Some days, it’s chocolate; other days, only French fries will do. Cravings for these high fat and highly delicious foods strike mercilessly, making our sensible meals seem hopelessly boring. And since cravings are governed by the mind instead of the stomach, simply eating anything won’t make them go away—our brains know what they want and will accept no substitutions.
Everyone experiences cravings at some point in his or her life and usually they’re for the same kinds of food. But while the cravings tend to be individualized, the catalysts for them are universal. The foods we desire do more than please our tongues, and because of this, cravings are difficult—though not impossible—to overcome.
Mood Food
What we crave is a matter of mood. A common misconception is that our cravings are linked to actual nutritional deficiencies, but that theory hasn’t been proven (though it’d be nice to have that convenient excuse for our next burger or milkshake indulgence). According to nutritionist and wellness coach Rania Batayneh, MPH, women can experience heightened cravings for certain foods at various stages in their menstrual cycles, and a lack of potassium or iodine might prompt the need for salt. But most of the time, cravings are a part of our body’s complex response to stress, undoubtedly the most common trigger for cravings.
A 2003 study at the University of California, San Francisco involved tweaking rats’ stress systems so that they constantly released stress hormones and analyzing how this affected their eating behavior. They found that the stressed-out rats were attracted to high-calorie foods and that the rats put on weight in their stomachs as a result. Eating the higher-calorie options actually eased the flood of stress hormones, which led researchers to believe that chronic stress could signal the brain to seek out calorically-rich foods as a coping mechanism.
Giving in Feels So Good … But Why?
Our cravings vary, but one characteristic they tend to have in common is that they’re high-calorie. They also usually have a high fat and/or sugar content. A 2007 study published in the International Journal of Obesity also pinpointed low protein and low fiber as other common attributes of craved foods. Like rats, our bodies propel us toward dense foods when we’re anxious or worried. The flood of cortisol, a stress hormone, drives the brain to look for something that will make it feel better. When we eat high-energy foods, it causes the release of feel-good chemicals like serotonin, which then creates a link in our brains between ingesting calorically-rich foods and feeling pleasure.
