“Getting It”:
Your Greatest Tool For Healthy Habit Building
Before any long-term changes can be made to effectively help guide our children on the course of building healthy eating habits, and even correcting some unhealthy habits you may have in your own diet, it is vital to understand what the effects of food have on our bodies. Not just referring to weight gain – but how overeating leads us to becoming overweight. The understanding of how our metabolism and endocrine systems work, and the important “cause and effect” that food has on maintaining a healthy body and body weight is undoubtedly the most important tool in your success in raising your child with healthy eating habits.
Have you ever picked up a paintbrush and tried to paint a landscape picture because it ‘looks easy’? Or maybe decided to do some home improvements on your own with a user’s manual? If so, maybe things weren’t as simple as originally thought. Maybe the end results were messy and unfinished looking. Or halfway through, you decided to quit altogether. Obviously, unless you are some prodigy of landscape painting, or just very technically gifted, understanding the technical details behind most all ‘acts of doing’ in the long run, will produce the greatest and long lasting results. With the proper understanding of detail and skill, you may one day exhibit your paintings in galleries for big profits! Or receive adequate training in electrical work to begin your own business.
Right about now you may be thinking… “What does all this have to do with eating?” The fact is this: there are very specific details and even skills to understand about what happens after each swallow. Understanding a little bit about digestion – more specifically the role of our endocrine system, you can become “skilled” at good nutrition, and even may find a true desire to stay on the path of healthy eating out of the sheer sense of want… not just need.
Before you feel the urge to stifle your first yawn… please read on! And re-read until you really ‘get’ it. We have figured a way to explain some key elements of the ‘endocrine system’ within our metabolism without boring you to tears. We understand that most of us are a bit “scientifically challenged”, so we went to great lengths to make it completely understandable – even at the risk of making the ‘real scientists’ cringe at our oversimplification of probably one of the most complicated systems within our bodies: The Endocrine System.
But this isn’t to say we won’t be using some science and scientific terms – we can’t avoid it. The following few paragraphs may be as ‘text book’ as this resource gets, but with our own ‘layman’ spin.
The endocrine system is a system within our bodies – composed of different organs that release certain chemicals known as “hormones.” It involves a numerous amount of hormones as well other chemicals and proteins, but at the sake of trying to give as clear of an ideas as to how this system operates, we will focus on the 3 hormones that play very different, yet complimentary roles in the hopes of maintaining a healthy balance between hunger and fullness within our bodies. These 3 hormones are named Insulin, Leptin and Ghrelin. And much like how passengers on an airplane rely on the communication between the pilot, traffic controller and tower to make a safe landing, our bodies rely on the ability for these 3 hormones to effectively communicate in order to prevent any mishaps, which could eventually lead us off course and headed for disaster!
Before we set out for our ‘test flight’ – lets just first get some information about these 3 critical hormones and their functions within our metabolism.
Insulin:
Insulin is a hormone produced and secreted by the pancreas. The main function of insulin is to help the body “store” nutrients needed for the production of energy. It’s main target? Sugar. When we eat foods that contain sugar, depending on the type of sugar and the amount of sugar – makes a tremendous impact on how insulin responds. Like a firehouse awaiting a fire code call, insulin sits patiently in the pancreas until the ‘call comes in.’ And like the size of the fire which determines how many firehouses must respond, insulin has a similar response. If we consume “simple sugars” – such as sweetened soda, sugary candy and fruit drinks, the sugar enters into the blood stream relatively quickly and ‘all at once’. Complex carbohydrates – such as whole grain products, fruits and vegetables, take a longer time to enter into the blood stream because our bodies are breaking down other parts as well – such as the fiber, proteins and fats, and the sugar trickles into the blood stream at a far slower rate.
Now, lets say you gulp down 12-oz sweetened soda to “quench your thirst”. The insulin response to “arrive at the scene” is going to be far greater than if you ate a salad. This “5-alarm sugar blaze” recruits a large amount of insulin to basically deliver the sugar to its storage sites in the order of our body’s needs. It first attempts to store sugar in muscle cells – needed for quick energy in situations like ‘fight or flight’ or high energy output such as running, aerobics – etc. After the supply of sugar is replenished in our muscle cells, than it goes to its next storage site, which is the liver. And what do you suppose insulin does with all the leftover sugar after all the storage sites have been replenished? It then converts the remaining sugar into fatty acids, where it then transferred over and stored in our fat cells as fat.
There is a set rule about insulin: Once insulin is released – in any amount – it stays in our bloodstream for up to 3 hours to ensure all the sugar has been cleared – or in our firehouse metaphor: all the embers are out.
