THE'diet It's an aspect of human life that isn't always managed solely on the basis of physiological needs. Many factors, including psychological ones and stressors, can significantly contribute to altering appetite, generating in many people the phenomenon commonly known as "nervous hunger."
There nervous hunger It is addressed in different environments with very varied and different techniques, resorting to a whole series of approaches that can range from pharmacological to psychotherapeutic.
But what about the nutraceutical approach? Could it prove to be truly useful?
Using the right nutraceuticals, in sufficient doses, is an important tool in promoting more effective management of emotional hunger. What are some of the main nutraceuticals that can be used successfully?
Saffron
Widely used internationally for culinary and nutraceutical purposes, mainly due to the large presence of biologically active substances.
It is usedextract made from the stigmas of this plant belonging to the Iridaceae family, rich in numerous nutrients including carbohydrates, reducing sugars, gums, pectins and dextrins, and nutraceuticals including crocin (responsible for color), crocetin, pyrocrocin (responsible for bitter taste) and saffranal (responsible for odor and aroma).
The potentially marketable effects have been widely described in the scientific literature, with particular emphasis in terms of research on treatment of anxiety-related disorders and to the depression including those capable of intervening on changes in appetite.
From this point of view, among the various substances that have been particularly studied are: crocina and the saffron, highlighting among the effects:
- Reduction of inflammatory dynamics
- Reduction of oxidative stress
- Reduction of activation of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis with reduction in levels of stress-related hormones
- Increased levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), responsible for neuronal reorganization and plasticity, helping to support the survival of existing neurons and promoting the growth and differentiation of new neurons and synapses, with positive effects on learning, memory, and thinking.
The sum of these effects has allowed us to find a reduction in appetite that is decidedly superior to placebo treatments and pharmacological antidepressant treatments as a sort of "side effect" of the applications for the treatment of anxiety and depression, making saffron extract a very interesting tool for controlling appetite, especially on the basis of anxiety.
Tyrosine and Phenylalanine
There Tyrosine It is a non-essential amino acid that represents a fundamental “material” for the production of various substances used as neurotransmitters.
Generally, its intake can be correlated with positive effects on mood, particularly evident in subjects subjected to significant levels of stress, reducing the impact of symptoms such as fatigue, insomnia and stress of various kinds.
These effects are particularly interesting as they can also be seen in a reduction in the levels of hormones produced by the body under stress.
Therefore, hiring is generally recommended with the aim of supporting and increasing intellectual, psychophysical, and physical performance.
There Phenylalanine It is an essential amino acid that can be used in this context as a tyrosine saver: as it can be used as a starting material for its production, thus allowing its use in the applications already described when talking about Tyrosine.
A rational and balanced use of these substances can prove to be a functional support in managing emotional hunger, particularly in all those situations where stress or emotional elements can contribute to its genesis.
-
Bibliografia:
Mojtaba Shafiee, Soheil Arekhi… Amirhossein Sahebkar: Saffron in the Treatment of Depression, Anxiety and Other Mental Disorders: Current Evidence and Potential Mechanisms of Action. J Affect Disord, 227, 330-337 Feb 2018 - Samad Ghaffari, Neda Roshanravan :Saffron; An Updated Review on Biological Properties With Special Focus on Cardiovascular Effects. Biomed Pharmacother, 109, 21-27 Jan 2019
- Hao S, Avraham Y, Bonne O, Berry EM, Separation-induced body weight loss, impairment in alternation behavior, and autonomic tone: effects of tyrosine, in Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav., vol. 68, nº 2, 2001, pp. 273–81, DOI:10.1016/S0091-3057(00)00448-2, PMID 11267632.
- Magill RA, Waters WF, Bray GA, Volaufova J, Smith SR, Lieberman HR, McNevin N, Ryan DH, Effects of tyrosine, phentermine, caffeine D-amphetamine, and placebo on cognitive and motor performance deficits during sleep deprivation, in Nutritional Neuroscience, vol. 6, nº 4, 2003, pp. 237–46, PMID 12887140.
- Neri DF, Wiegmann D, Stanny RR, Shappell SA, McCardie A, McKay DL, The effects of tyrosine on cognitive performance during extended wakefulness, in Aviation, space, and environmental medicine, vol. 66, nº 4, 1995, pp. 313–9, PMID 7794222.
- Reinstein DK, Lehnert H, Wurtman RJ, Dietary tyrosine suppresses the rise in plasma corticosterone following acute stress in rats, in Life Sci., vol. 37, nº 23, 1985, pp. 2157–63, DOI:10.1016/0024-3205(85)90566-1, PMID 4068899.
- Hao S, Avraham Y, Bonne O, Berry EM, Separation-induced body weight loss, impairment in alternation behavior, and autonomic tone: effects of tyrosine, in Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav., vol. 68, nº 2, 2001, pp. 273–81, DOI:10.1016/S0091-3057(00)00448-2, PMID 11267632.
- Deijen JB, Wientjes CJ, Vullinghs HF, Cloin PA, Langefeld JJ, Tyrosine improves cognitive performance and reduces blood pressure in cadets after one week of a combat training course, in Brain Res. Bull., vol. 48, nº 2, 1999, pp. 203–9, DOI:10.1016/S0361-9230(98)00163-4, PMID 10230711.
- Mahoney CR, Castellani J, Kramer FM, Young A, Lieberman HR, Tyrosine supplementation mitigates working memory decrements during cold exposure, in Physiology and Behavior, IN PRESS, 2007, p. 575, DOI:10.1016/j.physbeh.2007.05.003, PMID 17585971.
