Lisa Find Love

Americans love frozen desserts. But ask someone what the difference is between ice cream, gelato, frozen custard and frozen yogurt and you'll probably get a blank stare. So how do these popular treats differ?

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A new kind of survival story: Scientists discovered a star that came near a black hole and lived to tell the tale – at least temporarily.

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With spending so many hours inside, it can be so easy to seek comfort in food. Especially when some of us have enormous stock piles of tasty snacks and quick shelf stable carbohydrates like cereal, pasta and rice. Perhaps emotional eating is a new phenomena or we’ve struggled over the years with binge eating. Binge-eating is defined as consuming unusually large amounts of food typically in a short period of time and feeling unable to stop eating. During these stressful times we want to maintain emotional, mental and physical balance. Ensuring that we are getting the right nutrients without the self harm of overeating is also vital to our immune system and sleep.

I hope these strategies will help you get off the emotional eating roller coaster for good and find renewed peace around food and body.

Make Real Balanced Meals a Priority

Like it or not we have to eat. By scheduling healthy balanced breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks, we ensure that our bodies will get what they need. Most importantly, prioritizing meals keeps us satiated. Skipping meals or choosing foods that are not necessarily nourishing can leave us hungry making it easier to binge later.

Our bodies crave routine and balance. By setting specific times of day to eat meals that have names like “breakfast,” “lunch” and “dinner” ensures that we are attuned to our appropriate hunger cues. As a result we will not fall into the trap of misinterpreting boredom, frustration or thirst for hunger. Similarly chips, crackers, pretzels, cookies and unfortunately nuts, seeds and dried fruit can be overeating triggers for some of us. When emotions strike, we can find ourselves easily binging on them. One simple strategy in binge prevention is to not have these foods in our house at all. If we live with others, who enjoy these foods safely in moderation, we might need to have them not eat them in front of us or keep them in their room. Studies show that the mere sight of food can cause us to eat even if we are not hungry.   

Pacify the Craving Part of Our Brain

Ever wonder where craving comes from? We can thank the insula, which is a prune-size slab of brain tissue responsible for feelings of guilt and anxiety as well as cravings. Acting like a sort of receiving zone, the insula assesses the physiological state of the entire body and then generates subjective feelings to bring about actions, like eating. Information from the insula is sent to other parts of the brain involved in decision making. Studies on nicotine, cocaine and alcohol addiction have shown alterations in the insula and its connectivity to other regions of the brain of addicts. This allows the addict to succumb to the craving despite the negative consequences.

Though it might be tempting to consider having the insula surgically removed to stop our craving for chocolate cake, it’s not a solution. Without the insula, we would have complete apathy and would loose our ability to distinguish between fresh and rotten foods. Probably one of the most effective ways for calming the insula is through daily meditation. Through daily meditation, we enhance our self-regulatory processes and decrease our emotional reactivity. As a result, we can start to see our thoughts about food as a neutral behavioral option rather than an inescapable need.

Spontaneous thoughts do not need a behavioral response. Meditation can help us to learn to accept these thoughts, letting them pass without further elaboration. With a consistent daily meditation practice of even as little as 5-10 minutes, we will experience more control over our cravings overtime. 

Carbohydrates as Antidepressants?

Have you ever felt like you were wired to binge of chips, bread or sweets? Well, guess what. We are. First, our brains are fueled on glucose. Our brains seek out simple carbs for quick glucose. But for some of us, another factor is also at play — serotonin.

Chronically low levels of serotonin can drive us to search for carbohydrates. This is because when carbohydrates are consumed they allow us to preferentially increase levels of the amino acid, tryptophan. Trytophan is the precursor of serotonin. Conditions of low serotonin like depression and PMS or the more severe form of PMS (Premenstrual Dystrophic Disorder (PMDD) can lead to overeating of carbohydrate because we are seeking tryptophan to quickly boost serotonin levels to lift our mood. The dark side is that this feeling is short lived. After a carb or sugar binge, we can drift into remorse and inevitable weight gain. Making sure that we are eating enough complete protein on a daily helps us maintain a more constant supply of tryptophan for serotonin production.

Other factors at play in low serotonin levels are cofactors, which are nutrients that facilitate biochemical reactions in the body. As far as serotonin is concerned these include Vitamin B6, SamE, and niacin.

If we think we may have a serotonin imbalance, it best to work with a trained professional like a naturopathic doctor or psychiatrist rather than experimenting on ourselves.

Rewarding Ourselves without Food

Why do we over indulge or crave certain foods? Because they literally make us feel good. Biting into a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie, releases dopamine and to a lesser extent norepinephrine and epinephrine. That hit of dopamine along with the other neurotransmitters is associated with the feeling of reward. This is problematic in two ways.

First, the sensation doesn’t last so we need to consume more in an effort to achieve or prolong the feeling. This can escalate where the initial taste and mouth feel is no longer the dopamine activator but the high of binging is.

The other issue is that we may inadvertently cause a new behavior loop to form. Why do we do most of the things we do, especially our harmful habits? Because we have wired them into our behavior reward loops. Basically we have connected one activity to another activity. This is exactly what Pavlov demonstrated with his ringing of the bell dog saliva experiments.

The solution is not to deny ourselves dopamine hits per se. Rather we should find other ways to activate this feeling of reward whether it’s because we’ve finished a task or we need to pacify our emotions. Some of the best, healthy ways to activate dopamine release backed by science are exercise, sunshine, listening to music, having a conversation with a close friend, and sex. So when the urge to reward our self with a bowl of ice cream strikes, we can turn on our favorite Spotify playlist and rock on out instead. 

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We're all hearing the words 'antibody' and 'antibody testing' way more than we ever thought we would in the normal course of a day, so what exactly are we talking about?

