We all crave food on a daily basis…It is called hunger. That’s not what we are talking about here though. I’m referring to food and drink cravings that can be caused by a nutritional deficiency, your emotional state or simply by habit.
Some people self medicate themselves when they are lonely, sad or just feel bad in general. After a while this turns into cravings for food when they experience those feelings. Eating a lot of food, especially foods filled with sugar causes the blood to rush to the stomach and a release of serotonin, resulting in feeling better – at least for a little while.
Food cravings also appear when you are lacking certain nutrients. For example, people with iron deficiencies often crave red meat.
We also tend to get in a habit of thinking we need a certain type of food at a certain time. If you always have popcorn while watching a movie, sooner or later you will crave it as soon as you sit down to enjoy a new film. You’re training yourself to eat popcorn whenever you watch a movie.
Are Food Cravings Really Dangerous Or Addictive?
In general food of course isn’t dangerous or necessarily addictive. In fact it is necessary for us to eat every single day. However, food can become dangerous or addictive when we become too emotionally involved with it, or overeat because of the food addiction. Food cravings can also cause us to make unhealthy food choices which can affect our overall health and well being and even shorten our life-spans.
Unhealthy food choices, such as too many fatty or sugary foods can lead to diabetes, obesity, heart problems and a variety of other health conditions. This is why it is so important that you take control of your food cravings as soon as possible.
What Can I Do To Reduce Cravings For Certain Foods?
The best way to curb food cravings is to make sure you eat a balanced diet and provide your body with all the nutrients it needs. If you are an emotional eater, you also need to make a conscious effort to not allow your emotions to control what you eat and stop emotional eating altogether. When you encounter a craving for let’s say chocolate, ask yourself… “Why am I craving this chocolate bar? Is it because I feel sad?” Acknowledging the emotional connection is the first step to stopping your emotional eating. A good next step would be to deal with the feeling instead of medicating it with food.
Become more aware of your food cravings and the reason behind them. Then take steps toward dealing with the cravings. If you eat out of habit, break the habit by doing something else. If you crave food when you are bored, call a friend or go for a walk instead. Speak to your physician or a nutritionist about an appropriate supplement if you feel your food cravings are caused by nutritional deficiencies. Take it one step at a time and before you know it, you will have control over your food cravings.
Are cravings controlling your life? Diana Walker’s book www.CravingSecrets.com will show you why you have certain food cravings, how they affect your health and your mood, and what you can do to beat them and live a healthier life.
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This right on target! I am a Certified Weight Loss Counselor and we use many ways to work with cravings and herbal supplement are one way. We work long distance with clients at an affordable price! We even have life skill counseloring once a week via the phone with our clinics psychologist. The emotional issues have to be addressed. Many of them are the reason for the increase weight!
We also work with the chemistry of grocer food and your body chemistry. I.E. If you have thryoid condition you should not eat cabbage when trying to lose weight as it slows you thyroxin, thus making you more sluggish and tired!
This chemistry increases the rapidness of the weight loss!
So cool to have you stop by Anita! Thanks for commenting.
Yes, the emotional issue is such a big one. Over the years I’ve had a few clients that had weight loss surgery and then a year later here they are coming to me for help right? Surgery is supposed to be the last resort, end-all-be-all for weight loss. But they don’t get good counseling and they still have their bad habits. They think they don’t have to workout.
Terrific information and i found it essential to all individuals who loves to crave for food and wants to reduce it in a simple way. It is true that we crave for food everyday and truly we it for survival. We want to get the acquired nutrients that our body needs so that we will be able to do the activities that we need to do. I agree with the emotional issue for if time comes that you experience depression all you have to make is to eat and eat until you want to stop though these is not true to all. Others would also forget their meals which is not good. You really to need to have a well balanced diet every now and then.
Diets containing fewer than 800 calories a day should ONLY be followed under medical supervision. Weight loss diets with fewer than 1000 calories are not recommended and even those with 1100 calories should only be followed for a short period of time (eg. 14-days). If you want to lose weight, aim for a minimum of 1200 calories, and choose nutrient-dense foods (with high nutritional content) rather than empty-calorie foods/drinks (eg. candy, ice-cream, regular sodas, alcohol).
Become more aware of your food cravings and the reason behind them. Then take steps toward dealing with the cravings. If you eat out of habit, break the habit by doing something else. If you crave food when you are bored, call a friend or go for a walk instead.