How to eliminate food cravings, in 7 steps

Appetite and psychological state are closely related, and you need to know how to influence both.

In the act of eating, although it may seem only a physical act, psychological variables are also involved. For this reason, in recent times there is some awareness of how our emotional state affects our eating and how our eating affects our emotional state.

In fact, as we explained in the article "Night Eating Syndrome: causes, symptoms and treatment of this eating disorder", anxiety or depression can lead a person to experience a strong desire to eat. Now, anxiety about eating can have different causes: psychological, endocrine, contextual causes, etc.

In this article we will talk about food cravings and what we can do to reduce them..

How to eliminate anxiety about eating

Reducing anxiety about eating is possible if you carry out different strategies that include both mental, nutritional, lifestyle, etc. aspects. But what are these strategies? In the following lines we explain them to you.

1. 5 meals a day

Our habits play a very important role when it comes to developing food cravings, and for this reason the schedules in which we eat and the number of times we eat per day have an impact on our hunger level. have an impact on our level of hunger. If we have a more or less fixed schedule, we give a message to the body when we are going to eat food.

Eating 5 meals a day is key for the body to be well nourished and there is less chance of snacking between meals.. If we feel satiated, food cravings are reduced.

2. Remove from your sight those foods you don't want to eat.

Many times, food cravings can arise because we have seen that chocolate bar in the fridge or those cookies in the kitchen cupboard. There are foods that are irresistible temptations, especially those rich in fat and sugar.. In fact, food stimulates the same brain regions as drugs, brain areas such as those associated with pleasure, so we should avoid certain stimuli that lead us to eat impulsively.

While this pleasure-related brain area helps us to repeat behaviors that are necessary for our survival, this biological strategy may not be entirely appropriate when the food is not of high quality. The reinforcement area, which is the brain region involved in this process, is located in the Ventral Tegmental Area.

3. Eat complex carbohydrates

Our diet can make us more or less hungry during the day. An example of this is when we eat industrial pastries and foods that cause hyperglycemia. With this type of food we may feel satiated at the time, but soon after we feel a great anxiety to eat because the drop in sugar causes an effect of binge eating called "carving". The best alternative to avoid this is to eat foods with complex carbohydrates, e.g., brown rice, which is a good source of carbohydrates.for example, brown rice, which keep Blood sugar at bay and keep us satiated for a longer period of time.

4. Do physical exercise

Food cravings can also appear when we do not have healthy habits that allow us to be disciplined. Therefore, practicing physical exercise and eating healthy foods keeps us in check and helps us in our overall well-being. Positive self-esteem, which increases if we do sports but if we do not obsess about sports training, also affects our mood. This also has an impact on not feeling anxious about food..

5. Practice Mindfulness eating

Mindfulness is an ancient practice that has its origins in Buddhist wisdom, which allows a person to live in the present moment, in connection with himself and helps to adopt a mentality of self-compassion.

Mindfulness can also be related to food, known as mindful eating.This is known as mindful eating. This practice allows a shift towards healthy living, towards meeting our own body and what we eat, which provides greater enjoyment of food, greater health and reduces anxiety about eating.

6. Become aware of what you eat and educate yourself.

But not only can you become aware of what you eat with Mindfulness eating, you can also learn about nutrition in general, something that will provide you with knowledge and help you choose those foods that will make you feel better. Eating foods that are low in sugar, high in fiber or high in protein are options that will allow us to reduce food cravings. Surely your body will thank you, and your mind too.

7. Go to a psychologist

Many of the habits we have can affect our well-being, and the same thing can happen when it comes to eating. Sometimes, it is not easy to modify some behaviors and some people may suffer from emotional problems or disorders that cause anxiety about eating. We have already discussed Night Eating Syndrome in the entry of this article, but there are other disorders, for example, Binge Eating Disorder, that are also related to anxiety.

On the other hand, much research suggests that depression can lead a person to eat large amounts of food.. Because of this, there may be a psychological problem behind the craving to eat that needs to be treated by a specialist, and psychologists can do an excellent job in this regard.

Psychology of eating

A trend that is gaining more and more acceptance and in which the psychologist's work is extremely important is the psychology of eating. The fact is that our mind and our body are closely relatedand that is why food anxiety can be understood from this discipline.

The psychology of food covers interesting topics such as: What foods affect our mood? or How the management of emotions is decisive when following a diet plan?

• If you want to know more about this field, you can read the article: "Food psychology: definition and applications".