The Real Reasons You’re Craving These 7 Foods

There’s a lot of talk about food cravings stemming from nutritional deficiencies, but research has not proved this to be true. If you've ever been tempted to blame your chocolate urges on a magnesium deficiency, Kimberly Snyder, a clinical nutritionist and the author of The Beauty Detox Power, would beg to disagree. She claims your desire for chocolate is more likely coming from an emotional place than a biological one.

“I do believe it’s important to listen to your body and feel what foods you are naturally drawn to,” says Snyder. “Overall though, many common cravings are tied to emotional root causes. We often crave foods with specific textures — crunchy, soft, creamy, or smooth — and these textures correspond to particular emotions.”

“There are two types of hunger,” explains Amy Gorin, RDN, of Amy Gorin Nutrition, in the New York City area. “Homeostatic hunger, or the physical need to eat, and hedonic hunger, the desire to eat foods for pleasure.” For instance, she notes, “you might be craving salt when your body actually needs it, such as after a hard workout during which you lost salt through sweating. Or you might be craving the salty food as more of a comfort food, since foods that tend to be salty are also ones that are higher in fat, like potato chips, which is what we crave sometimes during hedonic hunger.”

It’s not hard to grasp the psychological component of food cravings and how we may have been conditioned, from childhood, to want certain foods right now. Take sweets, for instance. “Most of us grew up with sweets being presented as a reward,” says Snyder. “The very anticipation of a reward triggers the neurotransmitter dopamine in our brain and studies show that regular bingeing on sugar stimulates dopamine — the ‘feel-good’ chemical, which is very addictive.”

Or maybe you don’t have an out-of-control sweet tooth but you still find yourself wanting to reach for the carton of cookie dough ice cream. Snyder sees clients craving fatty foods like ice cream and cream-laden dishes during extremely busy times, when they are being pulled in different directions. “During these times, fat can feel stabilizing. It’s heavy in your stomach and takes a while to digest, which can feel like it is grounding for you,” she says.

Different cravings also appear to have different consequences. A study published in December 2015 in the journal Eating Behaviors looked at the relationship between food cravings and addictive eating. Researchers found that cravings for sweets and other foods high in carbohydrates may be more closely linked with bingeing and other addictive eating behaviors, while cravings for fats seem to be more closely associated with increased body mass index.

Cravings announce themselves clearly, but what’s behind them is complex, and various factors come into play. While cravings aren’t always tied to emotional eating, before you reach for that piece of cake or bowl of pasta, check to see if your emotions may be to blame — and learn the smart ways to combat the cravings.

Additional reporting by Deborah Shapiro.

From a young age, many of us come to associate celebrations with sweets, from cake at birthday parties to dessert after finishing our veggies. “This is part of what makes sugar so comforting. And for many of us, sugary treats are like a hug — soothing and reassuring,” says Snyder. “The sugar can make us feel temporarily happy or comforted, especially if those feelings are lacking or if we're stressed or sad in any way.”

Curb Your Craving With This Satisfy a sweet tooth with whole fruits and lightened-up desserts free of refined sugars and unhealthy fats, such as these Raw Brownies With Mint Cashew Cream.

Change What You Crave Like This Become aware of the sweets-reward connection from your childhood to understand where this craving comes from, as well as the circumstances surrounding the craving. Establish a new goal or hobby that will produce these “feel-good” feelings, like painting, gardening, or playing an instrument.

The creamy treat contains polyphenols that boost your mood, according to a study published in May 2013 in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, and can even mimic the feeling of romantic love — studies show that just looking at and smelling chocolate can activate the pleasure center of the brain. So it’s no surprise that we reach for a bar when we’re feeling lonely or sad, or during menstruation when women tend to have hormonal imbalances that affect mood.

Curb Your Craving With This Instead of candies, cakes, and nutrient-devoid milk or white chocolate, subdue your cravings with a smoothie made with cacao or a 1-ounce serving of dark chocolate.

Change What You Crave Like This Snyder recommends taking a whiff of coffee beans, which contain the same odor that triggers your brain’s pleasure centers. Hitting the gym when a craving strikes can also boost mood and serotonin levels, and help calm the munchies.

Do you find yourself hankering for a cheese plate or a creamy milkshake? Cheese contains the stimulant tyramine and milk contains tryptophan — which triggers the release of the “feel-good chemical" serotonin — as well as choline, which has soothing properties, Snyder explains. Plus, much of what makes cheese so appealing is its creamy texture, which can be comforting, she adds.

