Sometimes we get that irresistible urge for a certain food or drink. But just because you get that urge, it doesn’t mean that you have a food craving. A true craving is a much more problematic situation. It is an overriding compelling compulsion that is difficult to ignore with an intense need to eat the desired food immediately. Secondary is the consideration that actually eating or satisfying the craving may be inconvenient or even dangerous.

Inexplicably sometimes children suddenly develop an intense craving for non-food items such as soil, paint chips, or maybe even paper. The term that describes the condition is ‘Pika’, which comes from the Latin term for Magpie. Of course there can be serious medical consequences from such behaviour such as lead poisoning, worm infestations, intestine blockages, or even death if caustic or poisonous substances are ingested.

Children can also be prone to impulsive cravings usually associated with a visual stimulus. For example, we warn our children not to eat anything strange that you might find in a box or container in your garden. As a child I lived in a home with a 1 acre garden, (my grandfather was a retired horticulturist), and I’m sure it if I’d been told ten times, I’d been told a hundred times not to go near, eat or drink anything strange in the garden.

Needless to say one day and I found a tin under a Fir tree with what looked like flour in it. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I had a sudden urge to taste it. It was something poisonous, but luckily my grandfather knocked it from my hand before I could get into my mouth. I never saw anything else lying around the garden again. To this day I still don’t know why I wanted to taste it.

Food cravings are something that more often affects women than men, particularly during pregnancy. Research seems to suggest that the responsibility may lie with hormonal disturbances, such as hormonal changes during a woman’s menstrual cycle, but they can also be brought about by stress.

These hormonal influences are thought to affect the production of serotonin in the brain, (a chemical which controls behaviour), and triggers a reaction not dissimilar to a person who is a smoker and whose nicotine level has decreased.

Seasonal Affective Disorder can be another trigger for food cravings. A recent study has shown that chromium supplements can help reduce craving in patients who are depressed with this condition.

Obesity cravings can originate because of a specific illness, an addiction, or a psychological problem.

Pregnancy can often lead to strange food cravings especially for pickles and other foods high in salt. In this case it usually reflects a physical need. When a woman is pregnant, her volume of blood doubles resulting in the need for extra salt to maintain a proper balance. A craving for ice may show a sign of iron deficiency, but usually there is no harm in satisfying the craving if it is for something harmless, as experts believe these urges to eat particular foods are to fulfil a particular need.

Some medications particularly those containing steroids and hormonal preparations can also induce cravings. If the cravings are non specific but just a general craving to eat something, then it is possible that the craving has resulting from a recent medication and this should be considered before jumping to more serious assumption.

Generally it would appear that the advice given about food cravings is unless there’s something serious like Pika involved, is to go ahead and satisfy them in moderation, and only become concerned if the cravings turn obsessive or abnormal.
Tags: food cravings, food craving, pica, obesity, pregnancy



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