Why You Crave Certain Foods—and How to Regain Control

Bouncing from craving to craving can jeopardize your health and well-being—learn how to manage food cravings instead. 

What Makes It a Craving?

Who hasn’t experienced a craving for pizza, or salty chips, or a bubbly soda or seltzer at some point? Cravings aren’t always for “treat”-type foods, but they are specific to particular foods or food types. In fact, that’s one way you can tell if something is a craving or simply an indicator of hunger.

Hunger is a collection of physiological signals that your body needs fuel, but cravings begin in the mind. Cravings are noted as an intense desire, and it’s estimated that 90% of us have them. Cravings can change over time (we may not crave the same foods as adults that we do as children), but hunger signals do not morph as we age. Just because cravings don’t tend to reflect actual hunger, there are possible physical causes.

What Isn’t a Typical Cause of Food Cravings?

The commonality of food cravings has led to numerous popular theories about why we are drawn so strongly to certain foods and tastes. But first, let’s cross one of these ideas off the list right now, since it has significant flaws… 

Specific nutrient deficiencies are unlikely to be the cause of food cravings. Aside from a very few well-established nutrient-related cravings (such as iron deficiency prompting a craving for chewing on ice), there isn’t enough scientific evidence to back up claims that all our food cravings are the body’s way of telling us what nutrients we need. 

As much as you might want to believe that your desire for a chocolate bar is due to your body needing more magnesium, it’s highly improbable—despite what “influencers” and vitamin supplement companies might tell you. The same goes for your chips-and-salsa craving being caused by low blood sodium—that’s a rare condition, and most of us get plenty of sodium in our regular diets. If your body needed more magnesium, it could be satisfied by a variety of other foods that deliver equal amounts of it (or more), such as legumes, nuts, leafy greens, yogurt, and poultry. As far as I know, very few people claim to crave big bowls of cooked spinach. 

What Are Typical Causes of Food Cravings?

So what is it that makes us feel like we need to have ice cream right now? Sometimes, all it takes to get those mint-chocolate-chip craving thoughts going is seeing someone else with an ice cream cone or walking past the ice cream shop. And in fact, the mental imagery we create for ourselves in response to a thought about a particular food may further prompt us to succumb to a craving. But if your cravings are not one-off situations, and you experience intense food cravings daily, the cause is likely a combination of other factors: our life experiences, physiology, and mind may all be involved. 

Personal Preferences

It seems obvious: we crave foods that we actually enjoy. And we don’t crave things that we don’t like. If we did crave things that we didn’t enjoy, that would give credence to the “we crave what our body needs” theory that I dispelled earlier, but it’s just not so. But beyond our unique lists of favorite foods, life experiences also play a role in the development of our cravings. For example, when people move away from the country where they grew up, they often crave the cultural foods of their childhood. Those foods that remind them of home, but that they have a hard time finding in their new location. That even happens when we move from one area of our country to another. By the same turn, we may also acquire new favorite “craving foods” from our travels. 

Hormones

Hormones are a hot topic these days—and rightly so, since they impact so many body systems and conditions. Body levels of various hormones can promote cravings, especially during pregnancy, when 50-90% of women report experiencing them. In people who menstruate, fluctuations in hormone levels through the cycle may increase food cravings. Chocolate cravings just before menstruation are commonly reported and may be linked with estradiol levels. Differences in circulating levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin, which increases appetite, seem to boost what’s known as hedonic eating behavior. Hedonic eating is driven by the palatability of the food, not physiological need. A study of 339 individuals found that higher ghrelin levels were associated with an increased frequency of eating carbohydrates and starches over a 6-month period. Cortisol is another hormone that affects eating; it is discussed more below. 

Sleep Status

Research shows that people who don’t get enough sleep tend to snack more than those who do. And they especially seem to be drawn to sweet snacks. Even if overall food consumption doesn’t increase with a lack of zzzs, studies seem to support that the sleep-deprived are drawn to more treat-type foods. Aim for 7+ hours of sleep per night (for adults) to help yourself naturally feel less snacky.

