Know your food cravings!?
#WellnessWednesday
Know your food cravings!?
Food cravings are a huge and very common problem in modern population.
There are two types of food cravings:
selective and nonselective.
Selective cravings are cravings for specific foods, such as a person’s favorite chocolate bar, a particular burger from their favorite restaurant, or a bag of potato chips of a certain flavor.
Nonselective hunger is the desire to eat anything. It may be the result of real hunger and hunger pangs, but it can also be a sign of thirst. Drinking water may help with intense nonselective cravings.
The brain regions responsible for memory, pleasure, and reward play a role in food cravings.
An imbalance of hormones, such as leptin and serotonin, could also lead to food cravings.
Cravings also involve the appetite centers of the brain, even though they tend to be separate from hunger.
Food cravings are related to specific foods because the body needs particular nutrients.
Various factors can affect this phenomenon causing a person’s food cravings. Like;
In women who are menstruating, hormonal fluctuations across the menstrual cycle can create food cravings.
People can experience especially strong cravings during pregnancy due to hormonal changes.
A person may also experience pica, which is a craving for nonfood items, such as chalk, dirt, coins, or ice chips.
Emotions can also contribute to food cravings, such as in cases of comfort eating.
To reduce the Cravings;
- Understand the micronutrient deficiency that body is experiencing and eat healthy food that can provide those micronutrients.
- Understand the reasons behind these deficiency, if any habits or patterns triggering it then resolve that situation.
Like;
Reduce stress levels [meditate].
Get enough of sleep [7-8 hrs. / Night].
Drink enough water [3 liters/ day].
Change the habits [if you tend to eat junk food while walking down certain road towards home then change the road so you do not pass in front of those junk food outlets].
Avoid being very hungry [excess hunger makes us choose calorie dense food which mostly is low on nutrients. So eat a fruit or simple snacks to avoid getting very hungry].
Follow this space on next Wednesday to see the list of micronutrient deficiencies causing specific cravings.