Are your food cravings all in your mind? Do men and women crave the same foods?
There are a lucky few who only occasionally experience food cravings and can satisfy them with a regular-sized serving. But many become fixated on food cravings daily… that piece of chocolate, bowl of ice cream, chewy cookie or salty chips. It’s difficult to get the thoughts of the food out of your mind.
Although food is not classified as an addiction (yet), many studies have been done using functional MRI scans to measure blood flow to the brain. Food cravings activate the same reward center in the brain as drugs and alcohol. Eating the highly palatable food, also called craving food and typically high in sugar, fat and salt, releases neurotransmitters from the reward center in our brain that gives us the temporary “feel good”. So, yes, cravings are in your mind, but physiologically based, meaning there really is science behind your cravings.
Women and men do indeed tend to crave different foods. We crave sweet, sugary foods more often and especially chocolate. Men go for comfort foods, like macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and other “meal like” foods. Different cultures crave different foods with sushi being the number 1 craved food for Japanese woman, rather than chocolate. One thing researchers have determined is that we do NOT crave foods to correct nutritional deficiencies. When was the last time you craved a carrot?
There is a fine line between giving in to every craving and totally depriving yourself. Always giving in may actually bombard your reward center, increasing neurotransmitters, which in turn increases the cravings. Many studies show that depriving yourself of any food or food group will increase the likelihood of cravings.
Here are some steps to help you manage your food cravings:
1. Listen to your body’s hunger cues. Eat healthy meals/snacks when hungry before you are ravenous. Cravings are too difficult to resist at that point.
2. Include protein and fiber with each meal to maintain stable blood sugar and keep feeling full and satisfied longer.
3. Exercise has been shown to decrease cravings. Hop on a treadmill, take the dog for a walk, do some yoga, take a bike ride or what ever you enjoy and will continue.
4. Chew strong mint gum. For some, this has been an effective method when a craving strikes and has been shown to reduce the stress response.
5. Set a timer for 15 minutes and distract yourself. Cravings almost always go away within that time frame. Make up a distraction list of brief, enjoyable things to occupy you when cravings hit and keep it available.
6. When you decide to eat a food you crave, buy a small amount, such as one ice cream cone, instead of a half gallon, or a snack bag of chips.
7. Don’t keep trigger foods in your visual environment. Just seeing the food can trigger a craving. Out of sight, out of mind. Keep it packaged in the back of the cabinet or pantry.
8. Drink plenty of water but watch the artificial sweetener intake. Sugar substitutes can cause you to crave more sugar and sweet foods.
The good news is we can retrain our taste buds. Even if you normally consume daily sweets, making tiny consistent changes each day by adding more fruits and veggies will, over time, retrain your taste buds to enjoy things that aren’t sweet. Some things will be too sweet! There are many other baby steps you can take to eat well, feel your best and kick the cravings. Call for a free consultation if you’re still struggling.