Food craving

{{Short description|Intense desire to consume specific foods}} A '''food craving''' (also called '''selective hunger''') is an intense desire to consume a specific food, and is different from normal hunger.<ref name="Ronzio">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Nutrition and Good Health |article=Craving |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofnu00robe/page/176 176] |publisher=Facts on File | vauthors = Ronzio RA |edition=2nd |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8160-4966-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofnu00robe/page/176 }}</ref> It may or may not be related to specific hunger, the drive to consume particular nutrients that is well-studied in animals. In studies of food cravings, chocolate and chocolate confectioneries almost always top the list of foods people say they crave;<ref>{{cite book | chapter = Food cravings and addictions - fact and fallacy | vauthors = Rogers P | veditors = Carr T, Descheemaker K |title=Nutrition and Health - Current topics - 3 | year = 2003 | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=T0o-qVwwff8C&q=chocoholism+women&pg=PA69|edition=Antwerp | publisher = Garant | isbn = 978-90-441-1493-5 | page = 69 }}</ref> this craving is referred to as chocoholism. The craving of non-food items as food is called pica.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Young SL |title=Craving earth: Understanding pica: The urge to eat clay, starch, ice, and chalk. |date=22 October 2012 |location=New York, NY | publisher = Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-14609-8 }}</ref>

== Causes == A food craving is a strong desire to eat a particular type of food.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Weingarten HP, Elston D | title = The phenomenology of food cravings | journal = Appetite | volume = 15 | issue = 3 | pages = 231–46 | date = December 1990 | pmid = 2281953 | doi = 10.1016/0195-6663(90)90023-2 | s2cid = 44616470 }}</ref> This desire can seem uncontrollable, and the person's hunger may not be satisfied until they get that particular food. Food cravings are common. One research found that 97% of women and 68% of men reported experiencing food cravings.<ref name="Weingarten_1991">{{cite journal | vauthors = Weingarten HP, Elston D | title = Food cravings in a college population | journal = Appetite | volume = 17 | issue = 3 | pages = 167–75 | date = December 1991 | pmid = 1799279 | doi = 10.1016/0195-6663(91)90019-o | s2cid = 36736062 }}</ref>

There is no single explanation for food cravings, and explanations range from low serotonin levels affecting the brain centers for appetite to production of endorphins as a result of consuming fats and carbohydrates.<ref name="Ronzio" /> Ghrelin, the "hunger hormone," increases when people skip meals and is often experienced by people who suffer from chronic conditions, both of which impact the appetite signals in the hypothalamus.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Macedo |first1=Danielle Marques |last2=Diez-Garcia |first2=Rosa Wanda |date=2014-09-01 |title=Sweet craving and ghrelin and leptin levels in women during stress |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666314002396 |journal=Appetite |volume=80 |pages=264–270 |doi=10.1016/j.appet.2014.05.031 |pmid=24879886 |s2cid=44744368 |issn=0195-6663|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

People often crave energy-dense foods: chocolate is the most frequently craved food, followed by other sweet and savoury foods which are high in calories. Pineapple is the second most popular food that people have a craving for.<ref name="Weingarten_1991" /><ref name="Richard_2017">{{cite journal | vauthors = Richard A, Meule A, Reichenberger J, Blechert J | title = Food cravings in everyday life: An EMA study on snack-related thoughts, cravings, and consumption | journal = Appetite | volume = 113 | pages = 215–223 | date = June 2017 | pmid = 28249745 | doi = 10.1016/j.appet.2017.02.037 | s2cid = 4799901 | url = https://zenodo.org/record/343924 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Osman JL, Sobal J | title = Chocolate cravings in American and Spanish individuals: biological and cultural influences | journal = Appetite | volume = 47 | issue = 3 | pages = 290–301 | date = November 2006 | pmid = 16831486 | doi = 10.1016/j.appet.2006.04.008 | s2cid = 22433637 }}</ref><ref name="Hill_1999">{{cite journal | vauthors = Hill AJ, Heaton-Brown L | title = The experience of food craving: a prospective investigation in healthy women | journal = Journal of Psychosomatic Research | volume = 38 | issue = 8 | pages = 801–14 | date = November 1994 | pmid = 7722960 | doi = 10.1016/0022-3999(94)90068-X }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Zellner DA, Garriga-Trillo A, Rohm E, Centeno S, Parker S | title = Food liking and craving: A cross-cultural approach | journal = Appetite | volume = 33 | issue = 1 | pages = 61–70 | date = August 1999 | pmid = 10447980 | doi = 10.1006/appe.1999.0234 | s2cid = 12257517 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Scott |first=Fred |date=2023-04-05 |title=foodslop |url=https://foodslop.com/how-come-i-have-a-craving-for-pineapples/ |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=foodslop.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

