Cravings: Real or BS?

myofibril

I tend to think that cravings are BS--you have a mental obsession with a particular food item, but it's far from being a physical need.

Thoughts?

Great question...

Cravings are "real" in that psychological states and physiological states are inter related. The body can follow the mind and the mind can follow the body. For example stress and cortisol. Somatoform disorders are mental illnesses characterised by physical symptoms.

If you look at the people who experience the hardest time managing weight they tend to exhibit rigid, all or nothing, mindsets and to put it politely are very highly strung. They obsess over every little detail and blow even the slightest negative into a sign of abject failure.

Want to lose weight? Chill out...

mikeda

I think /most/ of the time when people say they are craving something, yeah it's an excuse, but not always. I watched a health-documentary thing a few years ago about a little boy who kept craving salty foods to the point he would sneak and just devour entire containers of it. They hospitalized him and restricted his sodium intake, unfortunately he died shortly thereafter and only after he had diet did they figure out something was going on in his body to where he needed all the salt. I have no idea what it was, I watched this years ago, I just always remembered that. Often your body does crave what it needs, a real no b.s. craving.