balance

« It’s cold, the body needs more energy! “. Who has never heard this postulate – very guilt-free – which clearly justifies that in winter, you have to eat more. Moreover, on TV, advertisements for raclettes, tartiflettes, parade before our eyes and seasonal products put forward by hypermarkets are unsurprisingly the most caloric. But is it really justified?

A real energetic need?

Let’s talk a bit about science and thermoregulation to explain ” It’s cold, the body needs more energy! “. We are “homeotherms” », temperature-regulated beings. Our core temperature remains constant. It is around 37°C and corresponds to the optimal conditions for the proper functioning of our body (enzymatic reactions and activation of the main intracellular mechanisms take place around 37°C). The skin and subcutaneous tissues have a temperature between 10 and 40°C, depending on the outside temperature.

Thermoregulation represents all the processes allowing us to maintain our core temperature at 37°C, whatever the conditions, especially the outside temperature. It’s thanks to our system vascular that rapid exchanges of energy and temperature are permitted. At all costs, a balance must be struck between the quantities of heat produced and received and the quantity of heat lost. When it’s cold, our body needs more energy to maintain those famous 37°C. And to recoverenergy, the brain sends us hunger signals and logically, eating more should allow us to recover energy to fight against the cold. Except that if this speech was once admissible, it is no longer so today for the vast majority of us. We no longer face the cold ! Our homes are heated, we cover ourselves from head to toe with warm clothes, we travel by car, bus, subway, all heated, and our outdoor life is sometimes anecdotal. Eat more is therefore not necessary! But where does this hunger come from?

Two mechanisms at play to justify hunger

The first mechanism relates to our “ cellular memory ». Our ancestors, who did not have living conditions similar to ours, had to increase their energy intake to survive the cold. Eating more allowed them to build up an energy reserve but also an insulating layer of fat, allowing them to maintain their core temperature of 37°C and therefore to live. They inherited us hunger signals, corresponding to this need to eat more. But rest assured, you can give it up. It is not a genetic but an epigenetic inheritance (of the way in which Genoa are used). By ceasing to let it go to this inherited hunger, we have the power to silence it. We certainly cannot modify our genes, but we can modify the way in which they are used with our rules of life!

The second mechanism: we long for ourselves” cuckold “. It is not a physiological but a psychological need. Our morale is lowered by the lack of light, the daily routine, so we tend to seek comfort in what can be at hand, throughout the day. Food becomes a security blanket.

6 tips to silence that winter hunger.

They are all very easy to put into practice and effective.

1. Avoid generating hunger by respecting the natural needs of the body at the right time of the day. Eat more fat and protein at the start of the day, have a lighter dinner. Breakfast with eggs, or homemade muesli made from oilseeds such as almonds, nut, hazelnuts (which are fatty and protein). At lunch eat a good portion of meat or fish or a vegetable substitute such as tempeh, with generously cooked vegetables. In the evening, a good winter vegetable soup can do the trick.
2. Your meals must be good. Cook, vary the flavors. Behind the gustatory pleasure hides a certain satiety and less snacking.
3. Do not overconsume sugar, bread or starchy foods. They may give you an impression of satiety at the time, but above all they will generate the yoyo at your blood sugar : peak and inevitable fall in blood sugar then several times a day. For once, your brain will send you signals of hunger, craving for sugar, to quickly raise your blood sugar.
4. From 4 p.m., the dinner following the return from work, the evening on the sofa, are “critical” moments. To better manage them, take a nutritional supplement based on tryptophan. At 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. for example. These are capsules that also contain B vitamins and magnesium for a good synthesis of serotonin, the hormone of well-being and appeasement. This has the effect of calming emotional hunger.
5. In case of a strong craving for sugar, open a capsule of gymnema on the tongue and distribute its contents on your tongue, your palate. Wait a few seconds and spit or swallow. This will numb your sweet-tasting palate for two to three hours. No sweet food will find favor in your eyes. Ideal if you crave sugar at snack time or in the evening while watching TV.
6. Think of soft drinks that do good without raising the needle on the scale. Prepare yourself a thermos of “grand cru” tea or herbal tea that you will have bought in a specialized shop. You can enjoy this good and comforting beverage throughout the day. Namely, cinnamon infusions soothe sugar cravings. And if the salty side makes you crack, drink miso broths or bone broths which, in addition to being delicious, will boost your immunity to face the winter.

Little wink, for those looking to lose weight, instead of trying to fight the cold by eating more, face it! Our adipose tissue is made up of white fats and brown fats, which do not “melt” in the same way or with the same means. The white melts more difficultly, by producing cellular energy thanks to sport and dietary rules, the brown melts more easily by producing heat when stimulated by the cold. This is due to its physiological peculiarities: it is more vascularized and rich in “little furnaces”, the mitochondria. Studies have shown that an ambient temperature below 20°C activates these furnaces, which literally burn their own fat content to keep the body warm.¹. The amount of brown fat differs from one individual to another, the result on the scale also differs according to researchers who exposed young men for 2 hours to an environment of 19 ° C. Although the burning of calories increased in all, the effect was three times greater in those with more brown fat². The good news is that white fat can significantly turn into brown fat under the action of a hormone, called irisin, with regular exposure to cold. The latter is produced by the muscles when you shiver or play sports. 10 to 15 minutes of chills generates as much irisine as an hour of cycling! ³