Foods with high levels of sugar glucose, such as chocolate, are more frequently craved than foods with lower sugar glucose, such as broccoli, because when glucose interacts with the opioid receptor system in the brain an addictive<ref name="Bazov_2013">{{cite journal | vauthors = Bazov I, Kononenko O, Watanabe H, Kuntić V, Sarkisyan D, Taqi MM, Hussain MZ, Nyberg F, Yakovleva T, Bakalkin G | display-authors = 6 | title = The endogenous opioid system in human alcoholics: molecular adaptations in brain areas involved in cognitive control of addiction | journal = Addiction Biology | volume = 18 | issue = 1 | pages = 161–9 | date = January 2013 | pmid = 21955155 | doi = 10.1111/j.1369-1600.2011.00366.x | s2cid = 12484145 | doi-access = free }}</ref> triggering effect occurs. The consumer of the glucose feels the urge to consume more glucose, much like an alcoholic, because the brain has become conditioned to release "happy hormones" every time glucose is present.<ref name="Yanovski_2003">{{Cite journal |last=Yanovski |first=Susan |date=2003-03-01 |title=Sugar and fat: cravings and aversions |journal=The Journal of Nutrition |language=en |volume=133 |issue=3 |pages=835S–837S |doi=10.1093/jn/133.3.835S|doi-access=free }}</ref>{{failed verification|date=February 2017}} Foods that are easily digestible, deep in richness, and have distinct sweetness and saltiness are referred to as 'hyperpalatable'. These hyperpalatable foods affect the neurons in the nucleus accumbens, the human reward system, causing them to become very active, increasing the levels of pleasure. Hormones like dopamine, leptin, ghrelin, and cortisol are released, as well as insulin due to this stimulation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=N. Gearhardt |first1=Ashley |last2=Davis |first2=Caroline |last3=Kuschner |first3=Rachel |last4=D. Brownell |first4=Kelly |date=2011-09-01 |title=The Addiction Potential of Hyperpalatable Foods |journal=Current Drug Abuse Reviews |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=140–145 |doi=10.2174/1874473711104030140 |pmid=21999688 |issn=1874-4737}}</ref>

Cultural differences have been found, for example, with rice being the most frequently craved food in Japan.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Komatsu S | title = Rice and sushi cravings: a preliminary study of food craving among Japanese females | journal = Appetite | volume = 50 | issue = 2–3 | pages = 353–8 | date = March 2008 | pmid = 18006114 | doi = 10.1016/j.appet.2007.08.012 | s2cid = 8213291 }}</ref> Among low-calorie foods, cravings for fruits are common.<ref name="Richard_2017" /><ref name="Hill_1999" /><ref name="Reichenberger_2018">{{cite journal | vauthors = Reichenberger J, Richard A, Smyth JM, Fischer D, Pollatos O, Blechert J | title = It's craving time: time of day effects on momentary hunger and food craving in daily life | journal = Nutrition | volume = 55-56 | pages = 15–20 | date = November 2018 | pmid = 29960151 | doi = 10.1016/j.nut.2018.03.048 | s2cid = 49635959 | url = https://zenodo.org/record/1208010 }}</ref> Food cravings tend to occur in the late afternoon and evening.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Pelchat ML | title = Food cravings in young and elderly adults | journal = Appetite | volume = 28 | issue = 2 | pages = 103–13 | date = April 1997 | pmid = 9158846 | doi = 10.1006/appe.1996.0063 | s2cid = 9126783 }}</ref> The desire to eat high-calorie foods increases throughout the day, while craving for fruits decreases.<ref name="Reichenberger_2018" />

