Health influences our nutritional needs and cravings

Our health seems to impact our cravings and resistance to food. For example, stress is known to increase our craving for carbohydrates, while we may find some pain relief when we consume spicy foods.

Dog Knows : page 9, Chapter 1, Essay on Canine Nutrition

Carbohydrates and stress

Cortisol is one of the chemicals released as a response to stress. Various factors affect the levels of cortisol, one of which is the dietary micronutrients.

Carbohydrates can help reduce the cortisol levels. Soltani et al (2019) conducted a study over 8 weeks and observed that increasing dietary carbohydrates based on DGA guidelines may reduce circulating cortisol and lower psychological stress-related cortisol responsiveness. Another study on rats found that having access to highly palatable foods (usually high in sugar and carbohydrates) reduced activity in the central stress response network, possibly decreasing the feeling of stressors (Foster et al, 2009). Christ et al (2024) observed that consuming carbohydrates attenuated the rises in cortisol and epinephrine levels. This suggests that consumption of carbohydrates during acute stress can help control the rise in cortisol levels. Additionally, the study by Markus et al (2000) concluded that a carbohydrate-rich protein-poor (CR/PP) diet resulted in lowered cortisol response and feelings of depression in high-stress-prone subjects suggesting better ability to cope with stressors.

There are studies like Lemmens et al (2011) that suggest carbohydrates have no effect on cortisol or increase cortisol levels. It is worth noting that when we suggest carbohydrates, we are referring to complex carbohydrates with low glycemic index. It is also important to ensure the diet is balanced to ensure low mortality (Seidelmann et al., 2018)

While most studies considering diet for modulating stress have been conducted in humans, these studies are relevant to the conversation around stress in dogs. Dogs and humans have co-evolved and dogs have adapted to the diet of humans because of their proximity to and dependency on humans and human foods. Moreover, the physiological responses of most mammals with a central nervous system are similar and it is important to consider the similarities humans share with animals and vice versa.

Spicy foods and pain

It is interesting to note how diet can affect pain and pain perception. Studies have shown that spicy food stimulation has an analgesia effect on adults (Duan et al, 2020). Capsaicin, the pungent ingredient in chilli peppers has been used for its analgesic properties to treat chronic pain conditions (Arora et al, 2021, O’Neill et al, 2012).

Resources

Soltani, H., Keim, N. L., & Laugero, K. D. (2019). Increasing Dietary Carbohydrate as Part of a Healthy Whole Food Diet Intervention Dampens Eight Week Changes in Salivary Cortisol and Cortisol Responsiveness. Nutrients, 11(11), 2563. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11112563

Michelle T. Foster, James P. Warne, Abigail B. Ginsberg, Hart F. Horneman, Norman C. Pecoraro, Susan F. Akana, Mary F. Dallman, Palatable Foods, Stress, and Energy Stores Sculpt Corticotropin-Releasing Factor, Adrenocorticotropin, and Corticosterone Concentrations after Restraint, Endocrinology, Volume 150, Issue 5, 1 May 2009, Pages 2325–2333, https://doi.org/10.1210/en.2008-1426

Rob Markus, Geert Panhuysen, Adriaan Tuiten, Hans Koppeschaar, Effects of food on cortisol and mood in vulnerable subjects under controllable and uncontrollable stress, Physiology & Behavior, Volume 70, Issues 3–4, 2000, Pages 333-342, ISSN 0031-9384,

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9384(00)00265-1. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031938400002651)

Christ, T., Ringleb, M., Haunhorst, S., Fennen, L., Jordan, P. M., Wagner, H., & Puta, C. (2024). The acute effects of pre- and mid-exercise carbohydrate ingestion on the immunoregulatory stress hormone release in experienced endurance athletes-a systematic review. Frontiers in sports and active living, 6, 1264814. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2024.1264814

Lemmens, S. G., Born, J. M., Martens, E. A., Martens, M. J., & Westerterp-Plantenga, M. S. (2011). Influence of consumption of a high-protein vs. high-carbohydrate meal on the physiological cortisol and psychological mood response in men and women. PloS one, 6(2), e16826. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0016826

Seidelmann, S.B., Claggett, B., Cheng, S., Henglin, M., Shah, A., Steffen, L.M., Folsom, A.R., Rimm, E.B., Willett, W.C. and Solomon, S.D. (2018). Dietary carbohydrate intake and mortality: a prospective cohort study and meta-analysis. The Lancet Public Health, [online] 3(9), pp.e419–e428. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/s2468-2667(18)30135-x.

Duan, G., Wu, Z., Duan, Z., Yang, G., Fang, L., Chen, F., Bao, X., & Li, H. (2020). Effects of Spicy Stimulation and Spicy-Food Consumption on Human Pain Sensitivity: A Healthy Volunteer Study. The journal of pain, 21(7-8), 848–857. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2019.11.011

Vipin Arora, James N. Campbell, Man-Kyo Chung, Fight fire with fire: Neurobiology of capsaicin-induced analgesia for chronic pain, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Volume 220,

2021, 107743, ISSN 0163-7258, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pharmthera.2020.107743. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163725820302746)

O'Neill, J., Brock, C., Olesen, A. E., Andresen, T., Nilsson, M., & Dickenson, A. H. (2012). Unravelling the mystery of capsaicin: a tool to understand and treat pain. Pharmacological reviews, 64(4), 939–971. https://doi.org/10.1124/pr.112.006163

About the author

Sowjanya Vijayanagar Click to know more

Sowjanya is a certified Canine Behaviour Consultant who has completing her BHARCS Applied Canine Biosociopsychology and Ethology Diploma from BHARCS, India, and the founder of Dog Pawmise. Her approach to working with dogs, is to work on behaviours holistically, in a trauma-informed manner and keep the dog's welfare at the center of the work. Her approach is heavily inspired by the ideas of Gentle Parenting. Sowjanya is also passionate about educating and advocating about dog parenting, engaging in community programs encouraging co-existence with other-than-human beings and research projects to further the field of understanding and learning about and from dogs. While her dogs, Sammy and Zoey, inspired her to embark on this journey she is also grateful to her free-living dog friends, who continue her in her learning journey.