How to lose cravings

A craving for a certain kind of food does not include an occasional sudden urge for the some junk food or a general liking of a particular meal. It is rather an intense longing for a distinctive type of food which usually contains large amounts of calories, whether it is from sugar or fats.

Causes of food cravings

Abnormal food cravings can be caused by a variety of reasons. The usual ones are of emotional, hormonal or biochemical nature, but sometimes they can be a result of some food allergies.

Emotional factors that can provoke cravings for certain types of food are commonly stress and anxiety, depression, or simply the lack of things to do at that particular moment. Also, sometimes the person feels the necessity to look for consolation in food, even if there’s no distinctive reason to be upset. Food cravings that are triggered by these or similar emotions can become dangerous in situations where satisfying a craving grows into overeating and finally, an eating disorder.

When the cravings are related to some kind of hormonal imbalance, it is usually right before a menstrual period or during pregnancy because that is when the most hormonal changes occur and the body feels the urge to acquire only certain types of food.

As for the biochemical causes of food cravings, they always originate from an imbalance in the level of sugar in the blood. This is also the most frequent reason of food cravings in general. The sugar imbalance tends to happen to people who do not maintain a very healthy diet and consume a lot of unhealthy carbohydrates, causing the blood sugar to vary all the time. Another cause of cravings related to the sugar in the blood is low blood sugar which occurs due to the insufficient intake of calories in general.

Taking care of cravings

Deciding to get rid of these cravings may seem like a difficult task at first since they are so intense, but it becomes quite easy afterward. All it takes is a little getting used to.

The best way to do this is start practicing a healthy diet. That means no extreme and stressful diet regimes which include a sudden lack of the majority of calories, because that would be a complete shock for the body and probably end as a failed attempt. But having balanced meals with just the right amounts of all the necessary nutritional elements is the right way to go. Planning the meals and the time intervals between them is also a good idea.