3 Ways to Conquer Your Food Cravings

Cravings feel like itches that desperately need to be scratched. Food cravings can be described as an extreme desire to consume specific foods. These feelings are often stronger than normal hunger.

Food engineers and food scientists have studied what makes us crave certain foods more than others. Fat, salt and sweet is the winning trifecta of taste that fuels most of our food cravings. Taste is king, and the foods that taste the best are the ones that deliver on the preferred ratios for salt, sugar, fat, and other features that make food exciting. Food manufacturers, scientists, and engineers use a wide variety of these factors to make food more attractive. They know that for some of us, our craving-focus may be on the texture of food. It might be creamy, crunchy or a mouth-watering balance of both. For others, their craving-focus might be centered on taste. The taste might be salty, sweet, or a lip-smacking blend of each. The goal is to make us want to eat more.

Calories are a measure of how much energy we get from a serving size of food.

Caloric density, different from nutrient density, is an important means that is used to keep us coming back for more. The caloric density or energy density of a particular food is a measurement of the average calories per unit (gram or ounce or bite) of that food. All foods contain nutrients. Unlike calorie dense foods, nutrient dense foods are high in nutrients for the number of calories per unit (gram or ounce or bite) they contain. Foods that are energy or calorie dense have a high concentration of calories per bite.

Some common everyday processed foods that are energy dense are the packaged snack foods, frosted cakes with filling, cookies, and candies. Traditional fast foods such as cheeseburgers, fried chicken, and French fries and bakery items like doughnuts are legendary for their energy density.

Junk foods are considered empty calorie foods because they are low in nutritional density and high on calories per ounce or bite. These high energy dense or high calorie dense foods offer a high concentration of calories per bite, and are associated with high pleasure by the brain These foods are designed to be tasty (i.e. potato chips) and not filling. Because junk foods are low in satisfaction value, people tend not to feel full when they eat them. This low satisfaction experience almost always leads to over eating. Junk food is characteristically high in palatability, high in fat, and high in calories, but low in fiber and volume.

Low energy dense foods, in contrast to high energy dense foods, tend to be highly nutrient dense. In general they are moist and juicy. Low energy dense foods have a high percentage of fiber that retains their natural water. Most vegetables, fruits, and legumes are examples of low energy dense foods.

Follow these 3 tips to conquer your food cravings, and get an added bonus of weight loss, and inches off your waist.

Tip #1 Seek out and eat low caloric density or low energy density foods

These foods are usually high in water and low in fat. Intentionally limit your consumption of high caloric density foods which are usually processed snacks desserts and junk foods.

To do this let you plate be your guide. Dilute out high caloric density foods/meals by filling ½ your plate with unprocessed whole grains, starchy veggies, and/or legumes or fruit. Adding vegetables to any dish lowers the caloric density of most meals. Go for low caloric density foods for craving and weight control.

Tip #2 Eat until you are full.

Along the road from hunger to satiety eat until you are comfortably full. It is easier to conquer your cravings when you are full. Be intentional. Since energy dense food offers a lot more calories and will leave you asking for more, choose low energy dense foods which are low in calories and high in nutrient density, water, and fiber that will leave you satisfied. Feeling feel full and satisfied is the strongest way to conquer food cravings.

Tip #3 Sequence eating your meals.

Start each of your meals with fruit, salad, or soup. This will get you started with low energy dense foods which are more filling and nutritious than their high calorie dense counterparts. Vegetables without oil offer the lowest caloric density.


For more tips and help visit http://www.optimumhearthealth.com, and download your free "Healthy First Steps Questionnaire and Guide".

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Secrets to Eliminate Your Food Cravings When Trying to Lose Weight

One thing that people who are trying to lose weight struggle with is the cravings they have for sweets, candies, or chips that they know is bad for them. When people make the decision to try to lose weight through diet and exercise they normally put themselves on some kind of restrictive or habit changing diet. Because humans are habitual creatures it tends to take at least a week if not longer to change ones habit or create a new habit. Ultimately, in the realm of dieting this leads to cravings for those foods that we love so much, such as sweets or high fatty, processed foods. Unfortunately, when we give into the temptation of our cravings, we lead ourselves astray of the goals to lose weight. In most cases this leads to thoughts of self-doubt and disappointment and in some cases it can lead to quitting the challenge to lose weight.

