Oh those crazy cravings!

Do you ever get that insane craving for a Blueberry Cheesecake in the middle of the night? You toss and turn in bed, drink a gallon of water, answer the crossword puzzle, but all you think about is getting the first bite of that oh-so-creamy delight. Nothing else matters. You’ve got to have it!

Add to that, the irony that all you crave are those that are “bad” for you. I don’t know about you but I’ve never heard of anyone craving for a carrot stick with the same intensity as the not-so-healthy double fudge brownie.

Now there is a silver lining to the dark clouds hovering over the would-be overeaters everywhere. New studies show that you can learn to curb cravings without feeling deprived. Scientists have zoned in on the source of your cravings. No, it’s not belly, it’s your head. They’ve figured out ways to tweak the way you think about food so you have less cravings and feel satiated with just smaller bites. I kid you not! Read on...

Blame it on history

Now, before you beat yourself up with guilt over your cravings, it turns out that you’re not to blame. Well, not really. Blame it on your ancestors. Studies show that our desire for decadent foods may date back thousands of years ago. Go figure! Dr. Evan Forman at Drexel University in Philadelphia said, “Throughout most of history, food scarcity was a real risk, so it made sense for the body to encourage eating.”

But why crave the “sinful” foods? Dr. Forman has an answer to that too. It turns out that because fatty foods or food that are salty or sweet tend to sustain life more, scientists theorize that favoring them proved an evolutionary advantage, although Dr. Forman says, “Of course, now those same cravings probably confer a disadvantage.” Now don’t you feel evolution has played a cruel joke on us?

Now that you’ve convinced yourself that your craving for unhealthly food as genetic, you can now do damage control. Before the urge to wolf down a whole packet of chocolate chip cookies overpower you, try stashing light versions, like choco-chip granola bars which contains only 90 calories. Do you have the urge to eat ice cream? Try fruit yoghurt instead. In short, be smart on snacks. That way, all hell won’t break loose.

Chemical culprits

Sometimes, your body just goes haywire. Food cravings that happen during premenstrual syndrome (PMS) can be blamed on the chemical changes in your brain. It’s not just your imagination or a cliché as men are wont to say. Research suggests that when you have PMS, the amount of serotonin, that feel-good chemical circulating in your body, tends to be lower, which likewise lowers your resistance threshold on comfort foods, making you more susceptible to gorge on junk food. So when you bite into that rich chocolate cake, your brain releases dopamine, the same “reward chemical” that kicks in during sex or the ones that respond to the stimulus of romantic love, says Anthropologist Helen Fisher of Rutgers University in New Jersey. No wonder chocolates can be so addicting. (Sidebar: When you experience a breakup, the best way to combat heartache would be to binge on chocolates. Trust me, it will have the same effect as being in love.)

Most common cravings

According to a study from Tufts University in Boston, the following are the most common food women crave for:

• 31 percent of women report chocolate is the food they covet most.

• 24 percent of women say their strongest desire is for salty snacks.

• 10 percent of women admit they regularly long to eat ice cream.

• 10 percent of women crave brownies, cookies and cakes.

• 10 percent of women pine for carbs, such as pasta and bread.

• 7 percent of women wish for protein, such as fish and meat.