Seratonin and Food Cravings

One of the most common types of food cravings, especially amongst women, is for foods, or drinks, containing sugar, carbohydrates or alcohol. This leads to the well-known cravings for some kind of candy bar, chocolate, or any type of sweet thing. What most people do not understand is that these cravings are often not the result of some kind of psychological problem, but rather of physical triggers, such as hormonal imbalances, stress ? that could even be caused by an ill-conceived diet ? or insomnia.

One of the most common of these physical triggers is some kind of hormonal imbalance, especially a lack of a substance called serotonin. One of the most common causes of a lack of serotonin is, in fact, poor nutrition ? not necessarily little food, but food that is not particularly nutritious. Seratonin is a substance that makes us feel happy, so a lack of it can lead to sadness or depression, which in turn often leads to a desire for food, especially something sweet, to counteract the feeling of sadness.

Careful with Those Diets!

Another cause of cravings, paradoxically, could be a low-carb diet. This type of diet can lead to resistance to insulin, that is to say the body does not absorb the insulin, again leading to a craving for more sugar or carbohydrates. In fact, a diet can bring on cravings for another, unrelated reason. When you are on a diet you often feel stress. This affects your metabolism and also leads to a craving for more food. So, as you can see, a diet that is not well-balanced and nutritious, could easily have just the opposite effect to the one desired ? you could end up gaining weight by giving in to the cravings created!

In fact, any kind of stress is bad for cravings. Extreme stress, and severe insomnia (which is often caused by stress as well) can lead to what is known as ?adrenal fatigue?, caused by a state of near exhaustion. This results in the brain signaling for help and creating a craving, usually once again, for sugar and carbohydrates.

Balanced and Nutritious Foods

It is clear, then, that food cravings may have a physical cause, and that physical cause is often affected by the diet we follow. Therefore, it is essential, if we are to overcome our cravings ? or at least those triggered by hormonal, especially serotonin, imbalance or by an unbalanced diet ? to make sure we follow a balanced, nutritious diet. And, as with all diets, regular exercise will also be a very useful complement.