Leptin:
Leptin is a hormone produced and secreted by fat cells. Leptin is a “new kid on the block” in terms of hormones. Just discovered in 1994, it is believed that Leptin is a major player in appetite control, body fat management and starvation prevention. Because Leptin continues to be an intensely studied hormone with all its functions still being discovered, we’ll discuss its function in appetite control, and it’s perceived ability to tell the brain “Stop eating… I’m full.”
During a meal, Leptin – hanging out in his fat cell “home” – allows for a certain amount of energy (in the form of fatty acids) to enter his fat cell. Once the fat cell reaches a set “maximum capacity”, it is believed Leptin – perhaps acting on a signal from insulin who arrives to deposit the rest of the sugar-converted fat – leaves the fat cell and enters into the bloodstream and travels to the appetite center in the brain to turn off the “hungry switch.” Our response is the feeling of being full, or “satisfied.”
The amount of Leptin that is released into the blood is in direct proportion with the amount of fat cells a person has. All fat cells respond at the same time, so overweight people have more Leptin released into their bloodstream and traveling up to the appetite control part of the brain than a thin or of average weight person. Scientists believe that this greater “surge” of Leptin (as seen with overweight people) overwhelms the appetite control center, and as a result, eventually wears out this ‘switch’ and and impairs the ability to send the signal of “stop eating” out to the body. As a result, our signals of being “satisfied” are not effectively communicated, and the result is overeating and continued weight gain.
Grehlin: (pronounced grellin)
Grehlin is a hormone that is produced and secreted by cells in the stomach. And like Leptin, Grehlin is a newly discovered hormone, with various other functions. But again – we’re keeping it simple and sticking with its role in digestion. It is believed that Grehlin is one of the first hormones ‘triggered’ in the cascade of the 3 hormonal events that occur during eating. What initiates the urge to eat is still being studied. We chose the theory that many scientists believe; that our hunger is triggered by the detection of low blood sugar – and a “signal” that travels to the brain to switch ‘On’ the hungry switch and begin the process of re-fueling.
Out of the three hormones we mentioned, Grehlin is the first hormone to respond to the hungry switch. Grehlin’s actions include the contracting or “grumbling” of the stomach, and the secretions of digestive juices, which begin the process of digestion when feeding begins.
Keep in mind, our endocrine system was designed as we evolved as humans, and designed specifically to prevent starvation – which was a very real and ongoing threat to the survival of the human race. This means that our entire endocrine network has been designed to help maintain, store and gain energy needed for survival. It is this ‘glitch’ in our endocrine system that makes weight gain so seemingly “effortless” and weight loss such a struggle! It has not evolved with the abundance of food in most societies, nor has it made any changes to help thwart the epidemic of obesity.
Now that the “science” is behind us, lets put it into a scenario that we can understand.
The Efficient Flight: How the system is designed to work.
Here’s the scenario: You’ve been working all morning long, barely paying attention to the clock, unbeknownst that your blood sugars have now dipped below the preferred levels – off goes the message to your brain and the hungry switch has just been switched on.
Grehlin, acting on signals from the brain indicating the need for energy (food), is released and goes to work. Your stomach begins to growl, and looking at the clock you make the realization that: “It must be time for lunch because I’m hungry!” So you grab a turkey and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread and a fruit salad on the side.
Somewhere halfway through your sandwich, and well into the “behind the scenes” activities of digestion and metabolism, the call comes into the pancreas informing Insulin that there is sugar in the bloodstream that needs to be cleared. But because your body is working to break down the complex parts of your lunch – like fiber and protein, the amount of sugar released is at a slower pace, so it’s just a “one alarm” code. Insulin reports to the scene and starts its function of opening cells and letting the sugar inside to replenish its storage. After visits to the muscle and liver, what’s left is then converted into fat, and deposited into the fat cells, which is believed to ‘trigger’ Leptin into action. Realizing that his fat cell home has some space available, Leptin allows the adequate amount of energy (in the form of fat) inside. Once the pre-determined “maximum capacity” has been reached within his cell, Leptin then leaves the comfort of his fat cell home and takes a journey up to the appetite center in the brain to switch the hungry signal off. With Leptin’s mission a success, you realize that you are quite satisfied after the sandwich and maybe even half the fruit salad, and resume the activities you were engaged in before the hungry switch was switched on.
Your body, meanwhile, continues its role of metabolizing the lunch you just had. This can take up to 3 hours as insulin works hard to clear the blood of sugar. In this event of a ‘one alarm’ sugar blaze, there is little insulin called to the scene, so the job of clearing the sugar and converting into storage is expected to take this long.
