Brain Food : Cravings Can Be Linked to Pleasant Physical Effects, Good Memories

Is the snack machine beckoning you? Are you dying for a Snickers bar or a bag of Doritos? Or maybe you yearn for something more exotic, such as caviar, Brie or mangoes.

We’ve all had cravings for certain foods--salty, sugary, spicy. Are we lured to certain foods because there is something lacking in our diet? According to Cindy Daversa, a registered dietitian at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, cravings are rarely due to nutritional deficiencies, but are often linked to pleasant feelings evoked by specific foods.

“Your past experience with whatever you’re craving is more than likely a good one,” she says. “Fond memories of a food get you to return for more.”

Registered dietitian Lisa Mosing of Fullerton agrees. “If you wonder why you yearn for a certain food, you may find the answer in your past. It could be that you crave pudding because on rainy days your mom made you some, or she cooked tamales every Fourth of July,” says Mosing, who is a nutritional consultant to corporations, hospitals and a major supermarket chain in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

In addition to good childhood memories, you may return to a food because of its pleasant physical effects. Eating a candy bar, for example, can create a chemical change in the brain that gives you a sense of well-being.

“Satisfying a craving sometimes releases a peptide in the brain that will in turn release mood-elevating chemicals that cause you to feel calm and content,” says Daversa.

Although we are all individual in our tastes, according to Daversa, there are a number of commonly craved foods. On the sugary side, candy bars top the list, followed by other sweets such as cookies, pies, cakes, hard candy and ice cream. For salty sensations, people look to potato chips, sunflower seeds and a host of packaged foods.

Mosing also finds that people usually go one of two ways when it comes to food texture.

“Some people like ‘comfort’ foods that are creamy and smooth, such as puddings, soups and even grits and creamy cookies,” she says. “Other individuals prefer crunchy foods that make a lot of noise such as chips, popcorn, pretzels and raw fruits and vegetables.”

Women are more likely than men to crave foods, according to Daversa. Hormonal changes before menstruation cause many women to seek out calming and sedating foods. At that time, “many women crave simple sugars, especially chocolate, which temporarily helps relieve symptoms such as mood swings and anxiety,” says Daversa.

“Simple sugars make it easier for the amino acid tryptophan to cross the blood-brain barrier. Tryptophan is a precursor to serotonin, a neurotransmitter that gives you a calm, sedated feeling,” she says. “There is also fat in chocolate, which makes you feel satisfied.”

The problem with eating simple sugars found in sweets and even white breads and most convenience items is that their effects are temporary, and after a while you’ll feel lethargic.

“After eating sugar, you’ll feel good for a while, but then your blood sugar will drop and you’ll feel sluggish,” says Mosing.

You know the feeling: It’s the middle of the afternoon and all you can think about is something sweet. According to dietitians, there are ways to deal with cravings and still enjoy a treat now and then:

* Find healthful alternatives.

“If you have crunchy cravings, go for fruits and vegetables, or if that doesn’t work, try air-blown popcorn, bread sticks or whole-grain crackers,” says Mosing. “For creamy foods, there is a wide variety to choose from such as sugar-free puddings, the new fat-free cream soups, oatmeal and hot cereals.”

Choose unsweetened and low-fat alternatives, such as frozen yogurt instead of ice cream, and if it’s chocolate you want, she suggests sugar-free hot cocoa because it’s low in fat and calories and high in calcium.

* Stick to complex carbohydrates. Avoid that tiring simple sugar rush by eating complex carbohydrates such as whole-grain breads, crackers and cereals, pasta, brown rice and vegetables. These foods take longer to turn into glucose than simple sugars and as a result are released more slowly into the bloodstream, which keeps your blood sugar stabilized and you feeling energetic.

* Offset carbohydrates with protein.

“While carbohydrates sedate you, proteins make you more alert. It slows the rate at which carbohydrates turn into glucose,” says Daversa. Try also eating such foods as string cheese or nuts or drink a glass of milk.

* Plan for cravings.

“If you know you’re going to have a craving, bring along healthy alternatives that you can reach for instead of that candy bar or bag of chips,” says Daversa.

* Give in to your cravings at times. We can’t eliminate all those goodies we crave, and experts don’t suggest we try.

“Eating a craved food occasionally won’t harm you,” says Mosing. ‘It’s actually preferable to eat one candy bar, rather than becoming obsessed about it.”

If you always deny yourself a candy bar or bag of chips, you’ll be tempted to overeat the forbidden food, says Daversa. “If the craving wins out and you really do want that candy bar, then eat it and feel OK about it,” she says. “Decide to have lower fat foods at your next meal and get on with life.”

* Cut portion size. When you do give in to a craving and reach for apple pie, eat only half of a piece.

* Consider the circumstances.

“‘When you are bothered by a persistent craving, you may want to look at the underlying cause,” says Daversa. “If it’s 9 at night and you crave ice cream after you’ve had a filling dinner, ask yourself if you’re bored, lonely or depressed. At work, do you always turn to a candy bar after a weekly meeting with your boss? Could stress and anxiety be getting the better of you? These are issues you may want to deal with.”

* Get help. If you find that you have persistent cravings that seem to have no cause, especially odd ones, you should probably consult a physician or dietitian because in a small percentage of cases there could actually be a nutritional deficiency.

Some women are anemic and in need of iron supplements. During pregnancy, women can even display iron deficiency by eating such bizarre things as paint, clay, dirt and laundry detergent. Ice cravings also indicate an iron shortage. Such unusual cravings are rare and generally found among disadvantaged women.