A food craving is generally defined as an intense desire to eat a certain food. There are some individuals who crave for certain food due to some long-term dietary restriction. However, it is still unclear whether such a craving arises from a physiological need or is merely due to your lack of willpower!
According to Professor Peter Rogers from Bristol University, “There is no concrete evidence that food cravings are related to nutritional deficiencies”. He said that the food we normally crave for are those that we usually attempt to restrict and resist because those foods induce guilty feelings when we have them. Professor Peter Rogers added, “If we try so hard to resist something, the urge and the craving, we are not only unable to get rid of them but they actually become amplified.”
A recent study has proven that food cravings are actually emotionally driven. Published in the journal “Appetite”, it was reported that women who tried to suppress their thoughts about their favourite fattening food ended up taking 50% more of it, than those who have talked about their cravings. This study brings you good news. Eating chocolates and creamy cakes is not guilt-inducing, as cravings for those foods is your body’s biological response! It is actually more beneficial, if you respond to it especially if you manage it at the same time. |
However, other researchers think that comfort-food cravings are responses to chronic stress. According to scientists at the University of California, stress stimulates the release of hormones that induce cravings for high fat and high sugar foods.
For many women, food cravings often occur or peak during their premenstrual period due to hormonal changes. Professor Peter Rogers confirmed that the energy requirement fluctuates throughout the menstrual cycle and women tend to need 100 or more calories a day just before their menstruation. This increase of energy demand is not related to food cravings. Theoretically, women should not have any shift in food preference but would want to eat just any food.
You now understand that there are several proposed underlying mechanisms of food cravings that result in an increase in appetite. The health implications especially on obesity and a number of eating disorders is a major concern. There is thus a need to manage and reduce your food cravings.
To overcome your food cravings you need to first understand why you have them and then look for ways to manage them. |
