Craving for pizza and hotdogs? Perhaps its those juicy burgers, fried chicken and fries or maybe just a soft serve of ice cream. No wait, maybe it’s those donuts and cakes instead.
The spread of COVID-19 have brought an impact in our lives and most people are at home right now, while some of us are already excited to go out after the lockdown.
While cooped up in our homes, a lot of people can’t avoid to think. different kinds of thoughts Perhaps it could be a sort of life reflection, future security and anxieties, safety of our loved ones, freedom to go anywhere, but most of these thoughts are about “how to kill boredom”.
When a person feels bored, the more they feel to comfort themselves and the easiest way to comfort yourself is either by sleeping or eating.
Craving for Food
So why we crave for food even if we’re bored or full? According to an article, there are lots of ways why people crave for food. Food cravings are caused by the regions of the brain that are responsible for memory, pleasure, and reward.
- It can be triggered by imbalance of hormones, such as leptin and serotonin.
- It is also possible that food cravings are due to endorphins that are released into the body after someone has eaten.
- Emotions may also be involved in producing a food craving, especially if a person eats for comfort.
- Gender differences also applies. Women are more likely experience food cravings than men.
- Pregnant women experience especially strong cravings, which may be due to hormonal changes that can disrupt their taste and smell receptors.
- There is also the possibility of a connection between the cravings and nutrients. This is the idea that the body craves certain foods because it lacks certain nutrients.
Craving can be selective or non-selective. Selective cravings are cravings for specific foods, which may be a person’s favorite chocolate bar, a specific burger from their favorite restaurant, or a bag of potato chips.
While non-selective hunger is the desire to eat anything. It may be the result of real hunger and hunger pangs, but it can also be a sign of thirst. Drinking water may help with intense non-selective cravings.
Health Issue
Food is source of energy and if you don’t have any activities to burn out all of those energy, you gain weight and in the long run you become fat. It is alarming that many are doing this right now because of the lockdown happening around the world. You stay home and some activities like walking and jogging are not an option for others right now.
According to BetterHealth, the key to a healthy body is by balancing the energy from eating and burning it out by performing an activity. Also, by reducing the amount of what we eat and drink every day or by doing more exercise can help to achieve a healthy body.
With these information, we can deduce that food craving is all in our head. Yet most can’t help but to give into their cravings. Remember to drink lots of water, don’t be stagnant and do some activities to divert your attention and lastly, be mindful on what you eat.
Sources: medicalnewstoday.com, healthline.com, betterhealth.vic.gov.au
Photo Sources: berryabundantlife.com, healthline.com, aussiegossip.com.au
