{"id":46380,"date":"2015-12-22T11:15:47","date_gmt":"2015-12-22T16:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=46380"},"modified":"2016-08-05T13:22:11","modified_gmt":"2016-08-05T17:22:11","slug":"cookie-calories-body-on-cookies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/health\/cookie-calories-body-on-cookies\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Body on\u2026Cookies"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Your
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Between sugar cookies<\/a>, snickerdoodles and peppermint bark, there\u2019s no shortage of sugar this time of year. Sure, indulging in a cookie here and there isn\u2019t a big problem \u2014 but if you\u2019re making like Santa and sneaking a plate of sweet treats every night, you might not be feeling too jolly by New Year\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

This is your body on cookies.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> The Daily Burn 12 Days of Fitness Challenge<\/a><\/p>\n

What One<\/em> Cookie Does to Your Body<\/strong><\/h3>\n

You can have your gingerbread man<\/a> and eat it, too \u2014\u00a0but it\u2019s what you do afterwards that really matters. \u201cThe calorie consequence of eating one cookie is fairly minimal; most are approximately 150 calories a piece,\u201d says Bethany Doerfler, RD, LDN, and a clinical research dietician at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. \u201cThe bigger impact is the behavioral snowball<\/a> that happens from eating one cookie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Your palate is primed to go gaga for anything sugary, salty or fatty. \u201c[Cookies] target all of the taste centers on our tongue and also really appeal to the pleasure centers in our brain, so eating sugar in general stimulates us and gives us a rush,\u201d Doerfler says. But while that cookie takes your brain to its happy place, your body is releasing insulin to digest that sugar and store it \u2014 usually as fat.<\/p>\n

\u201cSmall amounts of sugar in your diet when you are active and otherwise have a low-sugar diet, are acceptable,\u201d Doerfler says. \u201cThe problem with many Americans is that we have more sugar in our diet than we used to\u2026At times like the holidays, we\u2019re tacking more onto our already high-sugar diet<\/a>, which can lead to excess weight gain and insulin resistance in some people.\u201d<\/p>\n

While one reindeer sugar cookie won\u2019t set you back<\/a> much if you\u2019re already eating clean, the real question is\u2026can you stop at just one?<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> How to Do a Sugar Detox (Without Going Crazy)<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

What Five<\/em> Cookies Can Do to Your Body <\/strong><\/h3>\n

“Many people are prone to ‘dessert amnesia’ \u2014\u00a0forgetting their afternoon sweets and indulging after dinner, too.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If one cookie leads to cravings for more\u2026and more, that\u2019s where you\u2019ll start to run into problems. \u201cWhat happens is you get a huge surge of calories, sugar and fat that your body doesn\u2019t need. It can\u2019t possibly use that for energy in the moment, so it secretes a lot of insulin to deal with that sugar, and it takes all that fat and tries to store it,\u201d Doerfler says. That fat gets stored in your muscles, your belly and your liver \u2014 where it can start causing problems. \u201cFat tissue that is deep inside the belly, or visceral fat, increases our risk of heart disease and diabetes,\u201d Doerfler says.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, binge eating<\/a> also provides your brain with a short-lived sense of euphoria\u00a0\u2014\u00a0which can later be replaced with remorse or guilt, Doerfler says. As your blood sugar spikes and then falls post-binge, you\u2019ll be more prone to cravings<\/a>, which can lead to overeating throughout the rest of the day, too, she notes. Combine that with the fact that, \u201ceating larger amounts of sugar can be addictive<\/a> because your palate becomes trained to want regular doses of sugar,\u201d and you\u2019ve got the makings of a Christmas season crash and burn.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> How to Stop Food Cravings in 10 Minutes or Less<\/a><\/p>\n

How to Pull Yourself Out of the Sugar Cookie Cycle<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The good news is that if you overdo it on sweets just once or twice a year, your body can recover from a one-time binge in just 12 to 24 hours, Doerfler says. Squeeze in some exercise, and focus on eating a diet high in fiber<\/a>, lean protein, fruits and vegetables to regulate your blood sugar levels and the damage can be undone. (Try these 16 healthy detox recipes<\/a> \u2014 you won\u2019t be disappointed.)<\/p>\n

And if you want to steer clear of this vicious cycle in the first place, be smart about when<\/em> you splurge. \u201cI think that 3 p.m. is a dangerous time for people to eat sweets because we\u2019re tired,\u201d Doerfler says. \u201cIt\u2019s part of our natural dip in circadian rhythm and we are using food to energize us.\u201d Plus, many people are prone to \u201cdessert amnesia\u201d \u2014\u00a0forgetting their afternoon sweets and indulging after dinner, too.<\/p>\n

Another quick fix: Reach for energy bites<\/a>, instead of cookies. \u201cThere are some interesting recipes that have some nutritional value and are sweet but aren\u2019t as as binge-worthy as something like sugar cookies,\u201d Doerfler says. (We\u2019d recommend these 12 Energy Bite Recipes That Taste Just Like Dessert<\/a>!) Eat your cookies in moderation and leave the plate-cleaning to Santa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They\u2019re at your office, at your holiday party and on your counter at home. This is your body on cookies. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[428,23,7,9],"tags":[39,41,51,189,341,371,285],"class_list":["post-46380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dessert","category-diet-nutrition","category-health","category-recipes","tag-dessert","tag-diets","tag-food-choices","tag-holiday","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2mens-health","tag-weight-loss"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46380\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}