Cravings

Dr. rer. nat. Daniela Oesterle is a molecular biologist, human geneticist and trained medical editor. As a freelance journalist, she writes texts on health topics for experts and laypeople and edits specialist scientific articles by doctors in German and English. She is responsible for the publication of certified advanced training courses for medical professionals for a renowned publishing house.

More about the experts All content is checked by medical journalists.

Cravings describes the irrepressible urge for something sweet, salty or fatty. With this signal, the body normally shows us emphatically that it is lacking vital nutrients. But cravings can also be a symptom of physical and mental illness or hormonal changes. Read more about the causes of cravings and how to get rid of them here.

Brief overview

• Cravings - what is it? a sudden, very strong feeling of hunger that can hardly be withstood.
• Cravings - what's behind it? Signal for an urgent nutrient / energy deficit (e.g. after physical or mental exertion, long meal breaks, during growth phases). Cravings can also indicate a mental or physical illness (e.g. diabetes, overactive thyroid, eating disorders).
• What can be done against cravings? If you occasionally crave physical or mental activity: pay attention to a regular, balanced diet, get enough sleep, avoid stress and boredom as far as possible. Pathological causes require medical treatment.
• Cravings - when to go to the doctor? Among other things, in case of cravings during pregnancy, breastfeeding or growth phases; in addition, if the feeling of hunger persists despite sufficient food intake or a mental illness could be behind it.

Cravings: causes and possible diseases

Cravings is a special form of hunger. It comes suddenly and you can hardly withstand it - in contrast to normal hunger, which can be endured for a long time. Cravings triggers the indomitable urge to have something to eat quickly. The desire for something sweet, salty or fatty drives those affected to eat - no matter what time it is or where you are.

Harmless causes

If the body lacks important nutritional components that it needs for energy production, it can signal this with a ravenous hunger attack. Such occasional cravings can be essential to prevent dangerous nutritional deficiencies. Particularly in times of increased energy requirements, a feeling of cravings can occur, for example during pregnancy or in growth phases.

Overall, a feeling of cravings as a harmless body signal for nutrient or energy deficiency can have the following causes:

• long meal breaks
• many (between) meals that provide little energy (e.g. sweets, white flour products, etc.)
• physical exertion (e.g. sport, physical work)
• mental exertion (e.g. concentrated work for hours)
• lack of sleep
• pregnancy
• Breastfeeding
• Growth phases (in adolescents)

Physical illness as a cause

If you are constantly hungry and have uncontrolled binge eating, you should take it seriously and have a doctor clarify the cause. Because cravings can also be a dangerous signal for metabolic diseases or hormonal dysregulation such as:

• Diabetes (diabetes mellitus)
• Overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism)
• Liver disease
• Metabolic diseases in which messenger substances for the feeling of satiety are disturbed (e.g. obesity = obesity)

Mental illness as a cause

The psyche as well as learned or accustomed behavior can also play a role in cravings. A piece of chocolate after dinner or while watching TV can trigger a pleasant feeling, reaching for the cookie box during stress can (supposedly) calm the nerves, and a sweet dessert after dinner “simply belongs”.

If the mind and body get used to the energy-supplying joy, they ask for it again and again. If the object of desire is then not available, a ravenous feeling for sweet things arises that wants to be satisfied.

Regular cravings can also be the symptom of serious psychological problems and illnesses such as eating disorders:

• Anorexia nervosa: Those affected avoid food intake as much as possible and especially avoid high calorie consumption. They often exercise excessively and / or use laxatives for fear of gaining weight. If the weight is very low, the body can react with food cravings and binge eating.
• Bulimia (bulimia nervosa): In the disease, also known as the binge-eating addiction, those affected regularly succumb to binge eating, during which they ingest large amounts of food. They then vomit or take other measures to get rid of the calories they have consumed (e.g. taking laxatives).
• Binge eating disorder: This is understood to be recurring binge eating, in which those affected eat large amounts of food within a short period of time; they feel that they cannot stop eating, but unlike bulimics, they rarely take measures to control their weight afterwards.

If you are one of those people who regularly suffer from food cravings for psychological reasons, please talk to your trusted doctor about your problems. There are very good therapies that can help you break out of the dangerous and unhealthy cycle.

Other causes of food cravings

• Stress, intense emotions
• Diets
• migraine
• Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
• Worm infections (e.g. tapeworm)
• Alcohol addiction
• Cannabis use
• Medication (e.g. psychotropic drugs)

Cravings: You can do that yourself

Cravings due to a lack of nutrients can be avoided or satisfied if you do not let this minus arise or if you breastfeed as quickly as possible.

The first rule to prevent food cravings is a regular and balanced diet. In the morning, at noon and in the evening you should use high-quality foods that fill the body's energy depot over a longer period of time. These include whole grain products, fruits and vegetables, and legumes (lentils, beans, etc.).

