Nothing is worse for your intentions of eating healthier than an unrestrained food craving. Food cravings can control you instead of the other way around if the images of those cookies, crackers, chips, soda or ice cream keep popping into your mind.
But what do food cravings actually mean, scientists puzzle over? Can they determine, for example, if a craving is your body's way of telling you that you are needing more of some nutrient in your diet, or if that is just a sign of something else, like an addiction?
Health specialists and scientists have long thought that cravings such as those for chocolate that occur in women in the premenstrual stage have a lot to do with the high mineral content of chocolate, and not with the addictive qualities of chocolate itself. The truth may be that both, addiction and the needs of your body are in play when you have a food craving.
The idea that certain kind of foods (especially sugar and carbohydrates in general) can be addictive are beginning to gather support in the medical milieu. It turns out that sugar addiction has a lot in common with other sorts of addictions, like cigarettes, alcohol and even hard drugs.
This food addiction cause cravings, and is nothing to joke about: it often lead us to eat foods that are not good for us, eat more than we want, and maybe contribute to serious diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity and even Alzheimer's.
Then it is your addiction calling you if food cravings are the result of some addictive behavior and not of your body needing a substance.
Most studies on food cravings focus on trying to change your mental approach to eating, as if food cravings were only a psychological problem. So science is behind the ball. There is something called emotional eating, I will not deny, but it misses the point to only consider food cravings in your head. Food cravings are also physical (as cravings for drugs), and need to be approached from both a physiological and a physical point of view.
Supplements for food cravings
Below are some supplements to help overcome food cravings, among which some are scientifically backed while others are not.
++ The amino acids: alpha-lipoic acid, phenylalanine, gamma-aminobutyric acid, tyrosine, glutamine, tryptophan, all seem to help. These amino acids do two things: they provide the body with needed nutrients, and also provide building blocks of brain chemicals that help you to modulate both cravings and mood. For example, serotonin. Throug the Internet, today it is very easy to get healthy supplements containing various vitamins, minerals and these amino acids.
But what do food cravings actually mean, scientists puzzle over? Can they determine, for example, if a craving is your body's way of telling you that you are needing more of some nutrient in your diet, or if that is just a sign of something else, like an addiction?
Health specialists and scientists have long thought that cravings such as those for chocolate that occur in women in the premenstrual stage have a lot to do with the high mineral content of chocolate, and not with the addictive qualities of chocolate itself. The truth may be that both, addiction and the needs of your body are in play when you have a food craving.The idea that certain kind of foods (especially sugar and carbohydrates in general) can be addictive are beginning to gather support in the medical milieu. It turns out that sugar addiction has a lot in common with other sorts of addictions, like cigarettes, alcohol and even hard drugs.
This food addiction cause cravings, and is nothing to joke about: it often lead us to eat foods that are not good for us, eat more than we want, and maybe contribute to serious diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity and even Alzheimer's.
Then it is your addiction calling you if food cravings are the result of some addictive behavior and not of your body needing a substance.
Most studies on food cravings focus on trying to change your mental approach to eating, as if food cravings were only a psychological problem. So science is behind the ball. There is something called emotional eating, I will not deny, but it misses the point to only consider food cravings in your head. Food cravings are also physical (as cravings for drugs), and need to be approached from both a physiological and a physical point of view.
Supplements for food cravingsBelow are some supplements to help overcome food cravings, among which some are scientifically backed while others are not.
++ The amino acids: alpha-lipoic acid, phenylalanine, gamma-aminobutyric acid, tyrosine, glutamine, tryptophan, all seem to help. These amino acids do two things: they provide the body with needed nutrients, and also provide building blocks of brain chemicals that help you to modulate both cravings and mood. For example, serotonin. Throug the Internet, today it is very easy to get healthy supplements containing various vitamins, minerals and these amino acids.
++ B-complex vitamins: they are generally lacking in our diets, yet they are also important co-factors in building brain chemicalsñ
++ Minerals: Magnesium, calcium and chiefly chromium, have all been shown to help fight food cravings.
++ Herbs: many herbs, as gymnema, bitter melon, korean ginseng, cynnamon, etc. have been shown to help stabilize glycemia, which is also thought to play an important role in food cravings. You may want to check up one of those herbal supplements, which is completely natural, without side effects and very affordable.
++ Multivitamins too can help quell cravings. Many of these include the B-vitamins and minerals, as mentioned before.
++ Exercising: it reduces chocolate urges, for example, and there was a trend towards attenuated urges in response to the chocolate cue.
Listening to what your body needs is the first and most important step to becoming healthy. However, this feedback system can go awry when your food cravings are addictive. On the other hand, supplements can help you control your food cravings and thus be a part of a whole program to attain and maintain a healthy full lifestyle.
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