According to health experts, food cravings in some cases may be indicators of nutritional deficiencies. This explains why you crave fatty foods and sugary treats while on a diet. As an example, chocolate cravings are often a sign of magnesium deficiency.
But, did you know that chocolate is actually linked to a nutrient that over 80 percent of Americans are deficient in? Magnesium. A deficiency in magnesium may play a role in some intense cravings.
Meet your magnesium needs.
What deficiency causes sugar cravings? Lacking magnesium affects the body's ability to regulate blood sugar levels and deliver energy into the cells which can instigate sugar cravings. Eat more magnesium rich foods like raw nuts, seeds, avocados, cacao, leafy greens, and bananas.
Supplements of magnesium can reduce sugar craving and help stabilise blood sugar levels[1]. If you have Type 2 diabetes or Pre-diabetes you are more likely to have low magnesium levels[2, 3].
B vitamins curb sugar cravings significantly through the essential support they provide to the metabolism and nervous system.
Levels of the feel-good hormone serotonin drop and insulin levels go up. This dangerous combination leaves you reaching for mood-boosting foods like chocolate – that sweet mix of sugar AND fat – while glucose-levelling insulin leaves you craving a sweet treat to raise your blood sugar.
Sugar cravings are often caused by imbalances in blood glucose levels. Low blood sugar levels might cause you to crave something sweet in order to bring up these levels. Other factors that can play a role include psychological stress, medications, hormone imbalances, and health conditions.
It's PHYSIOLOGICAL – Digestion is hard work! Your body craves sweets as a way of getting a QUICK spike of energy to support the digestive process. Digesting your food is hard work! Your body burns calories (or energy) while digesting your food.
Max out your magnesium
Many doctors believe sugar cravings could actually be a magnesium deficiency, especially if the person craves chocolate. Men should get between 400-420mg per day, with women up to 320mg of magnesium.
Some contain antioxidants and other healthy phytochemicals. Cacao contains magnesium. However, all substances with caffeine do deplete magnesium.
Because dopamine is released into your brain when you eat chocolate, it can actually lower your levels of stress. This is why people often crave chocolate in stressful situations, or crave it when they are in need of comfort or reassurance.
Obesity is linked to a specific deficiency of vitamin D. Research suggests that individuals who suffer from genetic obesity have lower vitamin D levels in their genes. Conversely, obese people have been found to have low vitamin D and higher BMI, which lead to weight gain.
A good way to decipher if your chocolate craving is deficiency-related is to consider taking the recommended daily dose of magnesium in supplement form. If your chocolate cravings are relieved then it's safe to say that a magnesium deficiency was probably the reason behind your cravings.
Low leptin levels can cause you to never feel satisfied after eating and to feel hungry all the time. Obviously, this can lead to cravings. Leptin also increases cortisol that leads to additional hormone imbalance. Insulin: Produced in the pancreas, insulin is the hormone that regulates your blood sugar levels.
Because your body doesn't absorb blood sugar efficiently when you have prediabetes, you don't get as much energy from each snack or meal as you once did. "As a result, you tend to feel unusually hungry and want to eat more," Dr. Li says.
Women who crave chocolate during the perimenstrual phase are experiencing this craving when both levels of estrogen and progesterone are at their lowest—not when they are changing. Even more interesting, most women stop craving chocolate just at the start of menses (again, no hormone change).
– Chocolate has many benefits but it can contribute to hormonal balance via its potent magnesium and iron, and ability to lower cortisol and boost mood-impacting hormones, serotonin and dopamine. Just 6gms of 70%+ cacao chocolate bar daily will do the trick!
When depressed, 1465 (54.4%) reported food cravings, with 1210 (44.9%) specifically being chocolate cravers (50.7% of the women and 30.9% of the men; χ 2=88.3, P<0.001). Only 9.5% acknowledged alternative craved foods.
Signs of Vitamin B12 deficiency: A person with vitamin B12 deficiency has signs such as anemia, low energy, craving for meat or often finds himself bruising easily.
Vitamin B12 deficiency and the accompanying hyperhomocysteinemia and elevated MMA levels have been documented to cause a distinct sensory polyneuropathy that closely mimics diabetic neuropathy.
“Quite often people feel calmer almost immediately, especially with magnesium L-threonate.” When it comes to killing chocolate cravings, that can take a little longer, as “you are dealing with hormonal and receptor changes.” Turley suggests taking magnesium for two months to make the correction.