Finally, about 3 or so hours later, once all the sugar has been cleared from that complicated meal consisting of whole grains and fiber – the brain detects this low blood sugar and triggers the entire process to repeat itself.
The Inefficient Flight: Crash and burn
When our endocrine system was created thousands of years ago, it was designed to adequately meet the replenishment and storage needs of our body. Back then, humans survived primarily off of some vegetation and berries and the occasional smoked caribou or other animal hunted in the wild. Our systems were not prepared to compete with other ‘triggers’ for hunger – such as smell and sight. And in our now modern diet, we find ourselves struggling against our “false hunger” on a daily basis, and especially in prevention of obesity.
Lets take this same flight, and see the difference of how our modern diet can influence this very delicate cascade of hormonal events of adequate digestion and metabolism.
Same scenario, different lunch:
Here’s the scenario: You’ve been working all morning long, barely paying attention to the clock, unbeknownst that your blood sugars have dipped below the preferred levels – off goes this message to your brain and the hungry switch has just been switched on.
Grehlin, acting on signals from the body indicating the need for energy (food), is released and goes to work. Your stomach begins to growl, and looking at the clock you make the realization that: “It must be time for lunch because I’m starving!” So, you go to your favorite fast food restaurant with the intent to ‘be good’ – but as you enter, you eye your favorite combo meal, smell the aroma of French fries and grilling beef, and quickly change your mind to a double cheeseburger, large fries and a 12 oz soda.
Somewhere halfway through your burger and 2/3rds through your soda, and well into the “behind the scenes” activities of digestion and metabolism, the call comes into the pancreas informing Insulin that there is sugar in the bloodstream that needs to be cleared. This time, the amount of sugar from the soda (with no fiber or protein to slow it down) quickly rushes straight into your bloodstream. The message to the pancreas is that this is a “5-alarm sugar blaze!” This requires a far greater amount of insulin to be released to the scene, where it starts its function of opening cells and letting the sugar inside to replenish storage. After visits to the muscle and liver, what’s left is then converted into fat and deposited into the fat cells, which is believed to ‘trigger’ Leptin into action. Realizing that his fat cell home has some space available, Leptin allows the adequate amount of energy (in the form of fat) inside. Once the pre-determined “maximum capacity” has been reached within his cell, Leptin then leaves the comfort of his fat cell home and takes a journey up to the appetite center in the brain. This time, he is met with a lot of Leptin traffic, and by the time he gets his turn at the switch, it appears a bit worn – but nonetheless, still functioning, and he switches the hungry signal off.
With Leptin’s mission a success, you realize that although you are quite satisfied after your burger, there are still half of the French fries left. They are so delicious, and you decide that you can “make room for a little more” because they are just too yummy to resist. So you continue to finish off the deluxe fries as well as sucking down the rest of your soda drink. And now, you feel “stuffed.” (Maybe even a little guilty!)
But this time, there is a lot of sugar left over to convert to fat, and as maximum capacity exceeds, the fat cell “bursts” into two fat cells, and so begins a brand new fat cell. This cell fills until its maximum capacity is exceeded and again – bursts into two. As you can see with this pattern of over-eating, all the “extra food” just keeps being converted into fat, and stored within fat cells. And in “real life” – weight gain in the form of fat begins to accumulate in our bodies.
Now this is where things get really out of control. Because this was a ‘5-alarm sugar blaze,’ there was a large amount of insulin released from the pancreas. With the increase of insulin on the scene to help clear the bloodstream of sugar – the job gets done much quicker than the smaller amount of insulin released at the ‘one alarm blaze!’ This 5-alarm insulin rush may work a bit too efficient, as it is believed that it clears the blood sugar too quickly and puts the body in a state of low blood sugar far sooner than 3 hours later! And as a result - the hungry switch may be turned “on” maybe an hour and a half later – triggering almost a ‘false’ response to feeding. After all, your body is still processing the fats and proteins from the burger! There is a lot more work the body has yet to do in digesting the burger and fries, and little does it know… more food is on the way!
As parents, it is NEVER TOO LATE to start listening to our body’s ‘real’ cues! These are tools you can use as being an effective role model. Be mindful of the misleading triggers such as sight and smell! And when you are no longer hungry – do your best to stop eating… even if there is still half of your favorite food left! Remember the traffic jam that is building within your system – with no storage left but fat.
Why our children are at great risk for obesity
If you didn’t ‘get it’ please re-read and let it seep in. It is too important not to understand.