The aspect of a food craving is multi-dimensional. Physiologically, it is connected with several mechanisms that motivates food seeking and prepares the body for digestion such as increased salivary flow <ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Meule A, Hormes JM | title = Chocolate versions of the Food Cravings Questionnaires. Associations with chocolate exposure-induced salivary flow and ad libitum chocolate consumption | journal = Appetite | volume = 91 | pages = 256–65 | date = August 2015 | pmid = 25913686 | doi = 10.1016/j.appet.2015.04.054 | s2cid = 11574015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Nederkoorn C, Smulders FT, Jansen A | title = Cephalic phase responses, craving and food intake in normal subjects | journal = Appetite | volume = 35 | issue = 1 | pages = 45–55 | date = August 2000 | pmid = 10896760 | doi = 10.1006/appe.2000.0328 | s2cid = 35340454 | url = https://cris.maastrichtuniversity.nl/en/publications/18934f0e-9c3a-40ce-8286-3b0538d60469 }}</ref> along with activating reward-related brain areas such as the striatum.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Contreras-Rodríguez O, Martín-Pérez C, Vilar-López R, Verdejo-Garcia A | title = Ventral and Dorsal Striatum Networks in Obesity: Link to Food Craving and Weight Gain | journal = Biological Psychiatry | volume = 81 | issue = 9 | pages = 789–796 | date = May 2017 | pmid = 26809248 | doi = 10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.11.020 | s2cid = 3700923 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Miedl SF, Blechert J, Meule A, Richard A, Wilhelm FH | title = Suppressing images of desire: Neural correlates of chocolate-related thoughts in high and low trait chocolate cravers | journal = Appetite | volume = 126 | pages = 128–136 | date = July 2018 | pmid = 29518469 | doi = 10.1016/j.appet.2018.03.004 | s2cid = 4967549 | url = https://zenodo.org/record/1189062 }}</ref><ref name="Pelchat_2004">{{cite journal | vauthors = Pelchat ML, Johnson A, Chan R, Valdez J, Ragland JD | title = Images of desire: food-craving activation during fMRI | journal = NeuroImage | volume = 23 | issue = 4 | pages = 1486–93 | date = December 2004 | pmid = 15589112 | doi = 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.08.023 | s2cid = 16916912 }}</ref> Cognitive (i.e., thinking about the food) and emotional (e.g., desire to eat or changes in mood) components are also involved. A final behavioural aspect of seeking and consuming the food also occurs. Whilst experiencing a food craving often results in eating the craved food, the craving-consumption relationship also depends on differences within individuals and their current situation.<ref name="Richard_2017" /><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Richard A, Meule A, Blechert J | title = Implicit evaluation of chocolate and motivational need states interact in predicting chocolate intake in everyday life | journal = Eating Behaviors | volume = 33 | pages = 1–6 | date = April 2019 | pmid = 30738363 | doi = 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2019.01.006 | s2cid = 73428011 | url = https://zenodo.org/record/2549989 }}</ref>

The cravings for certain types of food are linked to their ingredients. Chocolate for example, contains the neurotransmitter phenylethylamine, which is important for the regulation of the body's release of endorphins and is responsible for the state of mood and pleasure.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Verna R | title = The history and science of chocolate | journal = The Malaysian Journal of Pathology | volume = 35 | issue = 2 | pages = 111–21 | date = December 2013 | pmid = 24362474 | url = http://www.mjpath.org.my/2013.2/history-and-science-of-chocolate.pdf }}</ref>

In recent years, researchers have focused significantly on perimenstrual cravings for chocolate, resulting in a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying craving aetiology.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Orloff NC, Hormes JM | title = Pickles and ice cream! Food cravings in pregnancy: hypotheses, preliminary evidence, and directions for future research | journal = Frontiers in Psychology | volume = 5 | page = 1076 | date = September 2014 | pmid = 25295023 | pmc = 4172095 | doi = 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01076 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

Active ingredients in chocolate, known as methylxanthines (such as caffeine, theophylline, and theobromine), has been researched in relation to perimenstrual craving aetiology. It has been hypothesized that women crave chocolate since methylxanthines has been shown to have the ability to alleviate physical - and perhaps psychological - symptoms associated with menstruation, such as fatigue, irritability, bloating, or cramps.<ref name="Bruinsma_1999"/>

