Food cravings are experienced by everyone from time to time but some people find it more difficult than others to control them without a daily hit of chocolate or chips just to get through the day. Food cravings arise from numerous causes and in severe cases can lead to more serious health conditions such as obesity, diabetes and bulimia. Distinguishing the underlying cause of your food cravings is often challenging, since they can stem from a complex combination of emotional, hormonal and biochemical factors.

Physical and biochemical factors

A major trigger for food cravings is low or fluctuating blood sugar levels. This is typically caused by a lack of food as a result of going too long between meals or following very low-calorie diets. Your mid-afternoon cravings may be your body’s way of telling you it has been too long since lunch and you actually need to eat. A piece of fruit, some yogurt or a handful of nuts can get the blood sugar levels back up and prevent you from reaching for that chocolate bar you’ve been craving.

Food cravings can sometimes be due to a nutrient deficiency. You may find yourself craving a particular food because your body is looking for the specific nutrients contained in it. Craving red meat can be a sign of iron deficiency, for instance, while craving dairy products may indicate a calcium deficiency and a craving for dark chocolate may be a sign of magnesium deficiency.

Some of the strongest food cravings for women often occur in the week before menstruation or while pregnant, suggesting that hormonal swings have an influence on this type of urge to eat. A craving for chocolate was surveyed in a sample of 568 individuals and it was shown that about half of the female cravers experienced a well-defined craving peak for chocolate premenstrually.

Cravings can also result from exhaustion and, in more chronic cases, adrenal fatigue. The body sends a signal to the brain for a quick pick-me-up and this results in craving sugar, carbohydrate snacks or coffee. Salt cravings can also be related to adrenal fatigue.

Allergy-addiction theory

Occasionally, cravings can be the result of a food allergy where you crave the very food you are allergic to. Food allergies can produce the same symptoms as an addiction, whereby eating certain foods you are allergic to becomes a chemically induced dependency.

The foods you are allergic to are often likely to be your favourites, the ones you eat frequently or crave because you think they make you feel good. Allergenic foods are thought to trigger in the brain an addictive substance called opioid enkephalin. With time, you become accustomed to consuming the allergenic food only to experience withdrawal symptoms such as nervousness or discomfort once it is removed from the diet.

Emotional and psychological factors

Emotions such as anxiety, frustration and loneliness play a big part in food cravings, too. The most common emotional or psychological triggers for food cravings include stress, depression, boredom and a general need for comfort. Reaching for a bag of biscuits, chocolate or a bowl of icecream in order to comfort yourself can become a regular habit. A study published in 2001 in the journal Appetite involving 241 individuals showed that carbohydrate cravers reported feeling distressed before their cravings while protein cravers reported feeling anxious or hungry before their cravings.

Another recent study showed that people who regularly experience food cravings have higher ratings of boredom and anxiety during the day compared with those who do not usually experience cravings, and that a depressed mood was often prominent before the cravings themselves.

The brain contains a neurotransmitter called serotonin that is involved in the regulation of mood and generally induces happy, feel-good emotions. Studies have shown that consuming high-carbohydrate meals raise serotonin, while fatty or protein-rich meals tend to lower serotonin levels.

Consequently, craving and eating carbohydrates may sometimes be due to an attempt to reduce symptoms of depression. The higher-glycaemic-index carbohydrates such as sugar have a greater effect on serotonin than starchy, lower-glycaemic-index foods such as potatoes.

Chocolate

If you think that eating a whole block of chocolate in one sitting is purely due to your weak-willed nature, then think again. Chocolate may be craved for a number of reasons and not just for its fat and sugar content. Chocolate has many properties that leave you wanting more and more. Because of cocoa’s high magnesium content, chocolate may be craved if you are magnesium-deficient.

Chocolate cravings may also occur because of its effect on serotonin. Certain alkaloids that have been isolated in chocolate raise brain serotonin levels and chocolate craving may be due in part to a serotonin deficiency. These active “drug-like” constituents comprise methylxanthines (including caffeine), amines and cannabinoid-like fatty acids, all of which can potentially cause psychological sensations that parallel those of other addictive substances.

Chocolate cravings often fluctuate with hormonal changes just before and during the menstrual period, suggesting a hormonal link. It is therefore a combination of chocolate’s sensory characteristics, nutrient composition and psychoactive ingredients, compounded with monthly hormonal fluctuations and mood swings among women, that all influence the incidence of chocolate cravings.