The following tips also help against cravings:

• Take time to eat and don't rush to gobble it up. This gives the body time to develop a feeling of satiety (see below).
• Avoid snacks with "empty calories" (chocolate, chips, etc.). These cause the blood sugar to skyrocket and then quickly drop again. Reach fruit or nuts if you feel hungry between main meals.
• Get enough sleep. Because too little sleep increases the concentration of endogenous hormones and substances that stimulate the appetite.
• Try to avoid both stress and boredom. For example, learn B. relaxation techniques such as yoga or progressive muscle relaxation or go for a walk instead of eating out of boredom.
• Do not get your body used to regular "rewards" of sweet or salty foods between meals, while watching TV, etc. If you do not want to do without chocolate and the like, it is preferable to eat them directly after the main meal. Then you are usually no longer hungry, just appetite and nibble on it less. In addition, your meal should ideally contain sufficient fiber so that the sugar in the "dessert" can not cause the blood sugar to skyrocket so quickly.

Cravings: When Should You See a Doctor?

If you only rarely resort to sweet or salty food because of cravings (usually following physical or mental exertion or long meal breaks), you do not necessarily need to see a doctor.

In pregnant women and adolescents, the cause of food cravings is usually not a cause for concern, but rather indicates the increased energy requirement. Nevertheless, as a precaution, cravings during pregnancy and growth phases should be clarified by a doctor in order to rule out possible metabolic diseases and to prevent malnutrition.

If you are eating healthily, you should definitely see a doctor, eat regularly and sufficiently, but still feel hungry. This is an alarm signal from the body, the cause of which must be clarified by a specialist!

You should also consult a doctor if you suspect psychological reasons such as stress, violent emotions, depression or an eating disorder behind food cravings.

Cravings: what does the doctor do?

The doctor will first talk to you in detail in order to gather important information about your medical history (medical history). For example, he asks how long you have had bouts of cravings, how often and in what situations they occur. He also asks about your eating habits, including how often you eat each day, what you usually eat and under what conditions (while watching TV, hurriedly standing, etc.). Important information also concerns the use of medication, your alcohol consumption and any accompanying symptoms such as sweating or headaches.

The conversation is followed by physical examinations and laboratory tests such as blood tests, which can be used to clarify diabetes mellitus or other metabolic diseases, for example.

Once the doctor has found out the reason for your cravings, he can offer appropriate treatment. Some examples:

If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, you will receive an individually adapted diet and exercise plan and - if necessary - medication (blood sugar-lowering tablets or insulin injections). Thyroid diseases usually also have to be treated with medication. In the case of psychologically induced food cravings, psychotherapy and, if necessary, drug treatment can be useful.

If diets, lack of sleep or stress are behind the cravings, the doctor will give you tips on how to prevent the binge eating. Depression requires therapeutic or drug treatment, depending on its severity. If medication (e.g. psychotropic drugs) is the cause of the cravings, the doctor will seek an alternative if possible.

Background information on hunger

Hunger is a signal necessary for survival. It draws our attention to the fact that the body needs food to generate energy. He shows this particularly clearly with the familiar growling stomach.

The feeling of hunger arises through a complex process in which various information (messenger substances, sensory perceptions, etc.) converge in the brain. Relevant brain regions are the hunger and satiety centers in the hypothalamus. The brain evaluates the incoming information and then, if necessary, regulates the balance between energy consumption and food intake - when there is an energy deficit, the feeling of hunger is triggered.

But some people are constantly hungry - these regulatory mechanisms are disturbed in them. Then diseases such as obesity (obesity) or eating-vomiting addiction (bulimia) can occur.

Blood sugar - the hunger regulator

Blood sugar - i.e. the glucose level in the blood - plays a central role in regulating hunger and thus also cravings. Glucose (grape sugar) is a simple carbohydrate and our body's most important source of energy. It can either be immediately converted into energy or initially stored in cells in the form of glycogen. The less glucose circulates in the blood (i.e. the lower the blood sugar level), the greater the feeling of hunger or even cravings.

The body gets glucose (for the most part) from food, that is, from various carbohydrates. These can be used by the body at different speeds depending on their chemical structure:

Simple carbohydrates can be used quickly. They therefore make the blood sugar rise quickly, but also quickly drop again. They include, among others:

• Grape sugar (glucose)
• Table sugar (sucrose)
• honey
• Chocolate and other sweets
• White flour products (baked goods, pasta)

Complex carbohydrates are more complex to break down into their components, but are much more effective in terms of energy balance. The blood sugar level does not rise as quickly when they are used and then falls again more slowly. As a result, the body is supplied with the energy source over a longer period of time - after consuming complex carbohydrates, one is full longer. Which includes:

• Whole grain products (muesli, baked goods, pasta)
• Legumes (lentils, beans)
• Vegetable fruit

Feeling of satiety - too slow for cravings

The feeling of fullness sets in around 15 minutes after eating. Various signals from the body contribute to this: if, for example, a lot of glucose is already circulating in the blood, the body releases more insulin - the hormone ensures that blood sugar is transported into the body's cells and activates the saturation center. Even when food fills the stomach and the stomach wall expands, the satiety center is informed via hormones (released from the stomach wall). Last but not least, certain food components also trigger signals to the brain - especially certain protein building blocks (amino acids) and building blocks of fats (fatty acids). These signals tell the brain: "I'm full."

When we have cravings, we often greedily ingest very large amounts of food in a very short time. The brain and body are often not fast enough to curb these binge eating in time. The feeling of satiety has no chance of setting in in time - as soon as it occurs, we have already eaten much more in our cravings than was actually necessary to be satiated.

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