I WANT IT… NOW!
Whenever I read a book and a selection of characters are, say, hanging around a cosy Irish farmhouse kitchen making pots of tea in a big old brown stoneware pot, I want a cup of tea. Now.
Or the scene is set on a warm summer’s evening: two people meet outside on the loggia of an Italian seaside villa and pull the cork out of a bottle of wine straight from the fridge, as condensation drips slowly down the cool, green, icy-cold glass. I think: Is it too early for a sauvignon blanc?
Does this say something about the author’s skills of evocation, or more about my feeble-minded suggestibility?
Or just the curious nature of food cravings? Has that notion itself – “craving” – been invented by Americans?
A fascinating article in the Wall Street Journal this week gathers together a raft of scientific research from around the world to explain food cravings. As the obesity epidemic continues apace, scientists say it is important to look at the urges that govern the food we eat.
The studies show that your body doesn’t really know what’s good for it (as your grandmother may have said). Food cravings are not “hormonal” or “instinctual”. Food cravings are NOT some subconcious effort by the body to correct imbalance for (say) more protein or salt or iron.
Cravings are, instead, a complex mix of social, cultural and psychological factors, heavily influenced by environmental cues.
For example: Japanese hanker after sushi while North American women want chocolate.
And as for that term “craving”?
“Many other languages don’t have a word for ‘craving.’ The concept seems to be uniquely important in American culture,” says one psychologist.
The author of the WSJ article, Melinda Beck, posed questions about the nature of food cravings – “is it really the food you crave, or the pleasant associations it brings? Or do you crave it partly because you know you shouldn’t have it? Will fighting the urge make it go away or only make it worse?”
The answers are surprising.
Among the findings so far:
Food cravings activate the same reward circuits in the brain as cravings for drugs or alcohol, according to functional MRI scans, tests that measure brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow.
Nearly everyone has food cravings occasionally, but women report having them more often than men, and younger people crave sweets more than older people do.
In one study, 85% of men said they found giving in to food craving satisfying; of women, only 57% said they did.
Researchers haven’t found any correlation between food cravings and hormone levels, and postmenopausal women don’t report a big drop in chocolate cravings, a 2009 survey found.
While many women report craving salt, fat or bizarre combinations of food during pregnancy, researchers can’t find much scientific validation. They suspect folklore and the power of suggestion instead.
Ah, the power of suggestion.
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8 Responses to this article
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sue bell September 19, 2012
How cruel you are Hoopla a great big ad for Guylian chocolates next to an article on food cravings. Oh the humanity.
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Matt September 19, 2012
For what it’s worth I am currently in the middle of a strict 8 week eating and exercise plan known as “The 8 week challenge” (8WC). So when it comes to cravings I have some very real and very current first hand experience.
The 8WC is very similar to the Dukan diet, protein only for the first 2 weeks then slowly adding vegetables over the remaining 6 weeks. So I’ve recently gone cold turkey on all things sugar, alcohol, carbohydrate and deep fried.
What have I craved? Almost exclusively sugar. My energy levels plummeted and I just wanted something, anything to feel normal. Sugar is easy, it’s instant and it tastes nice. I haven’t missed anything else.
A good rule of thumb to avoid cravings is never let yourself get overly hungry. Eat every 3 hours, even if it’s only something small and drink lots of water throughout the day. You’ll be less likely to reach for the Mars Bars if you feel you have something in your stomach already.
Anyhoo that’s just my 2 cents worth. -
Shell September 20, 2012
I find cravings only happen on highly restrictive diets. Or if you cut out a favorite food group.
I crave bacon and eggs mostly. Now I ANSI used to eggs in my diet that if I go more than a day without I get cravings.
I find I don’t get cravings often. I just eat what I like, since I started doing that I lost weight.
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Aeron Winters September 20, 2012
The only time I ever had cravings was when I was pregnant. I craved salt like tomorrow there was going to be no salt to be had. It was really weird because I do not have a salt tooth at all. In fact, usually I can’t tolerate anything too salty. Everyone kept telling me I would have problems because of all the salt I was eating…but nope, I had none whatsoever. Whether or not science can find a connection, I still believe my body must have needed the salt while pregnant because the cravings only lasted until delivery and under normal circumstances had I consumed that much salt I would have had a lot of fluid retention.
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Ro. Watson September 20, 2012
I want it now~ so I would have failed the marshmallow test for 4 year olds~hence,grand achievements and postponment of instant gratification are not for me~ meanwhile, broccoli is apparently not so good for people with thyroid issues~ who’d have thought this were so~and one lesson from this is :everything good for some, is not good for all….
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blu-k September 20, 2012
I find the info on pregnancy weird as my pregnancy craving were so real and acute – I don’t normally have a sweet tooth, but I was a sugar fiend for both my pregnancies, and as soon as the baby was out the cravings stopped. I find it hard to believe it was just psychological … hmmm.