Exorphin-containing foods

Certain foods, such as dairy and wheat products, contain particular food proteins that are broken down into what are known as exorphins, small protein fragments (or peptides) that have an opioid-like action within the body. It has been shown in animal studies that when these compounds are absorbed they can induce a mild euphoria, may dull pain sensation slightly and have a low-grade tendency to cause addiction. Exorphins have numerous effects on the body including cravings and increased appetite.

In severe cases, cravings can lead to binge eating, bulimia and other types of eating disorders. If your craving for certain foods is causing episodes of uncontrolled bingeing, seek help from your health professional.

A craving cycle

Foods that are high in sugar or have a high glycaemic index are quickly absorbed and cause blood sugar levels to climb, which then causes the pancreas to release insulin, leading to a “sugar crash” and resulting in a vicious cycle where you are always looking for the next “high” from the sugar hit.

The same cycle occurs with serotonin. Eating sugary foods or carbohydrates releases a short burst of serotonin, which makes you feel temporarily better. Unfortunately, this temporary “high” is then followed by a bigger crash, making you feel worse than you did before reaching for a treat and causes the craving to return.

Curb cravings

A well-balanced, nutritionally adequate diet helps to stabilise blood sugar levels and decreases cravings. Eliminating simple sugars, increasing complex carbohydrates, consuming adequate protein, avoiding caffeine, increasing essential fatty acids and decreasing saturated fats and fried foods can all help to keep your blood sugar levels stable.

The key to stabilising blood sugar levels is eating regular meals (including breakfast) based on slow energy-releasing foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, wholegrains (rather than refined white rice and breads), beans, meat and fish. Have regular protein snacks, and meals in the diet that are low on the glycaemic scale, such as eggs and nuts as protein, are some of the best foods you can eat to get rid of cravings for sugar. Adding spices such as cloves and cinnamon has also been shown to help reduce sugar cravings.

Serotonin is manufactured in the brain from an amino acid called tryptophan, which can be found in foods such as meat, tofu, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and tahini (sesame seed paste). These foods are much better choices than the refined carbohydrates that are often craved when serotonin levels need a boost.

Gymnema

The Ayurvedic herb Gymnema sylvestre is a great herb to help with sugar cravings when used in low doses. Its Sanskrit name is gurmar, which means sugar-destroyer. Adding a few drops of the liquid herb to your tongue will anaesthetise the sweet tastebuds and destroy the taste for sweet foods for several hours afterwards, rendering sweet foods tasteless.

Adaptogenic herbs

Herbs that are classed as adaptogens enable the body to adapt to stress with fewer fluctuations in appetite, mood and sleep patterns. Because of this, they are ideal for people who overeat because of emotional stress. Herbs with these effects include withania, rhodiola, panax ginseng, Siberian ginseng (eleuthero) and licorice root.

Licorice root is not only a great adrenal restorative but also an extremely sweet-tasting herb. Drinking licorice tea is therefore a great way to satisfy sugar cravings instead of reaching for a chocolate or biscuit.

Liver herbs

The liver has hundreds of jobs to do, including the metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Enhancing the function of this vital organ with the use of liver herbs such as St Mary’s thistle and dandelion root will help to ensure the nutrients from your food are correctly absorbed and utilised and reduce the risk of developing cravings arising from the malabsorption of nutrients.

Stevia

Stevia is a natural sweetener that contains no calories but imparts a taste that is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar. Unlike most other sweeteners, Stevia actually lowers blood-glucose levels. Use stevia in place of sugar or artificial sweeteners in your recipes and beverages.

Nutritional support

Key nutrients that help improve blood sugar control include chromium, B vitamins, particularly vitamins B3 and B6, magnesium and zinc. Chromium is a mineral that helps regulate blood glucose levels and is often used to reduce glucose levels in type 2 diabetics, however it can also be used to minimise short-term cravings.

Zinc has numerous roles within the body, one of which is its ability to enhance the taste sensation. If you are not able to taste foods properly and are craving strong-tasting foods or salty foods you could be zinc-deficient.

Vitamin B6 supplementation is effective in reducing symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) including PMS-related depression. Vitamin B6 is required for the synthesis of many neurotransmitters including serotonin. Therefore a deficiency of vitamin B6 can lead to mood alterations and other psychological disturbances that, in turn, can exacerbate cravings.