We’ve all experienced food cravings. For some of us, cravings aren’t a problem either because they don’t occur often enough to be problematic or they aren’t getting in the way of achieving health and wellness goals. But if you are like so many people who experience cravings that hold you back from reaching your weight loss or other health goals, or your daily indulgences are leaving you feeling bloated, ashamed, uncomfortable, guilty or hopeless, know that you can learn to take control of your cravings. First lets learn about why food cravings happen in the first place and then lets learn what to do about them.
Why Do Food Cravings Happen?
Food cravings happen for a variety of reasons, and although cravings are often viewed as a problem, they aren’t necessarily a “bad”thing. Often cravings serve as a communication tool, a way for your body to signal that you have unmet needs. When you address those needs, the food cravings greatly diminish and often go away completely, but not all cravings need to be satisfied with food. Let’s take a look at some common food craving triggers and decide which actually require food and which can be resolved with a different strategy.
Biological Hunger. If you are not eating enough food to meet your nutritional needs or you’re going too long without eating, you will initiate a biological drive to eat. Not eating enough could be intentional, like being on an ultra low calorie diet, or unintentional, like when we have a crazy, busy, nonstop day (no one can relate to that, right? Ha!) and we just don’t have an opportunity to eat. Then we find ourselves ravenously swinging through the drive thru on the way home or busting into a stash of cookies in the pantry as soon as we walk through the door. Whether intentional or not, if you’re not adequately meeting your biological need for calories and other nutrients, you will trigger your primal drive to eat which almost always leads to intense cravings, overeating, and indulging in high calorie foods. This doesn’t happen because you lack willpower, but because your body is smart and is trying to ensure that you get the calories you need to function.
Restriction / Strict Dieting. Declaring some foods off limits (barring food allergies or intolerances) sets you up to crave the restricted food, and that inevitably results in eventual over-indulging in said food when your willpower caves. This is referred to as the Binge and Restrict Cycle, where you restrict a certain food because you think it’s “bad” or unhealthy, but your willpower only lasts so long until you experience an intense craving and you just have to eat that food. When the craving hits, a little nibble usually won’t give you the satisfaction you’re looking for. Post-restriction eating usually looks more like an all-out binge on the forbidden food. Then you feel ashamed, guilty and remorseful, and you vow to never eat the food again. And you know what happens next. You restrict the food for a while, then you binge, and the cycle continues, ad nauseam. This is characteristic of the human brain- we don’t like to be told no. Our brains seem to interpret “don’t” as “do”, like an inner rebel living in all of us. For example, if I tell you right now “Don’t think about an elephant!”, where’s your brain taking you? You’re thinking about an elephant, aren’t you?! It’s like the word “don’t” provokes us to do the very opposite of what we’re told. So if you spend the whole day telling yourself “No ice cream tonight” guess what your brain is going to urge you to do when you get home. . . duh, eat ice cream, and lots of it!
Hormones and Neurotransmitters. Small hormonal imbalances can drive intense cravings, so let’s take a look at some of the hormones involved in cravings.
Insulin– Insulin, produced by your pancreas, bears the responsibility of regulating blood sugar levels. A rise in postprandial (after eating) blood glucose levels triggers the secretion of insulin, and insulin “tells” your cells to absorb glucose from the bloodstream. Without insulin’s instruction, your cells won’t allow glucose to enter, and that leads to dangerously high blood sugar levels. Sometimes the communication between insulin and cells becomes impaired, leading to the development of insulin resistance. When this happens, our pancreas continues its job of pumping out insulin but our cells don’t respond. This triggers the pancreas to produce even more insulin in a desperate attempt to get your cells to take in glucose. Insulin resistance leads to both high blood sugar and high insulin levels in the bloodstream and is characteristic of Type 2 Diabetes. So, what causes cells to become insulin resistant? This can happen when, over a long period of time, you eat a diet that is high in refined carbohydrates, for example, processed foods made from refined starches and sugar. High sugar diets require more and more insulin to be pumped into your bloodstream, and gradually your cells become resistant to the insulin. It’s like when you walk into a room and you smell a strong scent of air freshener or perfume. Over time, you stop smelling the scent- it’s not that the scent is gone, you’re just acclimated to it, you’re not as sensitive to it. Your cells act similarly when they are exposed to high insulin levels over time. They become less sensitive to the presence of insulin. Your pancreas responds by continuing to secrete more and more insulin in an effort to get sugar out of your bloodstream and into your cells. The correlation between insulin resistance and sugar cravings makes sense. . . because your cells are resisting the message insulin is delivering, glucose isn’t entering the cells, so your body thinks there’s not enough sugar and therefore creates a craving that urges you to eat sugary food. Of course, eating more sugary food doesn’t solve this problem.
