Why We Crave

We’ve all experienced the irresistible pull of food—whether it’s eating past the point of satiety, scarfing a sleeve of Oreos after dinner, or mindlessly plowing through a bag of chips—even when we’re full, or choosing “junk” instead of the healthy option. And while the common refrain around these choices is that we’re lacking willpower, that’s actually not the case. Our brain’s natural reward system, as well as our physiology, easily override logical, healthful choices by design. Understanding the science behind cravings helps explain why they can be so intense, why eliminating them has nothing to do with willpower—and what you need to do instead.

Understanding the Brain’s Reward System

As a means of survival, our ancient ancestors’ brains developed a neurochemical reward system to prompt vital behaviors using neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, to reward behavior that prolonged survival—such as eating, drinking, and socializing. Unfortunately, in modern times, this system is easily overridden by less-than-vital behaviors as they deliver an immediate and more powerful dopamine boost. Just think of the pleasure you experience eating a sugary treat versus a vegetable!

While we tend to associate dopamine with pleasure, it’s actually more about anticipation. When it comes to food cravings, your dopamine surges when you think about eating a certain food, not when you actually eat it. That’s because your brain learns to associate the delivery of a reward (sugar, fat and/or salt) with a certain food, thereby encoding it deep in the mesolimbic pathway, AKA, the brain’s reward circuit. And so, when prompted, whether by stress, a smell, boredom, or certain time of day, your brain releases that shot of dopamine. The dopamine hit prompts a craving, and that craving becomes difficult to ignore.

In fact, research shows that highly processed or ultra processed foods that are engineered to deliver concentrated hits of sugar, fat, and salt simultaneously can activate the brain’s reward circuit in ways similar to that of drug dependence. The brain starts to prioritize junk food over healthy choices because they reliably produce that neurochemical payoff.

The Hormone, Gut, and Blood Sugar Trifecta

It’s not just the fault of food scientists, however. While your brain is kicking off dopamine loop after dopamine loop, the rest of your body is joining in on the party, too.

Ghrelin and Leptin: These hunger hormones play a major role in cravings. Before meals, your ghrelin levels go up, making you hungry. After you eat, fat cells release leptin signaling satiety. But how this system works isn’t so black and white; poor sleep, chronic stress, and inconsistent diet can mess with how these hormones function by elevating ghrelin and weakening leptin, making you biologically primed to want to eat more, or eat things for quick energy (such as simple carbohydrates or fatty foods) even if your body doesn’t actually need food.

Cortisol: This stress hormone plays a major role in food cravings. When your cortisol is up, your body naturally craves calorie-dense foods. The reason why is rooted in our DNA, as when under physical threat the brain demands quick energy to help us survive. The problem is, psychological stress causes our brain to react in the same way as if we were being chased by a sabretooth tiger, causing us to eat calorie-dense comfort foods without the physical exertion to burn them up. Therefore, chronic psychological stress leads to cravings and eating in a way that has nothing to do with our actual nutritional needs.

Blood Glucose: Another cravings loop is the one controlled by uncontrolled blood sugar. For example, after eating a bunch of cookies (refined sugar/carbs), your blood sugar quickly spikes and crashes. Your brain interprets that crash as an energy emergency, leading to a strong craving (usually for more sugar), to get your glucose levels back up and putting you on a blood-sugar rollercoaster that prompts endless cravings.

The Gut Microbiome: Scientists discovered a cravings connection to your gut’s microbiome. The trillions of bacteria living in your digestive tract talk to your gut via the gut-brain axis. Certain bacterial populations have been shown to influence food preferences. A gut microbiome bombarded by a diet high in sugar produces signals that perpetuate sugar cravings—in a sense, bacteria demanding the food supply they most desire.

With all these systems at work—dopamine loops, hormonal imbalances, blood sugar crashes, and microbial signaling—it should come as no surprise that willpower alone just isn’t enough to fight cravings. Rest assured that your out-of-control food cravings aren’t some moral failings; rather, they’re a neurological and physiological response to genetics, stress, sleep, diet, and gut health.

We don’t just give up or give in. Rather, we strategically address all the underlying factors driving these systems—and that is where I can help.

How we can Rewire Your Brain

1.     Identify the root causes of your cravings. What we do together goes far beyond telling you what not to eat; rather, we focus on what you should be eating and what you can add to your diet to help address the root causes behind your cravings. Certain macronutrient and vitamin and mineral deficiencies can cause specific cravings. When you fuel your body adequately, you take away one less source for cravings.

2.     Help identify triggers. Non-food triggers are another piece of the cravings puzzle, and they include things like stress, boredom, poor sleep, or skipped meals. I can help you identify and address certain behavioral and/or environmental factors that may be causing you to eat in ways that feel uncontrollable.

3.     Teach you how to eat to balance blood sugar. Keeping your blood glucose steady throughout the day goes a long way in keeping cravings at bay, but everyone’s needs are unique. Together, we can customize an eating plan that supports blood sugar balance in a way that feels accessible for you.

4.     Build an individualized nutrition plan that supports gut health. As emerging research shows, your gut’s microbiome plays a much bigger role in cravings than previously understood. By understanding your past eating habits and current cravings, we can overhaul your gut health through targeted nutritional changes that can overhaul your microbiome.

The next time you cave in to a craving, don’t take it as a moral failing—instead, know that it’s your body trying to tell you something about what you really need—and contact me. By working together, we can ensure you stop fighting cravings and start understanding them, leading to fewer cravings and a lifetime of healthy eating.