Better Health & Living

Issue: January 2007
Curb Those Cravings
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Curb Those Cravings

Here are 10 tips to help you halt your upward trend.

by Elizabeth Somer, RD

Nearly all of us succumb to our cravings once in a while. Why are those urges so strong that even the most ardent determination can crumble when faced with the right temptation?

There are almost as many theories about what governs appetite and triggers out-of-control eating as there are enticing foods. “We have a lot to learn about appetite and satiety, and it’s likely we’ll find, in the long run, that the underlying reasons people overeat are a combination of factors,” says Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., professor of nutritional sciences at Pennsylvania State University. Granted, the reasons are complicated, but they can be distilled down to a few simple factors.

Born to Overeat

We don’t typically crave broccoli or tofu, and there’s a biological reason for that, says Adam Drewnowski, Ph.D., professor and director of the human nutrition program at the University of Michigan. “The human body evolved, over thousands of years, an elaborate and powerful appetite system to ensure we eat—and eat well—when energy-dense food is around,” he says. “Fat, especially when sweetened with sugar, is the most efficient way to obtain energy.”

All of our appetite-control chemistry entices us to eat sweet and creamy foods. For example, two nerve chemicals, serotonin and neuropeptide Y (NPY), turn on our cravings for carbs. When serotonin is low or NPY is high, our bodies urge us to turn to cake, cookies, pie, candy, or any other carbohydrate-rich food, which boosts serotonin and drops NPY levels, shutting off the cravings. Our preference for fat, from fudge to ice cream, is fueled by another set of chemicals that are triggered by even the sight or smell of food. This “eat-it-now system” was designed to work at a time when the food supply was low and unpredictable and it was vitally important to eat when food presented itself. Unfortunately, it’s still working today—every time we open an overstuffed fridge.

You can’t will away these chemicals, nor would you want to—hey, caving in to a craving now and then is one of life’s little pleasures! But you can rein in an out-of-control craving with a few little tricks.

  1. Don’t ignore your chemistry. When you skip breakfast, allow more than a few hours to elapse between meals, or adopt a drastic diet, nerve chemicals amplify appetite to full-scale binge level. To avoid this, eat regularly throughout the day and make dietary changes gradually, which will help reprogram your body’s appetite clock. Also, find healthful ways to satisfy a craving, such as dipping fresh fruit in fat-free chocolate syrup or dunking a raisin bagel in apple-cinnamon yogurt to satisfy a sweet tooth.
  2. Cut back on caffeine and sugar. These two wreak havoc with blood sugar levels, increasing the chances that you’ll overeat later on. In fact, recent research from Princeton University suggests that sugar may be addictive—the more we eat, the more we want. A cup of coffee or a small dessert once in a while with a meal won’t hurt, but cut back on caffeine and sugar, or avoid them altogether if you’re fueling your day with these quick fixes.
  3. Choose foods that satisfy. Fill your plate with vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes. They’re high in fiber and relatively low in calories, so you can eat more, plus they leave you feeling full. Dine on stews, soups, and other water-based foods that taste richer than they are. Also, include a little meat, chicken, fish, or fat-free dairy foods at each meal and snack, since protein increases satiation.
  4. Focus on flavor. Add canned chiles or roasted red peppers to a chicken sandwich, salsa to scrambled eggs, or nutmeg to peaches to wow your taste buds as you eat nutritious foods.
  5. Cut down on fat. Fat-laden desserts and snacks are energy dense, so it’s easy to gobble too many calories. The good news is that you can reprogram food preferences, say researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Prevention Research Center in Seattle, who found that women lost their desire for fatty foods the longer they stuck with low-fat diets. The secret is to avoid feeling deprived, so satisfy your cravings with low-fat, creamy foods, such as custard-style yogurt, fat-free half-and-half in hot cocoa, and fat-free cream cheese with chutney and apple slices in a sandwich.

Dieting Triggers Cravings

Pigging out is fueled by more than just brain chemistry. Dieting can lead to food cravings, too, because we don’t take well to deprivation; the more a food is off-limits, the more we want it. Dieting also numbs the hunger response, so we lose the ability to know when we’re hungry or full and can misinterpret any uncomfortable feeling as hunger. Food becomes a tranquilizer when we’re anxious and a mood elevator when we’re depressed. It fills us up when we’re emotionally starved, comforts us when we’re lonely, and entertains us when we’re bored.

How do you stop this diet-induced emotional eating and get back in touch with your body and real hunger? First, stop drastic dieting. Then…

  1. Listen to your body. If you are truly hungry (your stomach rumbles and feels empty), ask yourself what would satisfy that particular hunger. Then eat a moderate serving of what seems like a good match. If you want something crunchy, try baby carrots and fat-free ranch dressing instead of potato chips or have some baked sweet potato wedges to satisfy that French fry craving.
  2. Eat mindfully. Pay attention to and enjoy every mouthful, then stop when you’ve eaten half of the food, sit back, and listen to your body. If you still feel physically hungry, have a few more bites. Stop when you’re comfortably full.
  3. Graze, don’t gorge. Eat mini-meals and snacks when you’re hungry. Don’t wait until you’re ravenous and ready to binge on too much of all the wrong stuff.
  4. Throw out perfectionist thinking. Stop labeling foods “good” or “bad,” diets as something you’re “on” or “off,” or yourself as someone who is a “success” or “failure” based on your weight. In short, erase the diet mentality from your mind, your attitudes, and your life.
  5. Seek comfort elsewhere. Think through, rather than eat through, feelings. Learn to identify your emotions and fulfill your needs with something other than food, such as daily exercise, spending time in nature, developing close friendships, meditating, or even seeing a counselor.

“The critical issue is that it is fatty and sweet foods that we crave; you never hear anyone say, ‘I just can’t stop eating celery,’ ” says Dr. Drewnowski. Thus, controlling your cravings comes down to stocking the kitchen with real, not processed, foods and focusing on your health.

And don’t forget exercise. “Daily physical activity shifts the body from energy excess to energy need, so what is considered overeating when you’re sedentary is just fueling your body when you’re fit,” he says.  

Elizabeth Somer, R.D., is the author of several books, including her most recent, The 10 Habits That Mess Up a Woman’s DietThe 10 Habits That Mess Up a Woman's Diet (www.elizabethsomer.com)

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