It seems intuitive to assume that the emergence of a food craving might indicate that the body is low in a specific nutrient, vitamin, or mineral. Understanding the reason behind a craving could lead to confidently supplying the body with that missing food. However, evidence for this is inconsistent and relatively poor. For example, when participants had to consume a nutritionally balanced, liquid diet, they reported more food cravings than during a baseline period,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Pelchat ML, Schaefer S | title = Dietary monotony and food cravings in young and elderly adults | journal = Physiology & Behavior | volume = 68 | issue = 3 | pages = 353–9 | date = January 2000 | pmid = 10716545 | doi = 10.1016/S0031-9384(99)00190-0 | s2cid = 7754851 }}</ref> and food craving could be induced by imagining their favourite food although participants were satisfied.<ref name="Pelchat_2004" /> Further, females tend to respond with more negative affect to indulging their cravings than males.<ref name="Weingarten_1991" />

During pregnancy - a time during which the body needs more energy and certain nutrients than usual - it seems that the types of craved foods<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Hill AJ, Cairnduff V, McCance DR | title = Nutritional and clinical associations of food cravings in pregnancy | journal = Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics | volume = 29 | issue = 3 | pages = 281–9 | date = June 2016 | pmid = 26400798 | pmc = 5054961 | doi = 10.1111/jhn.12333 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Orloff NC, Hormes JM | title = Pickles and ice cream! Food cravings in pregnancy: hypotheses, preliminary evidence, and directions for future research | journal = Frontiers in Psychology | volume = 5 | page = 1076 | date = 2014-09-23 | pmid = 25295023 | pmc = 4172095 | doi = 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01076 | doi-access = free }}</ref> do not differ from usually craved foods, and even if women crave unusual, potentially harmful, foods or other substances, it seems that this is rather driven by social factors than by physiological needs.<ref name="A test of four evolutionary hypothe">{{cite journal | vauthors = Placek C | title = A test of four evolutionary hypotheses of pregnancy food cravings: evidence for the social bargaining model | journal = Royal Society Open Science | volume = 4 | issue = 10 | article-number = 170243 | date = October 2017 | pmid = 29134058 | pmc = 5666241 | doi = 10.1098/rsos.170243 | doi-access = free| bibcode = 2017RSOS....470243P }}</ref> Similar interpretations have been derived from perimenstrual (chocolate) cravings which, for example, do not disappear after menopause, making hormonal mechanisms unlikely.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Hormes JM | chapter = 9. Perimenstrual chocolate craving: from pharmacology and physiology to cognition and culture|date=2014-01-15 | title = Handbook of diet and nutrition in the menstrual cycle, periconception and fertility |series=Human Health Handbooks |volume=7 |pages=137–154 |place=The Netherlands |publisher=Wageningen Academic Publishers |doi=10.3920/978-90-8686-767-7_9 |isbn=978-90-8686-212-2 }}</ref>

There are basic associations between nutrient deficiency and food cravings, but they appear to account for a small fraction of food cravings at most. Instead, several psychological explanations for why and how food cravings emerge have been developed. Prominent models are based on (Pavlovian) conditioning.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Jansen A | title = A learning model of binge eating: cue reactivity and cue exposure | journal = Behaviour Research and Therapy | volume = 36 | issue = 3 | pages = 257–72 | date = March 1998 | pmid = 9642846 | doi = 10.1016/S0005-7967(98)00055-2 }}</ref>

== Pregnancy == Women will often experience cravings for seemingly random foods during pregnancy. The reason that these cravings occur is not definitively known.