The most important factor to keep in mind with the endocrine system is that it is very delicate – and not designed well when it comes to over indulging, and most important: not designed to accommodate our ‘modern’ diet which (among others things) is high in added sugar – an easily digested form such as high fructose corn syrup. You can see how quickly this cascade of efficiency falls apart when we override our eating “cues”, eating to the point of being “stuffed.” By eating too much and too often, we are not allowing certain cells to “use up” its storage space and the only alternative is to be stored as fat.
Our children are born with this innate cueing system. Breastfeeding babies are the best examples of how they are able to respond to their internal feeding “cues” – while bottle fed babies are often urged to push through those cues to finish the bottle. As we discussed through the different phases of development in Healthy Habits Start Here, these internal cues are often interrupted by the age of 2, most commonly due to: environmental factors – family habits, routines and even cultural habits; behavioral habits - such as learning to eat for rewards, associating TV time with snack time and learning that ‘forbidden’ foods increases the “desire” factor. And, of course, genetic factors which contain elements of both environmental and behavioral factors.
But we believe that what puts our children at the greatest risk today for overweight and obesity is the quality of the foods that our kids eat – especially the foods marketed to our children as early as infancy!
Wrong Nutrition, or our politically correct way of saying ‘junk food’ – consists of foods high in added sugar, salt, artificial colors, preservatives and a whole host of other chemicals that our children’s bodies don’t need and can’t use. When we start our children ‘off’ on a diet high in these types of foods, maintaining their healthy internal communication among their endocrine hormones becomes very challenging. Most snack items targeted to our children far exceed the amounts of sugar that a ‘one alarm blaze’ can properly manage. And if they are grazing on fruit juice all day long- than their little bodies are at constant work – trying to put out the ongoing sugar blaze! Start your child off with water in their sippy and toddler cups as their ‘source’ of hydration. Introduce juice (preferably watered down!) along side a snack or meal that contains fiber, protein and some fat. Hold off on high sugar “treats” offered on demand until they are older and healthier habits are well under way.
Let’s take a test flight to see how easy it is for a toddler to ‘crash and burn’
It’s 9:30 am and little Timmy is standing before the snack cabinet pointing up to where you keep your gummy treats. Barely able to talk, he makes his desire known by pointing and saying “Nak! Nak!” – Which in English means ‘snack’.
You think: how can he be hungry? After all, he just ate breakfast an hour ago: waffles with syrup and orange juice and he even had seconds! “No” you may initially say. “You just ate. Snack time isn’t for at least another hour.” But by now, Timmy’s belly is rumbling up a storm perhaps from all the maple sugar – or maybe the orange juice – or maybe even both. With the battle of the wills, you start to lose some ground. By now, he’s in the throws of a full-blown tantrum, tears, screams – the works. And you, having just finished the dishes, need to make a quick call to your boss (or a girlfriend!). So - you give in. He gets his request – which were the little ‘favorite character’ gummy treats and a little more orange juice in his sippy cup. After all, he’s just a baby! These foods are part of childhood, right? And – they contain Vitamin C so they must have some health benefits. Off he goes to watch the purple dinosaur, and off you go to make your call.
An hour later, little Timmy is at it again: same spot, same finger, same words and the same tantrum. This constant re-fueling based on ‘false hunger’ has the same effect on our children as it has on us adults. When their storage sites are full – it’s converted to fat. And a diet high in processed foods help perpetuate this cycle, and when combined with increased television viewing, less free play – weight gain in the form of fat begins to accumulate.
This is where a seemingly innocent routine can quickly lead our children down the wrong path to unhealthy habits and increase their risks for becoming overweight. And it’s so insidious – it has nothing to do with socioeconomic levels, being a “good mom” or a “bad mom” – it has to do with a universal unknowingness of how to eat. If this same mother in this same scenario had made just a couple of changes, things could have resulted differently.
First off, whole grain waffles with sliced fruit, little drizzle of syrup and watered-down orange juice could have slowed little Timmy’s digestion and helped avoid the “sugar crash” and tantrum that followed just an hour after eating. If you have gummy treats in the house, try and moderate them by offering a few choices, such as crackers, cheese and grapes, or a yogurt and fruit ‘parfait’. Making healthier choices look just as yummy as fruity snacks can just as easily divert their attention to the more ‘blood sugar friendlier’ options. And bring them for a walk – turn off the TV and put some music on. Keep them moving!
Lets face it – at the end of the day, feeding our children properly not only promotes healthy habit building in them, but it makes life easier for us!
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