What Is A Food Craving?

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Friday, October 12th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed

How do you differentiate between a food craving and a normal hunger signal because sometimes you can be hungry and crave a certain food. The difference is that while hunger is a normal feeling that signals the body’s need for food, a food craving is a strong desire for a certain food even when the person is not hungry or it can indicate the body’s need for nutrients or energy. A food craving can also be a symptom of a food addiction.

Familiar foods that people crave are sugary, salty, chocolate and pizza. It is common for women to crave sugary foods and for men to crave salty food although both sexes can crave both types and other food types.

Unhealthy Food Cravings

Many of the foods craved are unhealthy for us and this can cause problems. For instance, if someone craves sugary foods constantly, they could wreak havoc with their body’s insulin levels, which could activate a diabetic condition in their body. Another dangerous craving is the craving for salty foods because too much salt in the diet can cause hypertension and blood pressure.

Meeting Nutritional Requirements

When the body has specific needs for a nutrient, it will crave the foods that contain that nutrient or nutrients. An example is an athlete who craves foods high in carbohydrates because of the energy that can be derived from this food type. It is also common knowledge that pregnant women also develop cravings that can fill the body’s specific nutritional need.

Comfort Foods

Sometimes, people rely on a certain food to act as a comfort for them when the person is under stress. Chips and ice cream are common foods that are craved during stressful time. Everyone has a relationship with food and these relationships can be emotional.

Problem Food Cravings

When food cravings start to cause problems for your health or cause unwanted weight gain, then the cravings may be a sign of food addiction. If you cannot control your craving even when you try, then the craving is becoming unmanageable.

When you are unable to stop the food craving and cannot control your urge to eat the food, then the craving may be a symptom of a food addiction. If you have a food addiction, it means that you have an unhealthy relationship with food.

Understanding food cravings is important to understanding the difference between a craving and hunger. With this knowledge, you will be able to spot a problem craving and do something about it before it becomes a problem.

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