It has been theorized that these cravings might be in order to replace nutrients lost during morning sickness. However, there is substantial evidence that pregnancy cravings serve a social function, rather than a nutritional one. Because popular pregnancy cravings differ in their nutritional make-up from culture to culture, it can be inferred that there is no set of nutritional needs that these cravings are filling. Instead, it may be that strange cravings help pregnant women signal their pregnant status and recruit help from others. Some decent evidence for this is the fact that women often crave obscure foods and reject commonplace ones.<ref name="A test of four evolutionary hypothe"/> Providing pregnant relations with food may have been common among the human ancestor ''Homo erectus'',<ref name="O'connell_1999">{{cite journal | vauthors = O'connell JF, Hawkes K, Blurton Jones NG | title = Grandmothering and the evolution of homo erectus | journal = Journal of Human Evolution | volume = 36 | issue = 5 | pages = 461–85 | date = May 1999 | pmid = 10222165 | doi = 10.1006/jhev.1998.0285 }}</ref> which provides a possible explanation for the evolution of this behaviour. Studies indicate that 66%-90% of expectant mothers experience at least one food craving, while 50%-85% of women have at least one food aversion. The intensity of cravings during the first three months of pregnancy can be explained by the fact that hormonal changes occur at most in the first three months.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eisenberg |first=Arlene |title=What to Expect When You're Expecting |last2=Murkoff |first2=Heidi E. |last3=Hathaway |first3=Sandee E. |date=May 2000 |publisher=Epsilon |page=101}}</ref>

Some of the foods which are commonly craved are:

* Sweets such as chocolate or candy * Animal protein such as a steak or chicken * Savory foods (calorie dense) such as chips and pizza * fast foods such as Chinese and Mexican<ref>{{Cite web |title=All About Pregnancy Cravings and When They Start {{!}} Pampers |url=https://www.pampers.com/en-us/pregnancy/prenatal-health-and-wellness/article/pregnancy-cravings |access-date=2023-03-04 |website=Web-Pampers-US-EN |language=en-US}}</ref>

Some people even crave non-food items such as chalk, clay, laundry starch, or soap. This is a condition called pica, and may indicate a mineral deficiency or severe anemia. Pica is a condition which is rarely come across in developed countries.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Australia |first=Healthdirect |date=2022-12-06 |title=Food cravings during pregnancy |url=https://www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au/food-cravings-during-pregnancy |access-date=2023-03-04 |website=www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au |language=en-AU}}</ref>

One of the treatments for morning sickness consists of accommodating food cravings and aversions.<ref name="Weigel_2011">{{cite journal | vauthors = Weigel MM, Coe K, Castro NP, Caiza ME, Tello N, Reyes M | title = Food aversions and cravings during early pregnancy: association with nausea and vomiting | journal = Ecology of Food and Nutrition | volume = 50 | issue = 3 | pages = 197–214 | date = 2011 | pmid = 21888579 | doi = 10.1080/03670244.2011.568906 | s2cid = 27320622 }}</ref>

Depending from the historical period and the culture there are different traditions regarding pregnancy cravings. Some examples are: *During pregnancy, Hmong women would follow their food cravings to guarantee that their child would not be born with a deformity.<ref>Fadiman, Anne. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1997:5</ref> *In Malta, a pregnant woman is encouraged to satisfy her cravings for specific foods, out of fear that her unborn child will bear a representational birthmark (Maltese: ''xewqa'', literally "desire" or "craving"). *In the Babylonian Talmud, folio 82a of Tractate Yoma mentions pregnancy cravings for non-kosher food (the passage discusses a pregnant woman who craves pork on Yom Kippur) as the paradigmatic example of a presumed life-threatening situation where a person is allowed to eat non-kosher food (and is permitted to eat it on Yom Kippur). *In the Philippines, the condition is traditionally known as lihi, and it is believed that traits of a food that a pregnant woman craves and consumes is imparted to the child. This also extends to objects or people that a woman would find pleasurable to see during her pregnancy. *In Thailand, a woman who starts craving sour foods after her period has stopped is deemed to be pregnant.<ref name="Liamputtong_2005">{{cite journal | vauthors = Liamputtong P, Yimyam S, Parisunyakul S, Baosoung C, Sansiriphun N | title = Traditional beliefs about pregnancy and child birth among women from Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand | journal = Midwifery | volume = 21 | issue = 2 | pages = 139–53 | date = June 2005 | pmid = 15878429 | doi = 10.1016/j.midw.2004.05.002 }}</ref>