When you start a weight loss routine, whether it be one that is already set up such as the Atkins diet or one that you have planned on your own, you need to know that you will crave the foods that you no longer will be eating. Your body will crave sugar and fat because that is what it is used to getting on a daily basis. By changing what you eat, it's almost like reprogramming your body to understand that the food you give it needs to be used as fuel and energy rather than to be stored as fat. So what do you do when your body craves those naughty foods that will throw you off your healthy course of living?

First off if you give into to your cravings, don't beat yourself up. Everybody does it, it's the people that can say, "OK, I made a mistake this time, I am going to make a decision not to do it the next" and prepare yourself on how to deal with it the next time the cravings happen, who will continue on and lose weight. Giving into to your cravings every now and then is not going to kill you, it may set your goals back but it won't ruin your life. You need to make a time to cheat because the temptation is always going to be there. Knowing when you can cheat or setting a limit to how much you can have will make your cravings less than a hiccup in your road to weight loss success.

It would be nice if we were able to completely rid ourselves of cravings, unfortunately its impossible to un-know what these foods taste like and therefore we have to deal with them. The best way to kill our cravings for these foods is to learn the tips and tricks to withstand the craving or suppress it. The best way to rid yourself of craving these foods is to get rid of them from your house, kitchen and cabinets altogether. Our eyes play a huge role in our stomachs ability to be hungry. If we see something that looks delicious, we want to eat it. Once you get rid of them from your sight, you need to make a conscious chose to not buy them. This can be more difficult for people who don't have a strong sense of self-control. For people like this dietary changes, exercise and food selection are going to be the best way to reduce food cravings.

By simply adding certain foods and ingredients into your diet you can kill cravings by suppressing your appetite, but also increasing your metabolism, and helping yourself to burn fat and calories. Fiber is the best way to reduce sugar cravings. Most people don't get enough fiber in their diet regularly. Fiber keeps you feeling fuller longer because it takes longer for the body to break it down. The longer you feel full, the fewer cravings you will have. Fresh fruits and vegetables are great sources of fiber, not to mention they are filled with vitamins and minerals. Apples have the highest fiber content as well as blueberries, celery and grapefruit. Lean protein is another great appetite suppressant. By introducing lean protein into your diet you cannot only reduce your sugar cravings but you will increase muscle tonicity and decrease weight. Many of our body's functions rely on protein to make energy; therefore most sugar cravings come from not getting enough protein in our diet. Whey protein can also be used to make meal shakes that curb cravings. When drank the body releases appetite suppressing hormones into the stomach. This tells us that we are full.

Drink more water. Dehydration is a fast way to increase cravings. Our body holds onto water, which makes us heavier. By drinking more water and keeping the body hydrated our body will release excess amounts of water that it was holding onto. Plus with a stomach full of water, you won't feel hungry at all. Drink green tea. People who don't like the taste of water can add flavor their water or drink green tea. Green tea is great for the heart, it's a powerful antioxidant, which boosts the metabolism and burns fat. It also suppresses the appetite because tea is warm which satisfies the stomach and is very low in calories.

Calcium is also another cravings killer. By taking a calcium supplement daily or eating foods high in calcium such as yogurt, skim milk, and low fat cheese women can reduce their cravings during PMS. Eggs, which are high in protein and contain calcium, are a great food for breakfast. By eating eggs at breakfast you can reduce your appetite throughout the day, which helps to lose weight but also burns more fat. Never skip breakfast. While we sleep our blood sugar drops. When we wake up if you don't eat, your blood sugar will continue to drop and your metabolism will slow. This will lead to sugar cravings and decreased energy and output. Eat small meals every couple of hours. By eating every 2-3 hours you can regulate your blood sugar. This will give your body a constant supply of energy throughout the day, which keeps your metabolism up. A high metabolism burns more calories. This eliminates the body from craving anything throughout the day because you are constantly supplying with the fuel it needs. By exercising 30 minutes a day your brain will release leptin and appetite-suppressing hormone, which makes you feel full. When you are craving something go for a walk or run to get past the craving.

Ultimately, when you have a craving it normally lasts 15-20 minutes and then passes. So if you don't have any of these craving killing foods around and you can't take a break to go for a walk, chew on some sugar free gum. This should get you over the hump until the craving goes away.

Graduated with a BA in exercise science and have worked in the medical field since. My focus is alternative medicine however all aspects of health interest me. Check out my health website! http://www.universalhealthinfo.com/Stop_Your_Food_Cravings.html

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