Have you ever found yourself questioning what causes food cravings? Have you ever wished to find out how to stop food cravings? Well, stick around for you have come to the number one stop for that form of information. Food cravings have been said to be associated with a drop in a person’s Serotonin levels.
Cravings have been estimated to last about a quarter of an hour at most. Cravings come about as a result of an insatiable need for sugar and salt.
Here in the following paragraphs, I shall put you in a better position to deal with your cravings naturally.
A step back
Just so that we can be on the same wavelength or “page” so to speak, let us just take a quick overlook of what a food craving is. A food craving is something I tend to define as an intense lust to devour a particular food. This desire is much more intense than normal hunger.
Scientists of note have in the recent years done their research into this issue and their figures came back similar, all young women and approximately three-quarters of young men had experienced some forms of food cravings in the previous year. So with these figures, I hope I have put your mind at some ease, for these just show and prove that you are normal just like everybody else and there is nothing strange about you and your food cravings.
Need to reduce food cravings? Do the following…
1. I just so happen to know and take it that a lot of people would like to know what steps they can take in order to reduce their food cravings. One of the things that are known to assist in such situations is to eat at regular intervals. When you eat, or snack regularly, and are not always hungry chances of you craving for something are basically close to nonexistent.
2. Try to increase your daily intake of beans, vegetables, and fruit. When it comes to fruit especially it is perfect for it has its own fruit sugar, and is also loaded with fiber, so this makes it “the complete package”.
3. Also, it is quite wise to cut down on your intake of liquids that work as stimulants.
What causes my cravings?
The first step in conquering your food cravings is being able to understand and interpret what they mean. One that tends to top the list though is “hormonal imbalance”. It has also been seen that if ever you are suffering from things like insomnia, fatigue, or are possibly under to much stress, you are more likely to find yourself galling into the “craving trap”.
When you are in the above-mentioned predicaments your serotonin levels drop and you find yourself needing a little “feel good” or pick me up snack. This is when then you will find yourself resorting to satisfying your food lust or craving by getting yourself something sweet, maybe even things like coffee if it’s during the day, and liquor or carbohydrates if ever it is in the evening, but what this does is just worsen the problem.
Emotional causes are also amongst the most common triggers of a person’s food craving. Boredom, stress, the need for comfort, and depression are the leading factors in this type of epidemic. What has also been discovered over the years is that in more serious cases food cravings have led people to bouts of binge eating.
Another big trigger as discussed above is that of low blood sugar. This tends to come about as a result of a long break in between meals. Hormones have also been linked to food cravings, especially in women. Women have their strongest food cravings during the week prior to their menstrual cycle, or during pregnancy.
All in all
So as you have read and seen from the above information, food cravings are absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, instead you have all the reason to worry if ever you never experience any bouts of them. As you have also seen there is something that you may do about them in order to cope with them or to make them more bearable. You do not just have to give up and lose all hope for solutions that have been given above.
However, should it happen that you possibly still have more questions just read below or log onto the site wikipedia.org. Here you will be enlightened on food cravings and how to stop food cravings just like in this article.
Take the healthy way
It is always wise and recommended that you incorporate lower GI (glycemic index) snack foods into your regular menu, not junk foods that you normally take cakes, muffins, donuts, candy, etc.
As already stated go for low GI foods like brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, whole grain bread, and other processed starches.
Also because of the fact that they are low in calories, it is highly recommended that you indulge yourself with vegetables.
Lastly, I am sure you have heard the saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”, well apples, beans, and oats are also foods to start getting used to as they are high in soluble fiber.
Additional Information/Fun Facts
Do you happen to know that some of your cravings can give some insight as to the type of person that you are like, people who are diehards of tortilla chips are said to be perfectionists. This is the kind of person who will rarely be late for any meeting that he is to attend.
These people are simply those people who are always prepared as most of the time if not all of the time they tend to think ahead. People who swear biscuits have been identified as those who are thinkers and all or most of their decisions are based on well-thought strategies.
If ever you are a popcorn lover you are one of those people who are very likely to like to take charge in most situations that come your way, however, because they tend to be humble and modest they are like diamonds in the dirt as they hidden successes.
