Alexandra Worsley
Willpower - Blame It On The Brain
This information is given as a guide and does not offer to diagnose or treat any particular condition. If you are currently taking medication or have an existing medical condition, discuss your nutritional programme with your GP or other health professional.
WHETHER IT IS NEW YEAR, LENT, NATIONAL NO-SMOKING DAY, THE START OF THE BIKINI DIET OR something more serious such as drug, alcohol or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), you can blame your brain for your lack of willpower to overcome the desire to indulge.
Willpower is an extremely limited mental resource and many of us feel embarrassed or even traumatised when we fail to resist.
The experts have now exposed the myth that all you need to do is buckle down. It seems the scientists have proven that willpower is feeble and that trying to give up too many things at once, or when we are under stress, is pretty much impossible.
The area of the brain responsible for willpower is the prefrontal cortex, located just behind the forehead. It seems this area of the brain, while it has developed and evolved, hasn't expanded or strengthened enough for us to cope with the demands of the 21st century.
This is perhaps because the prefrontal cortex is also responsible for keeping us focused, handling short-term memory and solving abstract problems, so to ask it to help us show restraint over a biscuit or cigarette is just one brain cell too far.
A study at Stanford University gave subjects either a two-digit or a 7-digit number to remember, the two groups were then asked to walk into another room and offered either a nice healthy fruit salad or a piece of chocolate cake. By a ratio of 2 to 1, the people who had been asked to remember the longer number chose the chocolate cake. What this apparently proves is that if you are under stress, or have too many other things on your mind, your power to resist temptation is reduced.
This neatly explains why when you have a long day at the office, you are more likely to indulge in fast food. In fact, in one study at the University of Michigan, they found that just walking down a busy shopping street so over-stimulated the cortex, several measures of self-control were significantly reduced.
A tired preoccupied brain finds it hard to show the strength to resist temptation.
So, what is possible? Can you exercise the prefrontal cortex like a muscle? Does nutrition have a role to play?
ONE THING AT A TIME
What the scientists and researchers in this area are showing is that to ask the brain to do too much at once is a big mistake. So to go on a diet and to start at the gym in the same week is expecting too much. It's like trying to rub your tummy and pat your head at the same time.
So concentrate on one small change at a time, especially when you are not overburdened by other excessive life activity.
EAT REGULARLY
The brain uses energy and it actually uses more energy when it needs to exert willpower. Starving the brain of calories, even for a few hours, can have an impact on behaviour. Ironically, when on a diet, the lack of regular calories can make it harder for you to resist foods, especially sweet foods, as the brain is a hungry organ with glucose being the key fuel.
DISTRACTION
Studies at Columbia University demonstrate that people who show greater willpower aren't necessarily any different to those who give in more easily. The key difference appears to be that they are better at finding ways to push tempting thoughts away.
Children who have been promised a second sweet if they can wait patiently for 20 minutes, achieve greatest success if they sing songs or play with their shoelaces.
Basically, they are able to temporarily remove the sweet from their consciousness. These ‘high-delayers' go on to perform better in school tests and maintain a lower body mass in later life.
A convenient method of distraction for adults is posture. A university study demonstrated that those in the test group who concentrated on improving their posture also showed marked improvement in other methods of self-control.
NUTRITION
Wouldn't it be good if it was possible to buy "willpower in a jar"? Though not the total answer, certain nutritional supplements can offer support to a programme of professional rehabilitation where required and lifestyle changes.
N-ACETYLCYSTEINE
NAC is one of a number of nutrients proven helpful in various forms of addiction.... alcoholism, sugar cravings, gambling, drugs and even OCD.
OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorders) such as repetitive hair pulling have been treated successfully with NAC.
A study in the Archives of General Psychiatry showed that N-acetylcysteine (NAC) improved trichotillomania (an impulse control disorder involving hair pulling).
NACs effectiveness is primarily attributed to its ability to stimulate glutathione (GSH) synthesis, enhance glutathione-S-transferase activity, promote liver detoxification by inhibiting xenobiotic biotransformation, and as a powerful free radical scavenger.
Preclinical studies have suggested that levels of glutamate within the nucleus accumbens mediate reward-seeking behaviour (Kalivas and Volkow 2005; McFarland et al. 2003).
The nucleus accumbens is a collection of neurons within the forebrain. It is thought to play an important role in reward, laughter, pleasure, addiction and fear. Restoring extracellular glutamate concentration in the nucleus accumbens seems to block reinstitution of compulsive behaviours and decrease cravings.
Studies examining cocaine addiction demonstrate that N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) seems to increase extracellular levels of glutamate, stimulate inhibitory glutamate receptors, and thereby reduce synaptic release of glutamate.
Research from 2007 reveals further evidence that NAC influences the glutamate receptors - this was shown in an interesting study on NACs effects on pathological gambling (Grant, 2007). Results from this study reveal that NAC supplementation (1200-1500mg per day) resulted in a significant reduction in gambling cravings and that the efficacy of NAC lends support to the hypothesis that pharmacological manipulation of the glutamate system might target core symptoms of reward-seeking addictive behaviours.
L-GLUTAMINE
Glutamine is one of the three amino acids involved in glutathione synthesis. Glutathione, an important intracellular antioxidant and hepatic detoxifier, is comprised of glutamic acid, cysteine, and glycine. Initial studies have shown that glutamine supplementation reduces alcohol intake, a finding that has been confirmed in double-blind human research. Glutamine crosses the blood /brain barrier readily and is converted into Glutamic acid in the brain. As a key neurotransmitter it helps increase mental function, alertness, and exerts a mild anti-depressant effect.
CINNAMON
Research reveals that cinnamon may improve glycaemic control and insulin sensitivity. Along with chromium, cinnamon may help provide glycaemic control, stabilise mood and reduce the potential for cravings and need for ‘stimulants.'
CHROMIUM
Chromium has been found to be effective in cases of both hyper and hypoglycaemia. Chromium works closely with insulin in facilitating the uptake of glucose into cells. Without chromium, insulin's action is blocked and blood sugar levels are elevated. Chromium supplementation has been shown to reduce carbohydrate cravings and may provide mood stabilising benefits for those with depression (Doherty JC, 2005).
Here at Alexandra Worsley, we can support and guide you with advice on which products and lifestyle changes we consider would be best for you. Just ask! Email us or call 0161 439 9856 or pop into the shop for a FREE shop floor consultation. If we can't help immediately, we have a team of therapists who can help, particularly in more complex cases. We always recommend that with any health condition, you consult with your GP in the first instance.
FURTHER ADVICE & HELP
www.drinkaware.com
www.drinkaware.ie
www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk
www.talktofrank.com
www.gamblersaware.org.uk
