Why Do We Crave Foods?

Fighting food cravings with knowledge

Why do I crave certain foods, like sugars, so often?
One of the most common “craving” misconceptions is that if you crave something, it must contain a vitamin, mineral or nutrient your body is lacking. The truth is, the body knows its basic needs if the body is relatively healthy. Often, though, one craves the very thing that makes the situation worse. For example, if you’re allergic to milk, yet you consume milk, the allergen streams histamines into the bloodstream. Histamines are vasodilators; they open and release the vascular system, which in turn creates a little bit of a high to the central nervous system. This “buzz” feels good – briefly – to the brain. Feeling good or nominally better even for a minute is far better than the alternative.

So over and over you crave, give in, release histamines, get the buzz and on and on. Meanwhile, inflammation sets in – releasing even more histamines! It’s a Catch 22 and exhausting for one’s immune system. Neuropsychological issues directly related to craving are stress, anxiety, depression, malaise, anger, resentment, emptiness and insecurity. Exercise, sunshine, being happy, watching funny movies – these all release healthy, happy-producing endorphins for the brain – all good alternatives to food abuse.

Are there certain hormone deficits that lead to severe early onset obesity?
Studies have shown that mutations in both the hormone leptin and the neurotransmitter proopiomelanocortin (POMC) lead to severe obesity at a young age in humans. These peptides are extremely important in appetite pathology, potentiating imbalances between nutrient ingestion, metabolism and neuropsychological regulation of appetite. The brain is central in coordinating and signaling both behavioral and physiological functioning, operating through multiple neurochemical systems. Two neuropeptides, NPY and galanin, trigger responses in the brain and react closely with carbohydrate utilization, or lack thereof, which synthesizes to fat!

Chronic consumption of high glycemic carbohydrates (65 percent or more of your total daily calories) activates suppression of the hypothalamic NPY. Combine this with high levels of glucose and insulin and the recipe for fat storage is on the mark. Continuous carb-loading increases the release of the two aforementioned neuropeptides, which creates further deficits of the hormones leptin as well as the neurotransmitter POMC. In turn, this triggers rapid fat storage and obesity.