Curb Your Craving With This “When I’m craving ice cream,” says Gorin, “I find that I’m really just after that creamy texture. So I’ll often make my own banana-based ice cream. I’ll blend or process frozen bananas with unsweetened cocoa powder, and I get my creamy fix while also getting some fruit into my day.”

Change What You Crave Like This Engage in mood-boosting activities like hiking and yoga, which release endorphins and can also be soothing and comforting for the body.

"Fatty foods tend to be comforting. And we're faced with more than 200 food decisions every day, so if the office doughnuts make an appearance, you might be tempted to give in." But that doesn't mean you can't take comfort in healthy comfort foods, says Gorin. She points to a study published in December 2014 in Health Psychology that found that healthier comfort food, such as popcorn, is just as likely to boost a negative mood as a more caloric comfort food, such as ice cream, or a food that subjects felt neutral about, such as a granola bar.

Curb Your Craving With This Reach for an avocado to get the creamy texture you crave, plus a natural energy and mood boost. Avocados are also a source of healthy fats.

Change What You Crave Like This Seek out other, consistent ways to comfort yourself. Schedule time to meditate or simply sit in silence for a few minutes to get centered. Snyder also suggests finding a group of like-minded people that you can connect with; maybe it’s a book club, a yoga studio, or a gardening group.

“If I put a pile of salt in front of you, I highly doubt you would lap it up,” says Snyder. What you may be craving is something crunchy, like salty potato chips and pretzels (Snyder’s own personal vice). Cravings for salty, crunchy foods might indicate "frustration, anger, stress, or resentment,” she adds. “Crunching down with your jaw is cathartic, almost like punching a wall. When I got stressed before, I would often turn to pretzels.”

Then again, you might just really want something salty. If that's the case, Gorin notes that there "are ways to satisfy your craving while not taking in a lot of sodium. One of her go-tos is Wonderful Pistachios, available in unsalted and lightly salted varieties. "If you compare pistachios to salty potato chips, you get a lot more per 30 gram (about 1 ounce) serving — 49 nuts versus just 15 chips — as well as less sodium. Plus, you also get healthy fat, protein, and fiber to help keep you full."

Curb Your Craving With This Reach for kale chips, air-popped popcorn, and crunchy produce like apples, celery, and carrots. Dip veggie sticks into hummus if you feel the urge for chips and dip coming on!

Change What You Crave Like This Exercise to release pent up tension and stress. Snyder also encourages people to identify the areas in their life that are causing stress and take steps to eradicate them. Something as small as a phone call to a family member or an email to a coworker to address an issue can help eliminate undue stress.

The urge to eat pasta, bread, and cookies tends to really kick in when we’re stressed or sad. Not only do these “comfort foods” have mood-boosting properties and provide a short-term energy boost, but many of us associate them with comfort from an early age, says Snyder. Think: Chocolate chip cookies served up by Mom when you had a hard day or the comforting smell of your grandma’s freshly baked bread. When you’re feeling agitated or upset, you may subconsciously be turning to carbs for comfort.

Curb Your Craving With This Get creative with veggies to re-create the textures you crave. Try Snyder's cauliflower gnocchi or spaghetti squash and meatballs, and incorporate whole, unrefined carbs like quinoa, sweet potatoes, and squash into your diet.

Change What You Crave Like This Notice when stressful situations arise and stop to take a breath and calm down. Remove any unnecessary stress from your life: Leave earlier to avoid traffic and schedule fewer activities so you don’t have to rush around. Adding yoga into your exercise routine provides a way to release the tension that you may be holding in your body.

Cravings don’t only relate to food, but beverages as well, and two of the most common culprits are coffee and soda. When cravings for caffeinated beverages strike, "there are a couple of things going on," says Gorin. "If you consume caffeine daily, you become reliant on the stimulant effect, and if you don't have it one day, you're likely to experience withdrawal symptoms, such as a headache. If you take in a higher caffeine amount regularly, you may be more likely to suffer from withdrawal symptoms. Then there's also the fact the caffeine readily comes in the form of coffee, which is a soothing beverage because it's hot. If you're trying to cut back on your caffeine content, you could switch your second cup of coffee to decaf or tea — and still get the antioxidant benefit."

Soda, in addition to being sweet, is carbonated, and these bubbles, says Snyder, signify levity, creativity, and fun, which is why it can feel like a pick-me-up.

Curb Your Craving With This Try sparkling water with cranberry and lime or kombucha tea. Adding a green smoothie to your routine will also help boost energy naturally with whole foods, without the need for caffeine.

Change What You Crave Like This To kick the habit, Snyder recommends keeping a regular bedtime to ensure you’re getting enough sleep. In addition, find creative projects within your current work or outside of work that you can get excited about.