrate foods all release glucose into our bloodstream when we digest them,” says Sophie Roberts.
“Our brain runs on glucose as its primary fuel and will send us distinct signals to eat if it feels that supplies might be starting to run low.
“The longer we leave it before eating some carbohydrate, the stronger these signals become and the more likely we are to overeat when the next meal- time comes.”
YOU COULD JUST NEED A DRINK
The symptoms of mild dehydration, such as feeling weak, tired or dizzy, mimic those of hunger, and so the brain easily confuses dehydration with hunger.
So if you’re feeling hungry, have a drink first to see if it satisfies you before reaching for food.
However, avoid alcohol, as it’s a sure-fire way to send your appetite soaring. As Lynne Garton of the British Dietetic Association explains, alcohol causes significant fluctuations in blood sugar levels.
Initially, it causes levels to rise sharply, causing a large amount of the hormone insulin to be released into the blood.
This mops up the blood sugar, causing levels to drop rapidly. It is this drop that triggers sudden, intense hunger as the body wants to restore levels to normal as quickly as possible.
Stodgy and sweet food is the quick-fix way to do this, so we crave it in the form of sweet snacks and junk food.
YOUR TASTE BUDS ARE AGEING
Another potential cause is our taste buds. As we age, these effectively die off.
In addition to this, our taste buds can also become damaged by a number of factors, including viral infections, some medicines (such as amphetamines) and inflammatory conditions in themouth, such as severe acidreflux.
Once our taste has diminished we need to eat more to gain satisfaction from food, as we no longer get it from taste alone - this is why people often binge on bland food.
SAVE SUGAR FOR AFTER DINNER
A study from University College London found that people who ate chocolate on an empty stomach were more likely to develop a psychological craving for it.
This is because hunger makes any high-calorie food taste extra good, so you’ll want more.
The researchers suggested it’s much better to eat sweet treats after a meal than before it - in the study, those who ate it 15 to 30 minutes after a meal weren’t as likely to snack on it later.
BEWARE POST-GYM SNACK ATTACK
Exercise provides many benefits to our physical and mental health - but unless you are doing high-intensity training the amount of calories burned up can be surprisingly small.
This can lead to a silent creeping on of the pounds. For example, an hour of step aerobics for the average woman burns 450 calories, but a grande latte with semi-skimmed milk afterwards contains 300 calories.
Add a low-fat muffin to that and the total post-exercise snack will be 100 calories more than what’s just been burned off through exercise.
One theory is that cardiovascular exercise, such as going hell for leather on a treadmill, may cause us to break down lean tissue as the body struggles to generate energy. This can slow down our Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) - the rate at which we burn calories just through everyday life.
But resistance exercise, such as lifting bar bells, builds this lean tissue up, which boosts BMR.
Another factor is that your appetite may adjust to a gym habit, increasing when you start to exercise because your body tells you it needs more calories.
GUILT MAKES YOU HUNGRY
It sounds strange, but feeling guilty about overeating can make us do it more.
Researchers from Northwestern University in the US found that if you feel guilty about a pleasurable experience, such as eating, the guilt itself becomes pleasurable.
In the study of more than 1 000 people, participants were given sweet treats, with half of them primed to experience feelings of guilt before eating them.
This group was shown to enjoy the treats more than the other group. Therefore, the more forbidden we consider a particular food to be, the more delicious it may taste.
WHY FRIENDS ARE A DIETER’S ENEMY
People eat more when in company than when eating alone - but only if they are among their friends.
This finding came from research carried out by Marion Hetherington, Professor of Biopsychology at the University of Leeds.
She found we eat 18 percent more when with friends, yet eating with strangers doesn’t influence our food consumption.
It’s thought that due to the distracting effects of chatting and enjoying ourselves, we don’t realise that we are full as soon as usual.
We also lose our inhibitions with friends - and see social events out with them as special occasions, and so are more likely to treat ourselves to starters and puddings, thus increasing our calorific consumption. - Daily Mail