Craving Sugary And Salty Foods All the Time? Here’s Why
Are you reaching out for that bag of chips late at night?
Or is stress leading you to consume chocolate bars one after the other?
Ever wondered why you feel like eating at odd hours?
And have you noticed that you usually start craving something salty, fattening, or sweet?
Our health goals are deeply affected by what we eat. Are these cravings standing in the way of you reaching your health goals?
Let’s find out more about cravings, and why you may be experiencing them.
What is a craving?
Craving is an intense desire to eat a particular group of foods. As humans, we generally crave energy-dense foods. Chocolate is one of the most frequently craved foods.
Most of us try to tackle these cravings with willpower. But did you know that willpower has a shelf life? That is when we give in to these cravings. Building discipline and consistency is key.
Does this mean that these cravings are just mindless needs that the brain creates? No!
If you are experiencing continuous cravings, it could be that your body is signaling an underlying issue that needs to be dealt with. Giving in to these cravings more than often could lead to a feeling of dejection, guilt and loss of control. This could also lead to developing an unhealthy relationship with food
The science behind cravings
The trillions of cells in the human body are kept alive by oxygen, nutrition and water. If these cells are not provided with the support to perform their fundamental functions, it could lead to diseases, acne, inflammation, low immunity and so on. These points could be the reason that you are mostly craving sugary foods
Lack of proper nutrition
When your body needs nutrition, it asks for food in the form of hunger. At this time if you feed it junk food or chocolates, your stomach may be full, but the brain realizes that the vitamins and minerals it needs are absent, and sends a signal that you need more food.
Tip: If you are eating junk food, try eating something healthy with it so that you can provide your cells with some amount of nutrition.
Sugar imbalance/Diabetes/Insulin resistance
Sugar imbalance, diabetes, or insulin resistance is a cellular imbalance in the body that will lead to cravings. If the body’s sugar levels are inflated, due to a high-carb diet, or other reasons, the pancreas will release insulin to regulate the sugar spike. Sometimes, the blood sugar levels may drop lower than usual, which will lead to cravings – as the body is trying to normalize the blood sugar levels.
Try Luke’s recommended Diabetes Atta here.
Sleep deprivation
When you are sleep deprived, it is normal for you to awaken fatigued from your sleep. You might feel groggy throughout the day. So for you to feel better, and more aware your body starts craving carbs, sugary foods, and junk foods, which will create a boost of energy. These foods are packed with salt, sugar, and fats, and the effects of the energy will be temporary. You might start feeling drowsy and tired soon, and your body will again signal you with more cravings.
Missing that restful, good-quality sleep? Pick from Luke’s recommended range of healthy, sleep-promoting products.
Emotional eating
While stress, and how we deal with stress have become more acute than before, you must have heard the term eat your emotions. This means binging, or eating only because you’re bored, angry, sad, depressed, nervous, or anxious. At this moment, you are feeling so emotionally low, that the brain is producing cravings so that you eat, and feel a boost of energy. Emotional eating is not always the answer. You need to address your emotions at their root, or else this vicious cycle will never end.
Daily stresses taking a toll on your emotional health? Enroll in our Emotional Wellness & Homeopathy Program today.
High salt intake
If you eat more salt in your food, it will lead to more hunger. Notice that junk food, unhealthy food, and packaged foods, all have a higher content of sodium. A higher intake of sodium can make you more hungry. Junk food is created in a way that has the perfect combination of sodium, sugar and fat content – or neuro exciters, to make it more addictive.
Note: Food companies conduct thorough research on how to make the perfect combination of salt and sugar. If you’re eating a salty snack? Also, have something healthy along with it.
Looking for a healthy alternative to salt? Try our ethically sourced range of Himalayan Pink Salt.
Vitamin and mineral deficiencies
If you have a deficiency in iron, zinc, chromium, calcium, or magnesium levels, your body will have more than usual cravings. When we test our patients and discover that they do not have insulin resistance, diabetes, or other blood sugar-related problems, then we check their deficiencies. We prescribe vitamin and mineral-rich foods, which start to balance their levels. Their cravings gradually decline.
Tip: Women who experience heavy and painful periods, and simultaneously experience cravings, should check their magnesium, iron, and hemoglobin levels.
Protein, fiber, and healthy fat-deficient meals
If your meal does not consist of the necessary protein, fiber, and healthy fats, you could experience cravings, because you have ideally not provided the body with the compounds that it needs to break down and distribute to the cells. People following a ketogenic diet, which is full of fats and proteins, rarely feel hungry. Your plate should consist of lesser carbohydrates, and more proteins, fibers, and healthy fats.
Looking for a protein powder that tastes delicious? Look no further. Try the Health Horizons Hemp Chocolate Protein Powder on our ethical wellness platform.
High carbohydrate intake
If you are eating more carbs than proteins, fibers and healthy fats, your body will produce more cravings as a way of demanding nutritional food from you. Moreover, carbs are known to cause a spike in your glucose levels, which causes the production of insulin, which if lowering your sugar levels more than required, can cause cravings.
Dopamine depletion
Dopamine or the happy hormone is a neurotransmitter, which allows you to feel pleasure, satisfaction and motivation. Due to overindulgence in social media, video games, mindless shopping, and so on – there is an overproduction of dopamine. After using all of that dopamine, you could feel depleted – which leads to feeling low and empty.
Because of its widely distributed receptors in the brain, dopamine is involved in binge eating caused due to cravings. We tend to find salted, sugary or fatty food to be more satisfying, hence giving us that required high.
Tip: Recently, a group of us conducted a social media detox experiment – and the results were great! If you’re feeling dopamine depleted, try to do a social media detox at least once a week.
Artificial sweeteners
We all know that having something artificial or synthetic ingested into our systems could be bad for it. In the pursuit of weight loss, people lean on artificial sweeteners instead of sugar. While the job of artificial sweeteners is to satisfy the brain with sweetness, the brain will still need calories. When the brain fails to find these calories, it creates cravings.
Try the Early Foods Dates Powder Natural Sweetener as a replacement for sugar and artificial sweeteners.
Eating too fast
If you eat too much too fast, your brain fails to process all that you have eaten. Imagine, all that you have eaten, failing to provide nutrition to your body because your brain cannot process this. The brain will still feel deprived of its requirements, and you could have cravings. Even if you’re eating the right, nutritional food, mindfully chew your food enough.
The bottom line
While it is absolutely normal to give in to your cravings for cake, junk food, or that bag of chips once in a while, it is important to have the discipline to come back on track after that. It would be worse to put yourself through all of these cravings and have an emotional tug-of-war with yourself, finally losing that willpower and then living with the guilt of not following through.
But now that you’ve understood the science behind cravings, reflect on what you could be doing that is leading to these cravings, and work towards making the change.
Are constant hunger and cravings troubling you? Get to its root cause.
Need personalized guidance? We help you find a way.
Know more about our You Care Wellness Program here.
Set up a one-on-one consultation with our integrative experts
Get in touch with us on WhatsApp here, call us at 1800 102 0253, or write to us at info@lukecoutinho.com
RELATED READINGS
DIY Jackfruit and Almond Cookies – Curb Your Cravings
Cookies to Pancakes – Discover Jowar Ka Jalwa
Amaranth Bhakri to Ragi Ladoos: The Magic Millet Edition Continues
ALSO WATCH Why Do You Crave Sugary Foods? 10 Potential Reasons
|
From a pimple to cancer, our You Care Wellness Program helps you find a way Talk to our integrative team of experts today 18001020253 |
Leave a Reply