Unbalanced Diet 

A diet that is heavily weighted toward carbohydrates, or lacking protein or fiber, may predispose you to food cravings. Carbohydrates are quickly digested and don’t contribute to long-lasting fullness. On the other hand, dietary protein is known to contribute to satiety. A 2020 meta-analysis helps explain some of the ways this occurs: protein consumption suppresses ghrelin and appetite when measured within hours of eating. 

A 2010 study of overweight men who consumed a higher-protein, calorie-restricted diet, where 25% of calories came from protein, reported a significant decrease in late-night cravings to eat and preoccupation with food thoughts. Adequate fiber intake is known to increase satiety and is digested slowly in the gastrointestinal tract. It’s also generally lacking in modern Western diets. Eating more whole foods and fewer processed foods, and focusing on nuts, seeds, whole grains, and fresh produce, will help keep cravings at bay.

Stress

Stress is known to impact eating behavior—in other words, “stress eating” is real. In humans, stress seems to either diminish appetite (in an estimated 30% of people) or increase the drive to eat energy-dense, comforting foods—the more common response. Cortisol is the body’s main stress hormone, and its levels fluctuate throughout the day in response to things like circadian rhythms, exercise, and stress, among others. Some studies indicate that high levels of cortisol are associated with increased desire for highly palatable foods such as those typically eaten in response to cravings. 

Breaking The Craving Cycle

Cutting down on food cravings is possible, although ridding yourself of them completely may not happen. Being strategic about what you do to break the craving cycle doesn’t necessarily mean making huge changes. Instead, putting some small, new habits into place can help you make headway against cravings. 

Stay Hydrated

There is no evidence that hydration status impacts food cravings per se. However, research does show that drinking plenty of water can help decrease overall hunger, boost energy, and keep your body running smoothly. If you’re less hungry, you’re less likely to experience strong cravings. And if you aren’t dragging around, you may be less tempted to boost your energy with some quick, carby treats. 

Edit Your Eating Environment

Is your persistent habit of butter-drenched popcorn triggered by a particular setting, such as sitting on the couch in front of the TV at night? Starting a new habit focused around the TV-couch setting could be just what you need to interrupt that habit chain. For example, you could: 

• Start a new habit of doing something with your hands while watching TV at night (think knitting or crafting) 

• Get a walking pad and start walking during TV time

• Move your TV to a different place in your home—one less conducive to eating.

• Consider rearranging your couch so that it sits perpendicular to the TV and facing other seating to create more of a conversation space instead of a  TV-focused space

Curating your environment could also mean finding a different dog-walking path that doesn’t pass by the donut shop or a new driving route home so that seeing your local fast-food drive-through doesn't tempt you. Finally, keeping craving foods out of sight at home by storing them on a high shelf, in the back of the freezer, or simply not keeping large bags or boxes of them at home is a smart option, too.

Satisfy Yourself With a Small Portion of The Real Thing

There’s no rule that says you can’t eat the food you are craving! If you try to avoid the food altogether, you may sometimes end up with a bigger craving. Plus, swapping something healthy for your usual craving food (say baby carrots for potato chips) often backfires because you’ll keep searching for foods to satisfy your craving (and may ultimately eat way more food than you originally intended). Instead, give yourself a small amount of the food you really want—in its authentic, “un-healthified” form. Think of it as  training yourself to enjoy smaller portions of treats so that cravings don’t derail your overall diet. Eat your craving food mindfully, slowly, and allow yourself to truly enjoy it instead of feeling guilty about it. 

Manage Your Stress

Since stress impacts sleep, eating patterns, and hormone levels, it pays to manage it. Chronically high cortisol levels can be managed through lifestyle changes like therapy, regular exercise, and mindfulness practice, as well as with the help of your physician, who can help you determine if there are physical causes and prescribe medications if necessary. 

Addressing the causes of cravings can help you manage them, and the skills you develop for handling them can assist you for years to come. Once you identify which contributing factors are impacting your eating behavior, you will be more effective in creating a suitable and effective prevention strategy.

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