It’s November, it’s cold, it’s dark and there's a long winter ahead. At this time of year it’s easy to feel sluggish, as if the energy is just draining from your body. The temptation is to reach for those stodgy comfort foods, to draw the couch closer to the TV and conserve as much energy as you can by doing as little as physically possible during the winter months.
If this is how you feel now, there’s a good chance that the person who emerges from hibernation at the end of the winter will be a bigger version than what now exists. Months of heavy food and inactivity will inevitably take its toll on your waistline.
However, during the winter months our bodies seem to crave stodgy food. There’s nothing more appealing than shepherd’s pie, piping hot stews and casseroles and heavy puddings smothered in custard at this time of year. Salad? Salad schmalad!
There are several reasons why our eating habits can change when it’s cold and dark. Now, most people live in centrally heated houses but for our ancestors, the onset of the cold weather was a signal to start laying down an extra layer of fat. In this day and age it's no longer applicable to take on extra calories to combat the cold. However, it is possible that we are still programmed in some way to do so.
Perhaps more important when it comes to over-eating in wintertime is Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). This is a type of depression that occurs in northern climates where day light hours are short in winter. It's thought to be caused by lack of exposure to sunlight and affects around ½ million people in the UK each year. The symptoms include depression, lethargy, changes in sleeping and eating patterns, an increase in appetite and weight gain.
Recently good evidence has been found to link exposure to bright light with the increased production of a substance called serotonin. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, that is, it carries signals in the brain that promotes feelings of relaxation and happiness. Lack of serotonin is known to be a cause of depression and increased appetite. A lack of serotonin is particularly linked to cravings for sweet and starchy carbohydrate foods which are symptoms often seen in individuals who suffer from SAD.
The treatment for SAD is light therapy. From a nutritional point of view, symptoms can be also alleviated by getting plenty of exercise (particularly outdoors and in the daylight), avoiding foods that are high in sugar and fat, eating complex carbohydrates such as wholegrain cereals, oats, wholemeal bread, rice, pasta, pulse vegetables and jacket potatoes.
One natural way of increasing serotonin in the brain is to take the amino acid tryptophan, from which serotonin is formed in the body. It's found in high amounts in protein-rich foods such as fish, meat, dairy products, eggs, nuts and wheat germ. Foods that contain pre-formed serotonin and help the uptake of tryptophan are bananas, walnuts and pineapples.
The fact that our bodies seem to crave different types of food in the winter is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s still possible to eat the kinds of stodgy comfort foods that we want without gaining weight. Many of them are naturally high in complex carbohydrates like porridge, jacket potatoes and soups and casseroles made from beans or lentils.
You can also make winter foods healthier by choosing lean cuts of meat or using poultry, adding more vegetables and using less fat, for example, in mashed potato. Stewed fruit can make a comforting hot dessert and make sure you use skimmed or semi-skimmed milk when making the custard. Try to keep your portions fairly small and eat often to keep your blood glucose steady. Make sure your snacks are also rich in carbohydrates like wholegrain toast, bagels, scones and cereal.
Making these small changes and substitutions will make all the difference and allow you to enjoy comfort food all winter without gaining that extra layer!