Ever craved ice cream, chocolate, a bag of potato chips or something creamy? Over 90 percent of adults experience food cravings, causing them to snack on unhealthy foods high in sugar, salt or fat. Such unnecessary eating leads to a higher body mass index, contributing to weight gain in people with frequent cravings.
Holly Wyatt, M.D., weight loss expert and professor in the Department of Nutrition Science at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Health Professions, explains what a craving is, its causes, and tips to avoid and treat them.
What is a craving?
Craving is an intense desire to eat a specific food or food type that seems urgent and difficult to resist.
“A person experiencing a craving may feel as if they cannot satisfy their hunger until they eat the food they are craving,” Wyatt said.
According to her, cravings are extremely common; females experience more food cravings than do men. While men usually crave savory foods such as meats and eggs, women generally crave sweets such as chocolate or ice cream.
It is important to note that cravings are not synonymous with addiction because craving, as opposed to addiction, does not involve dependence, loss of control and discomfort upon withdrawal.
What causes a craving?
There is limited data to pin down one reason for craving foods, Wyatt says. A craving episode activates specific brain regions responsible for memory, pleasure or reward.
“Cravings can be due to many reasons,” Wyatt said. “They can be out of nowhere. Sometimes, seeing, smelling or hearing about a certain food can cause a craving. They can be because the body needs a specific nutrient or hormonal fluctuations across menstrual cycles.”
An imbalance of hormones such as serotonin, a mood regulation hormone, and leptin, a food and energy expenditure regulating hormone, can also cause a craving.