Leptin and Ghrelin– Ghrelin and leptin are hormones that regulate your appetite. Ghrelin is a hunger hormone produced in your stomach. Its release signals that you’re hungry and it’s time to eat. This stimulates your appetite and increases your food intake. On the other hand, leptin is a satiety hormone that tells your brain it’s time to stop eating. Ideally, ghrelin tells us to eat when we are hungry so that we won’t starve, and leptin tells us to stop when we’ve had enough so we won’t overeat. As you can imagine, when these two hormones are out of whack, it’s a perfect set up for cravings galore. What could cause these hormones to become unbalanced? Many things, but a very common reason is a lousy night’s sleep. Have you noticed after a night of either inadequate sleep duration or quality, your appetite seems insatiable? That’s because lack of sleep suppresses leptin and increases ghrelin, so you feel more hungry. It’s not in your head, it’s a physiological response to a lack of sleep. Stress has a similar effect on leptin and ghrelin.
Progesterone and Estrogen– Progesterone and estrogen are female reproductive hormones that naturally fluctuate throughout the month. Prior to the start of a woman’s period, both hormone levels drop and this can increase food cravings, especially for high carb and sweet foods.
Cortisol– Cortisol is a stress hormone that is released as part of the autonomic nervous system’s fight-or-flight response. Cortisol stimulates fat and carbohydrate metabolism and triggers an increase in insulin so that our cells have adequate energy to run from the stressor or fight it off- and this happens even when the stressor isn’t a physical threat, like a deadline at work or an argument with your spouse. Often, we find ourselves in a chronic state of flight-or-fight. The financial stressors are ever-present, the constant pressure of your boss’s unrealistic expectations, persistent marital problems, relentless worry about a sick child. We keep pumping out the cortisol to deal with these stressors, and this triggers changes in appetite and increases in sugar cravings. Ever notice how you experience cravings when you’re stressed? That’s the effect of cortisol on receptors in your brain that stimulate appetite, specifically for sweet, salty and fatty foods.
Serotonin: Serotonin is a feel good neurotransmitter that has been associated with cravings. In women serotonin (along with estrogen and progesterone) naturally decreases just prior to the start of a period and that hormonal drop triggers cravings. In both males and females, sugar boosts serotonin levels in our brains, so naturally we crave the “happiness” chemical and seek out sugar to supply it.
Memories / Habit. Sometimes cravings are triggered by a memory or a repeated action. For example, if every time you take your daughter to dance class, you swing by Starbucks for a White Chocolate Mocha Creme Frappuccino, then just being at the dance studio could trigger a craving. If you always eat a chocolate bar from the vending machine at work around 2 pm, the time of day and your location can trigger a food craving. The formation of habits around certain eating behaviors causes us to use external cues to guide our eating behavior- our brains move through habit loops extraordinarily quickly, often without any conscious awareness. We move from the cue (time of day/ 2:00) to the routine or action (vending machine/eat chocolate bar) to the reward (dopamine release). Dopamine is a remember-and-repeat neurotransmitter, so its release causes us to remember that eating chocolate is a valuable experience worth repeating. So every day at 2:00, we crave chocolate from the vending machine and seek out our reward.
Lack of Sleep. Lack of both quality and duration of sleep triggers cravings, and it’s not just because we’re tired and in need of comfort. Lack of sleep causes dysregulated hormones, specifically a decrease in leptin (our satiety hormone) and increase in both ghrelin (our hunger hormone) and cortisol (our stress hormone). Therefore, as the amount of quality sleep decreases, cravings increase.
Emotions. Celebrating a big accomplishment by going out to eat? Birthday celebration with cake and ice cream? Drowning your sorrows in a bowl of chocolate? Staving off boredom by eating candy? Emotions, both positive and negative, can trigger eating either to enhance a positive emotion or attenuate a negative emotion. We already know that when we are stressed, our bodies release cortisol and that increases our appetite, especially for highly palatable foods. Pair that with the psychological need for comfort that often accompanies feelings of stress and it’s not hard to see why people engage in “stress eating”. But stress is not the only emotion that triggers cravings, we use food to meet other emotional needs too. . . boredom eating, eating when you are angry or worried, eating for fun or pleasure, etc.
