One of the trickiest addictions to deal with is the unconscious compulsion to eat unhealthy food. The difference between food addictions and mainstream addictions is that our society and traditional health-care systems do not recognize addictions to unhealthy food--or more specifically, addictions to the components of unhealthy food such as sugar, salt and fat. We know about the damage that drug or alcohol addictions cause, yet we ignore the effects of unhealthy food addiction, despite all the research indicating the tremendous impact that processed and chemical-laden foods have in the form of diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

What is a craving?
Nutrition experts define a food craving as a pronounced desire for a specific food in the absence of hunger. For many of us, it's the desire that doesn't go away until it has been satisfied.

The most important thing to remember when it comes to cravings is that they are normal. Many people feel undisciplined and out of control when they crave certain foods. The reality is that we all crave, for some of us it's chocolate, for others it's bread or potato chips. For most the comfort foods we crave are high in fat and sugar.

According to research, up to 97% of women have felt cravings (compared to 68% of men), and we give in to our urges at least half the time. There's a big difference between cravings and hunger pangs. When you're hungry, you'll eat anything but cravings are very specific. People crave a certain type of food, like chips or chocolate -- and within that category, even a particular brand.

Though cravings seem to overtake us without warning and without reason, research shows that they are actually very predictable, arriving at particular times and in particular situations.

So what causes cravings? Are they physical in nature or are they all in the head, and what can be done about them?

The Nutrition Link

Nutrition can help explain the origins of food cravings. The foods we crave, foods with fat and sugar or fat and salt, are all calorie dense. Until recently in human history, your body wanted those foods because you were hungry and needed fuel, and eating those calories made you feel good. Indeed, when faced with big doses of calories, the body releases endorphins - chemicals that reduce the sensation of pain and may help ease depression and anxiety. These days our society is more sedentary. You don't need the calories, but you still reach for those foods because they make the brain release endorphins.

Chocolate is the No. 1 most craved food, and women are the ones most likely to crave it. Why we crave chocolate is a complex issue. Our obsession with chocolate could be partially cultural. The sugar in chocolate sparks the release of a nerve chemical called serotonin and might lower another nerve chemical called NPY; the end result is a sense of well-being ( a somewhat romantic and in love feeling).

The sweet taste also releases endorphins in the brain, giving us an immediate euphoric rush. The fat in chocolate enhances flavor and aroma and satisfies another nerve chemical called galanin, thus curbing our cravings for fat. That's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to nerve-tingling chemicals. Not all of the connections between chocolate and body chemistry have been substantiated by well-designed research; consequently, many questions remain. For example, cheese and salami also are sources of PEA but seldom evoke similar cravings. In fact, the amount of PEA in a chocolate bar is not likely to be enough to trigger romantic feelings. The endorphin-chocolate link is based on animal studies; no such studies have been conducted on humans so it is only speculation that people and rats share a similar endorphin rush when eating chocolate. Others argue that a craving for chocolate is really the body's craving for its nutrients, such as magnesium. If this is the case, why don't people crave soybeans, peanuts, and other magnesium-rich foods? In fact, chocolate cravings usually can be satisfied only by chocolate or something that mimics its texture, taste, and aroma. Since cocoa contains more than 400 distinct flavor compounds, it is likely there are yet unexplored compounds that trigger cravings. In short, no one knows exactly why we love chocolate, yet the cravings are very real. Dr Harvey Weingarten PhD, says: "It escapes no one's attention that craved foods are also the most hedonically pleasing. It seems reasonable to crave highly palatable foods, while broccoli cravings seem non-intuitive."

Many scientific research studies show that people have an inborn desire for sweet taste, one of the four fundamental taste sensations. Newborn infants have been observed to react positively to sweetness. Also, studies with adults, as well as infants, have demonstrated that the pleasant response to sweet solutions is a reflex, innate reaction, rather than a learned response. Historical evidence, such as a 20,000-year-old cave painting of a Neolithic man robbing a wild bees' nest, indicates that humans may always have had a preference for sweets. It also is likely that sweetness was used in early times as an indicator of safety in selecting foods. This phenomenon may have led to the search for sources of additional sweetness (sweeteners) to make foods more palatable.

The Emotional Link
Many behaviors can be overcome through understanding the emotions underlying the particular behavior. For example, when a person is impatient, anxiety or anger are often the driving forces. So when you become aware of these emotions and the behaviors they trigger, you can process them and overcome impatience with patience. When you overindulge in foods that are against your eating goals, be aware of the emotions that may be causing your behavior.

A naturally-occurring substance called dopamine may help explain this phenomenon. Dopamine is one of the chemicals that allow communication between nerves in the brain. It is also known to be involved in the sensation of reward we experience from something we enjoy. It's been known for a long time that natural rewards, like food and sex, as well as artificial ones, like nicotine and cocaine, act on dopamine to activate the nucleus accumbens. Researchers report that the regions of the brain -- including the nucleus accumbens -- that become activated in the anticipation and experience of winning at gambling, in a sense another type of addictive, impulsive behavior, are the same regions that appear to respond in cocaine addicts.

When you begin understanding and managing your emotions, you may find yourself amazed at how fast your behavior can change.

Strategy for Gaining Control Over Food Addictions

• Be microscopically honest with yourself and aware of minor or major addictions. Ask friends if they think you have any food addictions.

• Determine what your optimum diet and eating amounts should be. If you dont know, ask your doctor or nutritionist.
  

• Follow a new eating routine. If you slip back to your old eating pattern, realize that change is a process not an event. Give yourself slip-up allowances. If you slip up, be conscious (not self-condemning) about your behavior. Writing in a journal about your feelings prior to slipping up is an exercise that will help you develop awareness.

• Find a trusted friend, mentor or counselor to listen empathetically as you explain your emotions prior to slipping up.

• If you are tempted to fall back into old eating patterns, seek help from your support person. Being aware of your emotions and learning how to process those means you can control your behavior instead of it controlling you.

• One of the biggest triggers for cravings is stress! Handling your stress, looking for outlets, journaling, exercise, venting to friends can all help to put you less at risk for "out of control" eating and comfort food cravings. Cravings aren't the end of the world and they certainly do not make you an "out of control eater", but they can get out of control and get the best of you when you don't set yourself up for success. Eat balanced, handle your stress.

• First, make sure you're experiencing a true craving, not just plain old hunger or thirst. If it's actually hunger, eating something reasonable such as a piece of fruit rather than a chocolate bar might do the trick.

• Bring healthy snacks with you to work. Planned snacks of fruit, including dried fruit, seeds, chopped vegetables, homemade soup, yogurt or low fat cheese will help you avoid a mid-afternoon blood sugar slump.

• Don't eliminate certain foods or entire food groups from your diet.

• Don't create 'forbidden' foods. Have the occasional small portion of chocolate or other foods that can be considered 'naughty' or 'bad'.