Why do we get cravings? What is a craving?
To learn more, check out this research paper found here and a sectdion from the paper below- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7321886/:
After… ‘repeated exposure, food-related cues (e.g. labels/packaging for brownies, the sight of brownies for example) that are present at the time of eating acquire the ability to predict the ingested food, becoming conditioned stimuli that evoke conditioned responses. Specifically, experimental work in animals and humans has shown that cues paired with food elicit strong conditioned responses, including increased salivation, heart rate, gastric activity, hormone secretions, dopamine neuron firing and release, and subsequent neural activity in regions typically associated with reward.’
Cravings are actually the body increasing heart rate, and starting the process of digestion by salivating, releasing stomach acid, dopamine release, and hormones related to hunger such as grehlin.’
We may not need food or actually be hungry, but if we had food/particularly high calorie food in the past at a particular time of day, paired with an emotion like stress, or just the site of food etc, we could experience these physiological symptoms eliciting a craving encouraging us to eat.
The body is designed for survival and cravings are a way to increase likelihood of eating. However, with a solid plan of eating, structure, support, and data tracking, we are more likely to reduce eating of craved, unhealthy foods. I thought it interesting to share the actual physical response to the site of food for example.
Have a healthy day!