How To Stop Food Cravings
The best strategy to beat your craving depends on the reason you’re experiencing the craving in the first place. When you find yourself in the midst of a food craving, pause to investigate where the craving is coming from. Start by asking yourself “Am I physically hungry?” If you’re not sure, try the apple test. If an apple would satisfy your craving (assuming you like apples, if not use a fruit or vegetable that you do like), then you are probably experiencing physical hunger. This doesn’t mean that an apple provides enough calories or nutrients for a meal. . . this is just a strategy to sort out the difference between physical hunger and other types of hunger. Because if you’re truly physically hungry, and an apple is all you had, you wouldn’t pass it up. Your brain wouldn’t say, “nah, that’s not what I’m hungry for.” With physical hunger, just about any food will do. And if you decide the craving is not from physical hunger, follow up with other questions like, “Have I been restricting certain foods or telling myself that certain foods are off limits?” or “What am I hoping this food will do for me?”
Biological Hunger. If you find your cravings occur when you are overly hungry, the obvious and simple solution is eat before your hunger triggers an intense craving. Plan to eat a well-balanced meal or snack every 4 to 5 hours and more often if you find yourself getting hungry sooner. Developing hunger awareness is crucial so that you can initiate eating before you reach the point of feeling ravenous. If you have a history of dieting, or a demanding job that requires you to work through meals, you may have learned to ignore your internal hunger cues. Check out this post for more about getting back in tune with internal hunger and satiety cues.
Ensure your meals and snacks are balanced so they keep you satiated for more than an hour at a time. A balanced meal contains veggies/fiber, protein, starch and some fat. Meals that are high in starch or sugar, but low in protein, fat, or fiber will leave you feeling hungry soon after you finish eating. Check out this post for more on how to design a balanced meal or snack.
Restriction / Strict Dieting. The solution to this one is obvious- stop restricting foods and stop following overly restrictive diets. I know this is easier said than done because for many of us, restriction is all we know when it comes to weight loss strategies. Not engaging in restrictive eating patterns doesn’t mean that you engage in a food free-for-all; out-of-control eating isn’t solving the problem. Instead, practice the skill of eating with attunement and mindfulness rather than wild abandon. Attuned eating means that part of the eating process includes tuning into your natural hunger and satiety signals, and paying attention to how your body feels as you eat. It includes enjoying the foods you are eating, and using nutrition knowledge to select foods that provide your body with the nourishment it needs. In other words, the answer to restriction isn’t going off the rails eating all the cookies and cake and ice cream and wine. The answer is to listen to your body, allowing yourself to enjoy the foods you crave while honoring your health. It’s finding the happy middle. What would happen if you planned to eat the “forbidden” food, but with an in-control approach? For example, if you know you crave oreos in the afternoon, instead of telling yourself “no oreos” which feels really restrictive and triggers cravings, or allowing yourself to eat the entire sleeve of oreos which leaves you feeling awful, find the happy middle where you eat a couple of oreos (preferably paired with some protein first!). Wouldn’t that reduce feelings of restriction without engaging in a food free-for-all? Again, this is easier said than done; eating with attunement is a skill that has to be developed and practiced just like any other skill. If eating in an attuned way seems like something you need in your life, but you need support getting there, reach out to Pure Nutrition and Wellness to book a free consult with a registered dietitian. One-on-one nutrition counseling could provide the guidance you need as you develop new eating skills.
Hormones. You don’t have conscious control over your hormone levels, but that doesn’t mean you’re powerless to hormonally-induced cravings. Let’s look at some strategies to regulate hormone-related cravings.
Insulin: You can manage and improve insulin sensitivity by regularly eating well-balanced meals that include protein, vegetables/fiber, healthy fat and complex carbs and by limiting your sugar intake. Enjoy sweets in moderation and pair them with protein to minimize spikes in blood sugar.
Leptin, Ghrelin, Cortisol: Be intentional about managing stress (both big and small stressors!) and set yourself up to get enough sleep each night. Stress management could include incorporating deep breathing into your daily routine, taking daily walks or setting aside time to connect with loved ones each day. Prioritize a good night’s sleep by avoiding screens at least an hour before bedtime (yes, I mean stop the scroll!), getting into bed with enough time to allow for 8 hours of sleep opportunity, and creating a peaceful bedtime routine. For more on a good night’s sleep, see this post.
