Food Cravings - A Play Of The Mind

Sudden and inexplicable food cravings have nothing to do with hunger. They can be related to many reasons, ranging from stress to an emotional trigger associated with a past memory to an attempt to compensate for something lacking in your life. 

You might be able to relate to these situations that triggered a food craving: 

a) Your boss got upset with you for not meeting a deadline. You order a burger and eat it ravenously, although you’ve just had a large breakfast a short while ago.

b) You had a filling breakfast, but you’re passing a bakery and see a lush chocolate cake that you instantly buy and consume hungrily because something about the cake reminded you about your carefree past.

The reason for this sudden craving has nothing to do with hunger – it’s all in your mind. 

Why Food Cravings Are So Hard To Resist

It’s important to understand why these cravings are so hard to dismiss. The mere thought of satisfying the craving launches the body into a ‘feeding frenzy’ of pre-digestive action—the heart beats faster, the salivary glands start working, and the stomach lining secretes acid. The pancreas releases the hormone insulin, causing the drop in blood-sugar levels which leads to feelings of hunger.  

Although sitting down to a meal triggers a similar response, experts believe the physiological reaction to a craving is far stronger. “Eating can involve cravings as intense as that experienced by a drug addict,” says Consultant Psychiatrist, Purnima of Dhrithi Psychiatric Care.

Stress Can Play A Huge Part

“A more important cause of cravings could be stress,” says Dr Gajanan Hegde.    “The act of digesting food switches off that part of the nervous system that makes us tense, and this acts as an effective relaxant.” 

For instance, carbohydrates increase levels of serotonin - the ‘calming’ chemical in the brain. Thus, a bedtime snack of hot chocolate may be a kind of self-medication to help ease the strains of a bad day.

Trouble occurs when the brain and the body don’t adequately communicate to produce enough of the chemicals needed to satisfy the cravings. With a message of ‘I’m feeling better now’ not coming from the brain, a person keeps on gorging long past the point of feeling full.