Fitness Files: Fat, sugar and salt: Why do we crave them?

Sitting in Pam’s Mini Cooper, I listened to her story, grabbing my sides with laughter.

Pam’s all muscle, a former volleyball champ, the last one I expected to say, “I was shopping at Mother’s and bought this organic chocolate bar at the checkout. It was so bad, I dumped it in the garbage when I got home. But that night, I needed candy, so I tore through the trash.”

Pam continued, “We’re talking candy out of the wrapper with other food mixed in.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. Pam, a compulsive eater? A dumpster diver?

Then I remembered my conversation with Meg that morning. We’d raced the Magic Shoe 5K together, both placing. Waiting for our ribbons, she confessed, “Last night I had a whole pint of Trader Joe’s ice cream and a package of cookies.”

Both women are at their ideal weight, yet they’re compulsive dessert eaters. What is this uncontrollable drive for sweets?

Former Federal Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler calls foods loaded with sugar, fat and salt “hyperpalatable.” When we fixate on them, he says, we’re hypereating.

In Elizabeth Lee’s webMD article, Kessler explains that brain chemistry makes us go after the sweets.

“When someone consumes a sugary, fatty food, it stimulates endorphins, chemicals in the brain signaling a pleasurable experience,” he said. “The brain releases dopamine, motivating us to pursue more of that food.… Once the food becomes a habit, it may not offer the same satisfaction. We look for foods higher in fat and sugar to bring back the thrill.”

The Harvard Health Letter from February 2012 blames stress for sugar cravings: “Numerous studies … have shown that physical or emotional distress increases the intake of food high in fat, sugar or both. High cortisol levels, in combination with high insulin levels, may be responsible.”

It adds that sugar-filled foods seem to “inhibit activity in the parts of the brain that produce and process stress” and that these comfort foods seem to counteract the tension.

So, are we powerless victims, slaves to our chemical responses?

I am.

I bake for company. The remaining birthday cake gets squared off until it’s a postage stamp. Real vanilla ice cream? Dessert after breakfast! When it’s gone, I don’t replace it. Still, I salivated as Meg described her cookies and ice cream obsession but told her, “I just can’t have those foods around.”

And then there’s exercise, with its own chemical reward system. Sure I use up calories with a long run or gym workout, but my grumpiness dissipates too.

Finally, on Sunday mornings I’m at the Lido farmer’s market. Ever taste a ripe peach or fresh apple right off the tree? I have a theory that the intense flavors of recently picked fruits and vegetables are what we really crave when we hit the sugar.

Cut into a juicy organic orange, sample sweet blueberries, raspberries and blackberries or snap a bright green peapod. You’ll feel a blast of positive brain chemistry.

Back to Pam’s chocolate grab. I neglected to say that our conversation followed a two-hour beach walk.

“Did you eat that grimy chocolate bar?” I asked her.

“You bet,” she answered with a big toothy grin.

Newport Beach resident CARRIE LUGER SLAYBACK is a retired teacher who ran the Los Angeles Marathon at age 70, winning first place in her age group. Her blog is lazyracer@blogspot.com.