Since I’ve sort of battled with cravings lately, I thought I’d blog this list of things that cause cravings that I got from–you guessed it–my nutritionist, Anna. But her list is really in depth and hard to understand so I kind of paraphrased things a little for you.
CAUSES OF CRAVINGS:
1. WATER: if you’re on the verge of dehydration, your body is not gonna tell you that. Instead, it’s gonna tell you that it’s hungry. So instead of eating right then, drink a full glass of water and wait a few minutes.
2. UPSET WITH OTHER THINGS: Ok, sorry for being so vague but look, this means that if there are other things going wrong in your life like your stressed, bored, bad relationships, hate your job, don’t go to church, don’t exercise, etc…then you’re gonna look to fill the void in your life with crazy cravings. So get balanced!
3. SEASONAL: Your body craves foods that balance out the elements of the season. For example, if it’s hot outside, you’re gonna crave foods that cool you down. Or if it’s Christmas, you might crave egg nog, candy, sipping wine in a Tahoe ski chalet…sorry, what was I saying?
4. LACK OF NUTRIENTS: If you’re not getting adequate nutrients, you’re gonna crave foods that have those. Like, if you’re sodium levels are low, you might crave some salty foods. Also, if your energy is low, you might crave something like caffeine to give you a boost.
5. HORMONAL: Pickles and ice cream. Enough said.
Hey Code Red,
How about a 6th cause of cravings.
Genetics
The latest research into the connection between the human genome and obesity is pointing away from the “I inherited my slow metabolism from my parents” camp and is now making the connection between your genetics and your behavior surrounding food.
The good news: research into the genome results into potential genetic cures to obesity
The Bad news: Obesity is a complex metabolic process and as soon as science thinks they have the answer (Leptin, Ghrelin, Pyy, agrp) the soon find out that that answer is only part of the puzzle
Keep punching