Are you craving a deluxe burger in the middle of the night?

I am not. I am craving some chocolate cake. 

Craving is often associated with food. I am willing to die on that hill. 

First of all…

There is a huge difference between hunger and craving. If you need to eat, meaning you are hungry, your body will start sending you symptoms like dizziness; however, in case of craving, there are no symptoms from your body. It is your mind.

I hate to be the one to say it, but yes, it’s all in your head.

I know!

But hear me out. When you crave something, you become acutely aware of the things about the food you normally would not pay attention to. Let us consider cake. A chocolate one at that. Ugh, way to torture myself. If you crave a chocolate cake, you will be thinking about the fluffiness of the cake, the layered cream between the layered fluffs, the generous scoop of frosting that salivates the tongue, and… you get the point.

You don’t necessarily need to be hungry to crave something. In fact, you won’t feel any hunger in the first place. 

But why do you crave something out of nowhere?

According to numerous researches, it turns out, the brain regions responsible for memory, reward and pleasure play a role in craving. In a research conducted by one of the scientists at Tufts, they found that the common factor among the ‘craving’ category foods is that they were rich in calories. The MRIs developed during the study pointed that the regions activated during the food craving are alarmingly identical to drug addiction. Insula is one part of the brain involved in contributing emotional connection with foods.

Since we form an emotional connection with foods, it is easy to get tempted. Just like Pavlov described years back, the mere thought of thinking about the food is enough for us to salivate and yearn.

When you crave something, sometimes, it could be related to what you are lacking in your body. For instance, if you are lacking sodium, you will crave salty foods. The key point being ‘sometimes’; because if this is the case, then we all would be hunting fast food chains.

Wait a minute… *deep sigh*

Following a monotonous food style was also linked to sudden craving of specific foods. But again, this comes as no shock because what else are we doing right now. 

Then, what about them hormones?

Thinking back, I remember my sister’s craving for fish during her pregnancy. Though fish is healthy and especially good for pregnant mommies, it was shocking for me since my sister used to not eat in our home whenever there is a dinner involving fish.

What made her consume fish, then? Pregnant hormones.

Then, what is making us chase those chocolate cakes especially in the middle of board meetings?

Your guess is as good as mine. The hormones? Yes.

If you are an emotional eater, hello friend, then you might be aware of the term called comfort food. 

If you change the perspective, ever since we were kids, these types of foods we call comfort are often presented to us as some sort of reward. Like, treating a child for doing well in the exams.

We naturally associate all those pleasant feelings with that food, and whenever we feel down, it is no science we wander away searching for that comfort. 

Is stress also a reason?

Let’s just say, you are supposed to complete a task by the end of the week, but it is Friday already and you only have 20 minutes to go home, but your manager is hovering behind you asking about the task details. You are tempted to say the truth that it has barely been touched but you can’t say it to your manager! You will be fired. You spend those 20 minutes lying and hasten to complete the task. By night, when you enter the restaurant, you don’t care about the manager or the incomplete task you submitted or the immense stress you went through in the span of those 20 minutes. Your mind will be focussed on consuming the unhealthiest meal in the restaurant.

Why?

The stress is doing its job. Your mind thinks, I deserve a treat after that trial.

In a study, the scientists observed that people were experiencing cravings more in COVID-19 pandemic. There is no need to emphasize on how much we were stressed during those times.

When you are stressed, your body releases something called cortisol. There is a pair of tiny glands called adrenaline glands. They release cortisol whenever we are stressed. 

Cortisol is responsible for how our body behaves during stress. This guy is responsible for our body’s metabolism and controlling blood pressure as well. However, this guy also stimulates appetite and makes us go and search for foods that our gym coach would force us to run away from.

Cortisol can affect almost all the major systems including nervous system, cardiovascular system, respiratory system, and musculoskeletal system. Oh, and reproductive system as well. All these elaborate talks bring us to the ultimate conclusion. That we should reduce stress.

Can you stop this craving though?

The endocrinologists at drgalen.org say there are ways to reduce the recurrence of craving.

Reduce stress. What is the way to reduce cortisol levels in your body? Yeah.Do not starve yourself. That way, you are more likely to consume more sugary foods than you normally would.Indulging once in a while to those tasty foods is not bad. The more you force yourself to stay away from cake, the more you end up thinking about it and eventually, consuming it.

In a nutshell, craving is not a bad thing as long as you know your trigger points. If you find yourself craving food more often than usual, it is high time you consult a mental health professional or an endocrinologist. Or both.