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When people think about boundaries in families, they often think about family members knocking on a closed door, or what type of information should be shared between parents and children or teens. Boundaries with technology are often overlooked.

For years, parents have struggled and debated about how much oversight they should have in their child or teen’s online conversations with friends (and sometimes strangers). Should a parent have an app that allows them to see everything their child or teen does on their phone or other device? Should parents sneak and look at their child’s electronics? Or should parents demand “hand over your phone” at random times to be checked. 

Many parents know that even when they try to put these strategies in place, their child or teen is able to get around it, either with apps that quickly make their messages disappear, or by creating secret accounts. They also can access their accounts on friends’ devices. It can easily become a game of “cat and mouse.” It becomes an issue of control that can go way beyond the electronics. 

The other issue is parents who casually allow their children (sometimes young children under age 10) to go onto their (the parents’) devices. Parents hand over their phone for a child to play a game or talk to a grandparent. But without supervision, the child (or teen) may also be looking at a parent’s texts, emails, pictures, and sometimes pornography. The child can access porn that was already on the parent’s phone or iPad, but they can also easily go online and look at porn that they find themselves. In my own practice experience, there have been many children who have learned of a parent’s affair, business secrets, and other upsetting and inappropriate things, from being on their parent’s phone or iPad. Children and teenagers may fail to learn boundaries related to tech impacting future friend, roommate and partner relationships. 

So what can a parent do? Each child, teen and family is different and there are many different circumstances. Here are a few basic guidelines and topics to consider:

Children:

Children seem to be getting phones at younger and younger ages and being allowed access to them for much of the day if not all day, and sometimes overnight. The phone often becomes like part of their body. This is not surprising, as many parents treat their own phones this way.  Many parents have the experience of trying to limit their child’s phone access, only to be treated to a tantrum or other negative feedback. Wanting to avoid these unpleasantries, the parent “caves” and lets the child have the phone. 

Access and Supervision

When a child first gets a phone, that is the best time to establish boundaries. First decide what your child will be allowed to do on the phone, and what they are not allowed to do. Give them various scenarios about what could happen and what they should do if those things happen (such as a friend texting something inappropriate or hinting at something dangerous, or being contacted by someone they don’t know).

Set times of day the child is allowed to use the phone. It should be when you are around, able to walk by and glance over their shoulder. Do not allow a child to take the phone into their bedroom. Overnight, your child’s phone should be in the parent’s bedroom. Many children and teenagers do not have the capability to self-regulate their phone (and other tech) use and need their parents’ help. Without these boundaries, it is too easy for your child or teen to stay up all night, be unable to focus on homework, or worse, become involved in something inappropriate or downright dangerous. 

Many children have TV and video games in their bedrooms. Then parents complain their child stays in their room too much and doesn’t want to come out and do things with the family. Some of these children will end up spending too much time playing video games to the point where no other activity is pleasurable. And, children may also be watching TV and playing video games well into the early morning hours if they have access to it. By keeping TV and gaming in a common area in the house, parents can more easily monitor what their child is watching and doing. 

Consistent Expectations and Expanding Interests 

Children should have boundaries around how much TV and gaming they are allowed to do. Set up a guideline and stick to it. If your child starts having a bad attitude about getting off video games or turning off the TV, that is a sign that they are starting to have an unhealthy relationship with those activities. Take time to introduce your child to new activities, whether they are things outside the house or inside, with others or alone. Some examples include team sports, art lessons, crafts, book clubs, volunteer work, and taking care of a pet.

Teens:

Privacy, Communication, and Seeking Help

Teens will want privacy on their phones. That is natural, and they should have it. If there is nothing suspicious going on, it is probably ok to let your teen have privacy on the phone. If there is a problem in your child’s life, or something suspicious is going on, before grabbing your teen’s phone and looking through it, ask them what is going on.

Try to talk to them about any difficulties. If they don’t want to talk, but you think there is something going on, let them know you are going to make an appointment with a mental health provider who they can talk to. Don’t ask them if they want to go to talk to someone. Let them know that if there are difficulties in their life and they are not comfortable talking to their parent (or other trusted relative or adult friend), then is appropriate to seek help from a mental health professional. 

Limiting Access

Although teens are gaining independence, they should not have access to their phones 24 hours a day. Set a time at night where the phone gets put into the parent’s bedroom. There can be a different time for school nights and weekend nights. Some teens will need phone boundaries after school and in the evening in order to concentrate on school work. And it is important to model and require they put their phones away during family meal times or other important times when the family is interacting. 

Younger teens should not have a TV or video games in their bedrooms. By the time they are in 11th or 12th grade, it is appropriate to transition to that. They will be away at college soon and will have those things in their rooms anyway, so starting the transition at home is often a good idea. Let them learn from their mistakes, while they are still living at home. Even with an older teen, if they are not able to self-regulate, it may still be a good idea to keep the TV and video games out of their bedroom as it can be too tempting for some people and they find themselves unable to get off the game even at 2:00 am. 

Some of today’s parents grew up with video games and phones. But many did not. Those who did not say “It’s a whole new world out there!” They often feel helpless and confused. In my practice I have seen many smart parents who have trouble setting boundaries with technology. It may be helpful to think of technology as just another piece of parenting. You would not allow your child to leave your house at any time of day, with people you don’t know, to go an undisclosed location. The same is true with tech. By considering these topics and determining what works best for your family, your child can stay connected online, maintain privacy, and respect others.  

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As the first major Chinese-American film star, it wasn't easy for Anna May Wong. But she persisted and fought against stereotypes, eventually breaking down barriers in Hollywood.

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Howard Hughes was a man of great intelligence and wealth. He was also a man of mystery, secrecy and, ultimately, debilitating mental illness.

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