How To Beat Your Food Cravings

Most people suffer from a food craving from time to time. A food craving is always for a specific food or type of food, not just anything to satisfy hunger. Generally the craving is felt for candy, chocolate or something that will give sugar or carbohydrates to the body. It could even be the craving for potato chips or an extra glass of wine.

People often think it's just bad habits that are responsible for craving, or that the person just has poor will power. That's really not the case! Food cravings have biological reasons and to beat the food craving you must understand these underlying reasons.

Reasons for food craving

Whenever we are exhausted or we feel depressed we have low blood sugar condition and the body signals the brain that it needs something to pep-it-up. This results in a craving for sugar or carbohydrates. One of the causes for this behavior is Serotonin, our basic feel-good hormone. The conditions of low level of Serotonin and low level of blood sugar go hand-in-hand. That is why whenever there is less of Serotonin; we feel a craving for sweet food such as chocolates to make up for the shortage of sugar in blood.

Unfortunately, sugar or carbohydrates release only a short burst of serotonin or energy; when that burst dies down, the craving returns. This leads us into a spiral.

Another reason is Adrenal Fatigue. When you feel stressed out or feel run own, when you have not had a restful sleep or you are feeling very tired for no specific reason, you are suffering from adrenal fatigue. In very severe cases the condition is called adrenal exhaustion. In the modern world this health disorder is quite common.

In case of Adrenal Fatigue also the body sends a signal to the brain for a pick-me-up and that is your craving for sugar or carbohydrate snacks, or may be, coffee during the day; at night you may look for alcohol or carbohydrates. All of this only makes the problem worse.

This fatigue is also seen in people who keep themselves on a low fat, low carbohydrate diet for a long time or have been taking appetite suppressants for a long time. They will have serious food craving, because they have become at least partially insulin resistant without realizing this condition.

The normal blood sugar level of the body is maintained by the action of insulin; insulin signals the cells of the body to absorb glucose from the bloodstream when necessary. Because of their insulin resistant condition, the cells do not respond to the signal and cannot absorb the glucose they need. This results in a distress signal to the brain asking for more carbohydrates or sugar. The body thus receives excess calories, which are deposited as fat and the person starts gaining weight in spite of eating less.

Beating the craving

If you understand the basic reasons for the craving, then beating the food craving can be done. It's not easy, but it can be done.

To overcome food cravings, the body needs healthy foods, moderate exercise and additional nutritional supplements (of pharmaceutical–grade) at times.