Progesterone, Estrogen and Serotonin: Ladies, you can’t control the natural drop in hormones prior to your period, but you can be prepared. Simply being aware can help you navigate your food cravings. Prep extra snacks that satisfy sweet cravings and provide extra protein so that you have something easy to turn to when the craving hits. Here are some great snacks that hit the sweet + protein target:
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- Yogurt with nuts/granola, especially a high protein yogurt like Oikos Triple Zero. Choose a low sugar granola.
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- Banana and nut butter on whole grain toast.
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- Apple with peanut butter or other nut butter with a piece of dark chocolate
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- Oatmeal with cinnamon, fresh berries and a small drizzle of honey **instant oatmeal packets tend to have added sugar, so if you can, make your oatmeal from scratch.
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- Fruit smoothie with protein powder
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- Mix of pistachios with unsweetened dried cranberries
Memories/Habit: If your cravings are triggered by habit, bringing awareness into your eating can change everything for you. When we eat out of habit, it’s a mindless process. We don’t think about what we’re eating, and studies show that we don’t really enjoy the food either. We are disconnected from the eating process. By bringing mindfulness back into eating, you give your brain the opportunity to decide what you really want. For example, you might discover that at dance class, you enjoy holding a beverage but a water bottle would do the trick just as well as your White Chocolate Mocha Creme Frappuccino. You might find that the chocolate bar from the vending machine isn’t really doing anything for you and you’d rather have a nourishing snack when you feel hungry. Practice pausing before you indulge and assess the situation. Do you actually want to eat? If so, go for it. If not, begin to break the cycle of habitual mindless eating.
Lack of Sleep. Getting a good night’s sleep does more for you than just reducing unwanted cravings. Of the major physical health pillars (sleep, stress management, nutrition and exercise), sleep trumps them all. Benefits include:
-improved brain function
-improved mood
-supports a strong immune system
-reduces inflammation
-reduces risk of various diseases like cardiovascular disease and diabetes
Yet, a good night’s sleep seems elusive to so many of us. There are steps you can take to improve your sleep hygiene. Read more about getting a good night’s sleep here. But for most people, a good start is just creating space in your schedule to allow for at least 8 hours of sleep opportunity. That means if you have to wake up at 7 am, plan to be in bed with the lights out (not scrolling on your phone) by 11 pm. Make at least 8 hours of sleep opportunity a priority.
Emotional. Of all the craving triggers, the most common is emotions. Our emotions are guideposts. They provide information about our internal state so that we can meet our needs. And the truth is, food does soothe emotions, albeit temporarily. Food can provide comfort. It can offer pleasure. It can distract. It can trigger a dopamine hit that we are desperately craving. Using food for emotional reasons is common and it’s not a bad thing. It’s ok to use food to soothe. Unless it’s not. . . unless it’s a problem for you. . . like if it’s your only coping mechanism or it’s causing unwanted weight gain or leading to feelings of guilt and shame. And if that’s the case, it’s important to learn skills that allow you to honor your emotional needs without turning to food. Your needs are real and you deserve to have them met. But you can’t meet that need without first identifying it. So when you have a craving, before shoveling the cookies in your mouth, pump the brakes, and ask yourself “What am I hoping this food will do for me?”, “What purpose is it serving?” and see what comes up for you. Then decide if there’s a non-food way of meeting that need. Your internal dialogue might sound like “I’m not physically hungry, I just want the ice cream for pleasure. I’v had a lousy day, I’m bored now and I need some fun in my life.” Now you’ve identified the need your craving is meeting- the need for pleasure and fun. Is there anything else you can do that brings pleasure and fun? Jam to some music and dance in your living room, or blast your favorite song and sing at the top of your lungs- no worries if you can’t carry a tune, if it brings you joy, belt it! Maybe fun for you looks like digging out your old art supplies and painting or coloring. Maybe it’s cleaning? Anyone else derive immense joy from both the process and end result of cleaning? Just me? Ok. Find something simple that brings you joy and do it in place of eating the food you crave. See if it meets your need. Invest time in figuring out what the unmet need is for you and experimenting with non-food strategies to meet your need.
If you have been struggling with emotional eating for way too long and you want some help on your journey, check out my Emotional Eating Solutions Self-Paced Course or book an inquiry call to can learn how you can get one-on-one support to finally end unwanted emotional eating!