Wednesday 14 May 2014

Curb Your Food Cravings

Have this ever happened with you that wanted eat a burger so desperately that you were even ready to drive an hour just to make sure you got it? Throughout your complete meeting didn’t catch even a single word but were just salivating over thought of chocolate Have you ever left important tasks you were doing in between just to go to a sweet shop to get cake, pastry or other sweets  to eat no matter how much your work suffered. If so, then you have probably faced food cravings.



But we actually most of times fail to understand that what is actually craving and how is it different from hunger. Cravings may seem to be same as hunger but in actual they are quite different. Hunger is controlled by the stomach, but cravings are controlled by the brain. Hunger is basic requirement of your body for survival but craving is communication of your body which may be outcome of some emotional, work stress, some deficiency or may be some other reason. Craving is such intense desire for a food that you are unable to overcome it.

Common causes of cravings :
  • Dieting : When you are following a strict diet and are told to stop certain types of food you tend to crave more for them which results in binging onto those foods. Which in turn defeats the whole point of a diet.
  • Body Needs : It's possible that you are probably craving nutrients your body is deficient in. For e.g. Low blood sugar can cause carbohydrate cravings, since low glucose levels indicate that the body's glycogen stores have depleted.
  • Lifestyle : Some cravings exist due to habit. For e.g. in your family everyone must be used to of having too much sweets while you were growing up but now it has become a habit for you having too much sweets.
  • Emotional eating : Emotional ups and downs can also be the cause of food cravings, if you think certain foods as "comfort" foods. If you continually reach for a chocolate every time you're stressed out or upset, you may begin to associate the taste of chocolate with feeling better.

How to Fight Cravings :
  • Eat regular meals : Eating regular meals ensures that your blood sugar stays at an optimum level, and makes sure that body doesn't become starved for calories thus avoiding the cravings
  • Have healthy snacks : If you aware that you have to keep without meal for several hours then keep healthy snacks like fruits, nuts etc nearby, so that you don't tend to jump on unhealthy food as soon as you see it.
  • Learn to distract yourself : Most food cravings don’t last longer than 20 minutes, so if you are able have self control and distract yourself for that long after your cravings hit, it will likely pass off. Try engaging yourself in an activity that requires intense and get your mind off the craving.
  • Drink plenty of water : Water, besides being necessary for survival, can help curb hunger and make you feel full, in effect, eliminating cravings.
  • Avoid strict dieting : Restraining certain foods from your diet will only make you want them more. Rather than blacklisting certain foods from your diet, try including them in moderation.

Along with these easy tips you can also consider including a diet supplement in your diet as it will cover up for the deficiencies of various vitamins and minerals which lead to certain type of cravings. One of such dietary supplement rich in all essential vitamins and minerals is Reeveta. It fulfills all your dietary requirements and keeps you fit and active

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