Top Tips For Beating Food Cravings

We’ve all been there. Sitting there, minding our own business when a craving comes, it could be for something more-ish like biscuits, something salty, or something sweet like chocolate. Whatever the craving is, I think we can agree that cravings have a mind of their own and are incredibly difficult to resist. In the midst of a craving, have you ever wondered why cravings come upon us and what we can do to beat these pesky cravings? In this article, we will take a look at the theories behind cravings and techniques we can use to beat them.

Traditionally cravings were associated with pregnancy however this is not always the case. Cravings occur in 90% of the population and for many of us may appear to come out of the blue, however, although they may occur suddenly, cravings are a result of physiological processes.

When we speak about cravings, there are two different types of cravings, selective and nonselective. Selective cravings are for specific foods such as chocolate and nonselective cravings are the general desire to eat anything.

Certain regions in our brain, such as hippocampus, insula and caudate nucleus, are responsible for hormones, pleasure, emotions and appetite. These regions, as well as nutrient deficiencies, are some of the many factors involved in causing cravings. This complexity makes it difficult to identify the exact cause of our cravings.

Although it may be hard to pinpoint the exact cause, there are techniques we can practice that cover all aspects of cravings and can help us to prevent and reduce them (1) (2).

Our body is a bit like a car, it needs fuel to work. Our fuel is in the form of food and when we eat food it gets broken into glucose that fuels our body.

We have optimal levels of glucose we need to maintain within our bodies, to function at our best. When our levels of glucose are low, it can cause dizziness, weakness, and cravings.

The cravings are a result of our body trying to protect itself, our bodies are very clever and when our sugar levels become low our bodies know that having something sweet or savory will help increase our sugar levels and keep them within the normal range.

Having small frequent meals will keep our sugar levels within the normal range and will ensure that we obtain nutrients frequently. This will also prevent us from having nutrient deficiencies and from getting ravenously hungry which can lead to cravings (3).

Grocery shopping can be a lot of fun especially when there is so much to choose from and although it is exciting with so much variety and so many tasty-looking treats, it can be detrimental when we are trying to manage cravings.

Writing out a grocery list, taking the necessary money for your groceries, not more, and having a meal before going shopping can help you avoid succumbing to the treats and for developing cravings at the store.

Food is made up of three different macronutrients and many micronutrients. The macronutrients are; carbohydrates, protein, and fat, and the micronutrients include vitamins and minerals. To prevent deficiencies our meals should contain the macro and micronutrients. So how can we do this?

The Malaysian Healthy Plate model recommends that half of our plate consists of fruit and veg including salad, a quarter protein, and a quarter starch (4). When we have fruits and/or veg in our meals, the more colorful the better. Different fruits and veg have different micronutrients.

For example, red and orange fruits and vegetables contain vitamin C, dark green vegetables contain Iron and white, blue and purple vegetables contain antioxidants helping to protect our bodies from illness (5).

Planning our meals out for the week either by writing out a menu or using a catering company to prepare nutritious meals can help to prevent cravings.

Having a meal plan ensures that we do not miss meals and helps to maintain our sugar levels and provides structure to our mealtimes. This limits spontaneity and the chance of us developing cravings.

Sometimes the cues our body gives us can be confused for hunger when in fact we are thirsty and in need of a glass of water.

It’s recommended that we get at least 6-8 glasses of water, this will help keep us hydrated and it's been found that drinking water can reduce appetite (6).

Exercise has many health benefits and another that can be added to that list is that it can potentially reduce cravings.

The research found that a brisk walk of around 15 minutes was more effective at reducing cravings than sitting passively. So instead of succumbing to that chocolate, get up and get active (7).

It’s far easier to say than to actually do but managing your stress is important for your general well-being and to manage your cravings.

Chronic stress has been found to significantly affect food cravings. This could be due to stress disrupting our hormone levels related to appetite control (8).

So when you find yourself stressing over work opt for a breathing technique rather than going for the donut.

Research has found that poor sleep increases the chances of food cravings, this could be because a lack of sleep affects the frontal cortex and amygdala. These regions of the brain are involved in your desire for foods high in fat and sugar.

A restful sleep of at least 7 hours per night, will help you rest and will prevent cravings the next day (9).

Cravings can be hard to overcome especially when you are trying your best to be mindful of your nutrition.

Luckily for us, there are many techniques we can try to help us beat these cravings. By being mindful of our health and nutrition, losing to cravings could become a thing of the past.

1. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13668-020-00326-0
2. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/318441
3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21926468/
4. Panduan Pinggan Sihat Malaysia #SukuSukuSeparuh
5. https://www.rush.edu/news/eat-colorful-diet
6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29678599/
7. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0119278#sec012
8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6186388/
9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6470707/