Many people believe that cravings are a result of nutrition deficiencies. While this may be true on some level, for the most part it isn’t. Some foods are physically addictive and most cravings can be pinpointed to emotional eating.Physical addiction to food is quite common because everyday foods that we eat are full of addictive ingredients. Most foods that are craved contain wheat, dairy, chocolate and sometimes many of us crave meat. For example let us have a quick look at chocolate and milk:

Chocolate contains caffeine, theobromine (a stimulant similar to caffeine), phenylethylamine (an amphetamine-like substance), traces of compounds similar to THC (the active ingredient in Marijuana) and targets the same part of the brain that heroin does.

In 1981, Eli Hazum et al discovered that cows milk contains morphine. Morphine is a highly addictive opiate and cows’ produce this in their bodies, to keep their young calm for bonding and nutritional purposes.

In order to overcome the physical addictiveness of foods, we can cut the food out completely or make sure that our body is getting plenty of nutrient rich foods. Most people do not get enough whole ripe foods into their bodies and this leaves them over to severe cravings as well as poor health!

So here are 2 tips to help your overcome physical cravings to food:

1. Eat a wholesome breakfast. This is key to prevent cravings later on in the day. A good breakfast can really make a difference. Make sure the breakfast is high in fiber. In one study, volunteers snacked 75% less during the day when eating a high-fibre diet compared to eating eggs and bacon. You could start your breakfast with a large fruit smoothie. I sometimes have a smoothie of 5-10 bananas and this keeps me sustained until lunch and longer. You could eat a few pieces of fruit at the start of your breakfast thought.

2. Eat fruit before every meal – as much as you desire. This is like eating your dessert first. Most of the time people search for that extra something at the end of the meal – this is your body wanting fruit (the sweetness!). So give it just that to begin with. Your meals should then leave you feeling more satisfied and less likely to crave.

Another aspect to cravings is emotional cravings. These are when an emotion triggers you to crave. It has also been called phantom hunger or emotional hunger because you aren’t really hungry but your body is using food to suppress feelings. Usually with emotional hunger you tend to overeat and want more even when you are stuffed. Below are two tips to help your recognize emotional hunger and to overcome it.

1. Observe yourself throughout a day. Observe your eating patterns and what triggers it. If an emotion does write it down. When you can see clearly what exactly is triggering your cravings, you can overcome them.

2. Write a list of things you can do instead of eat to overcome cravings. This can be as simple as sitting alone and allowing yourself to feel the feeling you would normally suppress with food, going for a walk or having a relaxing bath. Write a large list of alternatives to eating. Getting support is also important when first tackling our emotions head on.

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