WHAT HAPPENS WHEN… YOU GET CRAVINGS?
Whether it’s your daily walk-to-work croissant or evening alarm call come wine o’clock, food cravings leave us feeling as if we need something when we know we don’t. So, what’s behind those urges?
We all get them. It can be anything from a strong coffee to crunching ice. But are our food cravings trying to tell us something about our health and wellbeing? And how much attention should we pay to them? ‘Cravings are a desire for a specific thing – from exercise and sex to alcohol and cigarettes – and, in the case of food, the craving normally starts with general hunger, which then leads to a focus on what might satisfy you,’ says Jackie Andrade, professor of psychology at the University of Plymouth. It differs from general hunger and thirst. ‘With a craving, you’ll conjure up images about a food, think about the taste or smell and how much you’ll enjoy eating it. When you devote attention to it, it’s distracting you from other things, that is the craving.’ But why are they often so specific?