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Studies have shown that women are more prone to having food cravings than men. Food cravings are irresistible urges to eat certain types of food at particular times, and they aren’t really eating disorders but instead are affected by hormonal imbalances in the body.

It was also found that gender had something to do with the causes of food cravings – that is, women tended to have urges when they were depressed while men were more inclined to indulge when they were in a mood for celebrating.

Are food cravings for real?
become hopeless at the thought of having to leave home in the middle of the night to look for a bottle of pickles or a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream for their pregnant partners. Due to the sheer volume of documented incidents during pregnancy, it has become an accepted truth, but the theory that they are linked to some deficiency in a particular nutrient is still debatable.

When these women wanted chocolate, the theorists believed, the body had a low supply of B vitamins. Cravings for red meat were said to be induced by low amounts of protein in the body. The desire to eat peaches all day were said to be brought about by the need for beta-carotene.

If this were true, however, then expecting moms should be craving for broccoli, spinach, whole wheat bread, milk, and all the other stuff that’s recommended to keep them healthy – not bizarre combinations such as pickles and cream cheese or ketchup on fruits!

What are the foods most craved?

Experimenting with a group of pregnant women, they found that 40% of them had the urge to consume something sweet, 33% looked for something salty, 17% had the yearning for spicy foods, while the rest went for sour candies or fruits and the highly unusual stuff.

Why should food cravings be curbed?

The intense urge to eat (and sometimes gorge) on certain types of food is not a cause for alarm in expectant mothers because the cravings usually wane after the first trimester or right after childbirth.

However, cravings in others can cause nutritional imbalance and obesity. One should therefore follow some tips to eliminate these cravings:

1. Give in, but practice restraint. This may sound contradicting, but it only means you can satisfy the urge by taking a bite or a small piece. Sometimes, the more you resist an urge, the more it will persist. Dr. Polivy, a Psychology professor at the University of Toronoto, says that forbidden foods only tend to look more attractive. If you’ve got a hankering for jelly doughnuts in the middle of the afternoon, help yourself to half a donut and a piece of fruit.

2. Substitute bad with good. An especially intense case of chocolate cravings can be managed by substituting your need for not-so-healthy sweets with sweet fruits. Mangoes, lychees, and canned fruit (in their own juices, not in heavy syrup) can satisfy your sweet tooth without causing harm.

3. Distract yourself. Cravings, when satisfied, stimulate the release of dopamine which is a feel-good hormone in our body. Healthier food substitutes can produce a similar reaction, as well as activities such as exercising. When you exercise, not only will you satisfy the reward circuitry in your ventral tegmental area (VTA); you’ll also be motivated to keep away from foods that can damage your physique.