The nearly uncontrollable urge to put unhealthy food in your mouth is physiological in nature, and it has to
do with the reward system in our brains.
The moment you pop the food you’re craving for into your mouth, your brain releases the chemical dopamine, which is both a hormone and a neurotransmitter.
Upon its release, a feeling of satisfaction and happiness is experienced.
This is why we’ve heard of psychologists wanting to treat obesity at the root, which is first finding out why patients are depressed or stressed out.
Patients tend to deal with their problems by giving in to their cravings – and worse, gorging – and end up gaining weight uncontrollably or contracting diseases in the process.
Cravings In Pregnant Women:
In a survey conducted by the site, www.babycenter.com.uk, it was found that 40% of the respondents yearned for sweets, 33% chose salty food, 17% wanted to get a fill of things spicy, while the rest had a hankering for sour stuff.
There are theories linking pregnant women’s cravings for what their body needs at the time.
For instance, they say that chocolate cravings are to fill the need for B vitamins, red meat cravings are to satisfy the need for protein, and one who can’t get enough of peaches may be running low on beta-carotene.
Still, if this theories were true, then all pregnant women should be craving fresh fruits and green leafy vegetables, shouldn’t they?
The physiology of cravings and their origin in pregnant women, therefore, is still largely unexplained, but because they almost always disappear after childbirth, it’s the everyday cravings that concern researchers more.
Why Cravings Can Be Harmful:
Studies have shown that women are twice more likely to be affected by food cravings than men, and these are usually preceeded by feelings of depression or ennui.
Men, on the other hand, tended to crave certain types of food when they’re happy – think celebrating after a won game or a promotion!
The implication here is that when women diet, they tend to become depressed about the minuscule portions they are allotted and their desire to eat the foods they miss becomes so intense.
In relation to the theory on cravings in pregnant women discussed above, it’s also possible that a woman on a crash diet who has become deficient in sugar glucose will binge on foods considered unhealthy because of their high sugar content.
Most crash diets, therefore, rarely succeed because once a dieter had gone through the requisite duration, they inevitably give in to all the cravings they have held back for so long.
Simple Ways To Curb Cravings:
- Acknowledge the craving and “partly” give in.Experts from Tufts University believe that rather than ignore it, it’s better to give in – with a little control.
Say, for instance, you can’t help yearning for a tub of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia before watching a new DVD release, indulge in a cone serving instead of buying a tub.
Don’t buy a tub and leave the rest in your freezer – it will only call out to you in the middle of the night.
Practice restraint, not deprivation.
- Think of other happy thoughts.Craved food isn’t the only dopamine releaser.
You also stimulate feel-good hormones when you exercise. While exercising strenuously, you can experience a stage known as runner’s high – when you’re taken to a point beyond a threshold which activates the production of feel-good hormones.
You can also imagine a relaxing day at the beach and enjoy a fruit shake instead.
- Learn to substitute. Speaking of swapping overly sweet or salty foods for healthy shakes, you can curb cravings effectively by looking for food items that may taste the same but are less harmful to your body.
Instead of a tub of richly buttered caramel popcorn, for instance, you can go for Lesser Evil “SinNamon” kettle corn or pop your own kernels at home using some olive oil and just a touch of kosher salt.
Finally, never discount the power of suggestion.
Perhaps just by reading the food items in this article, your cravings had just become worse!
This means that you should avoid watching the Lifestyle Channel with all those cooking shows, if you can help it. Keep away from magazines plastered with advertisements of luscious desserts.
And if you can’t avoid the wonderful smells of that corner bakeshop on your way to work every day, always have a muesli or granola bar ready in your jacket pocket.
M. Jamal
P.S. Talking about the ‘partly give in’ concept, have you tried substituting raisins for chocolate? I tend to do this on those nights when I’m working late and just have to get some sweets.
Cherries work nicely too. I tend to grab a bunch, close the fridge… eat ‘em… and… somehow restrain myself from going to back to the fridge right away. (Well, it’s more like promising myself NOT to open the fridge after one minute)
I’d give myself some 15 minutes or so and then decide if I really need a second serving. Usually that doesn’t happen.
What’s your food cravings like? Sweet? Salty? And… have you figured out any tips that help you avoid over-indulging? Would love to hear your thoughts…
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