Is the urge for mindless eating all in your head? 

Ever had the munchies even after you just ate? That's when you're about to enter the realm of mindless eating, somewhere you don't want to go if you're trying to lose weight and get healthy. From doctors at Cornell University's medical school, here are eight ways to avoid going there:

•  Consume foods that are low in calories but high in fiber and water to help make you feel fuller;

•  Use smaller plates and serving utensils to control portion sizes;

•  Beware of the "clean plate" mentality - you really do not have to clean your plate like your mother told you to;

•  Visualize how much you're going to eat before you start eating;

•  Avoid all-you-can-eat buffets, which destroy the concept of "portion control";

•  Eat slowly, because your brain needs 20 minutes to sense you're full;

•  Don't do other activities, such as watching TV, while you eat;

•  Eat only a small portion of the food you are craving when, if all else fails, you give in to temptation.

Going to 'pot'

However, that urge to snack may be due to your body's overactive chemistry that regulates appetite, food intake, fat metabolism, and body weight, Cornell weight-control experts said.

The chemical culprit is the body's endocannabinoid system, the latest target in medicine's battle of the bulge.

An activated EC system decreases your sense of fullness, or "satiety," interacts with other hormones to make you hungrier, increases body fat and drives weight gain.  An overactive EC system also stymies cells from  using insulin, which could lead to type 2 diabetes.

"What many people have traditionally viewed as a lack of willpower could actually have a biochemical basis," said Dr. Louis J. Aronne, who directs the Comprehensive Weight Control Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center in Ithaca, N.Y. "It's not just a matter of lack of willpower to stop eating, or of an obesity drug not working, but the body's counterbalancing mechanisms that stops people from losing weight."

For example, EC systems in people suffering from obesity are more overactive in obese people than in lean women.

Endocannabinoids are akin to the active chemical - cannabinoids - in marijuana that triggers its effects, including the "munchies." That's why pot smokers get the incredible urge to wolf down food after smoking a few joints.

Blocking receptors 

Cannabinoid receptors reside all over your body, including the brain, gastrointestinal tract and fat cells. When the receptors are activated, the brain stimulates appetite, leading to increased food intake,  Aronne said.

One of the major culprits in the activation are high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods, but blocking cannabinoid receptors may undo all the reputed damage and improve risk factors for weight problems, heart disease and diabetes, Aronne says.

For diabetes treatment, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering approval of the prescription drug rimonabant (Acomplia), which blocks cannabinoid receptors. Four similar drugs are also in the pipeline.

"We've seen that blocking these receptors results not only in reduction of food intake, but also a reduction in triglycerides and glucose, and even an increase in 'good' HDL cholesterol," Aronne said. "And that's above and beyond any reduction in weight."

'No real shortcut' 

However, a recent review of rimonabant found only an average five percent weight loss, which still reduced the risks for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to The Cochrane Library, a medical research journal.

A higher dose of the medicine produced more weight loss, a skinnier waist, lower triglycerides and blood pressure, and higher  "good" cholesterol, but also dizziness, nausea, headache, and depression,  Aronne noted.

Aside from taking medication to block EC receptors, reduce appetite or block fat absorption, you can't really alter your body chemistry, but you can use the tricks listed above to work around your activated system, Aronne said.

In the end, "there's no real shortcut to weight loss," he said. "It amounts to taking in fewer calories and burning off more."

Source: New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center

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