==Chocolate craving== {{further|Chocoholic}} thumb|A box of chocolates Chocolate is seen as a sweet that is desired more by women than by men. Studies conducted in the UK, the US,<ref name="Rozin_1991">{{cite journal | vauthors = Rozin P, Levine E, Stoess C | title = Chocolate craving and liking | journal = Appetite | volume = 17 | issue = 3 | pages = 199–212 | date = December 1991 | pmid = 1799282 | doi = 10.1016/0195-6663(91)90022-K | s2cid = 14335534 | doi-access = free }}</ref> and Canada<ref name="Weingarten_1991" /> have concluded that women indeed crave chocolate more than men. Also, this chocolate craving seems to occur more perimenstrually; however, a biological explanation has not been scientifically proven..<ref name="Rozin_1991"/>

It seems to have a cultural cause instead of a biological cause. Spanish women experience perimenstrual chocolate craving far less than American women (24% versus 60%) although they should not differ much physiologically. Spanish females crave chocolate more after dinner. The times males crave chocolate also differs between both cultures but was the same as the craving for chocolate of females in their culture (except perimenstrual).<ref name="pmid15036792">{{cite journal | vauthors = Zellner DA, Garriga-Trillo A, Centeno S, Wadsworth E | title = Chocolate craving and the menstrual cycle | journal = Appetite | volume = 42 | issue = 1 | pages = 119–21 | date = February 2004 | pmid = 15036792 | doi = 10.1016/j.appet.2003.11.004 | s2cid = 11964265 }}</ref>

Chocolate is often consumed for presumed dietary deficiencies (e.g., magnesium) or to balance possibly low levels of neurotransmitters involved in the regulation of mood, food intake, and compulsive behaviours (e.g., serotonin and dopamine).<ref name="Bruinsma_1999">{{cite journal | vauthors = Bruinsma K, Taren DL | title = Chocolate: food or drug? | journal = Journal of the American Dietetic Association | volume = 99 | issue = 10 | pages = 1249–56 | date = October 1999 | pmid = 10524390 | doi = 10.1016/S0002-8223(99)00307-7 }}</ref>

Chocolate contains methylxanthines, biogenic amines, and cannabinoid-like fatty acids, all of which potentially cause abnormal behaviours and psychological sensations that parallel those of other addictive substances. The combination of chocolate's sensory characteristics, nutrient composition, and psychoactive ingredients, compounded with monthly hormonal fluctuations and mood swings among women, ultimately form the model of chocolate cravings.<ref name="Bruinsma_1999" />

Ambivalence (e.g., "nice but naughty") about foods such as chocolate arises from the attitude that it is highly palatable but should be eaten with restraint. Attempts to restrict intake, however, cause the desire for chocolate to become more salient, an experience that is then labelled as a craving. This, together with a need to provide a reason for why resisting eating chocolate is difficult and sometimes fails, can, in turn, lead the individual to an explanation in terms of addiction (e.g., "chocoholism").<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Rogers PJ, Smit HJ | title = Food craving and food "addiction": a critical review of the evidence from a biopsychosocial perspective | journal = Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior | volume = 66 | issue = 1 | pages = 3–14 | date = May 2000 | pmid = 10837838 | doi = 10.1016/s0091-3057(00)00197-0 | s2cid = 34391710 }}</ref>

For treating small chocolate cravings, the smell of jasmine has been known to work.<ref name="Kemps_2012">{{cite journal | vauthors = Kemps E, Tiggemann M, Bettany S | title = Non-food odorants reduce chocolate cravings | journal = Appetite | volume = 58 | issue = 3 | pages = 1087–90 | date = June 2012 | pmid = 22407134 | doi = 10.1016/j.appet.2012.03.002 | url = http://dspace.flinders.edu.au/xmlui/bitstream/2328/34996/1/Kemps_Non-Food_AM2012.pdf | s2cid = 19520253 | hdl = 2328/34996 | hdl-access = free }}</ref> Behavioral techniques, particularly cognitive bias modification and imaginal retraining, have demonstrated some efficacy in decreasing food craving.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Moritz S, Göritz AS, Schmotz S, Weierstall-Pust R, Gehlenborg J, Gallinat J, Kühn S | title = Imaginal retraining decreases craving for high-calorie food in overweight and obese women: A randomized controlled trial | journal = Translational Psychiatry | volume = 9 | issue = 1 | page = 319 | date = November 2019 | pmid = 31780640 | pmc = 6883071 | doi = 10.1038/s41398-019-0655-7 }}</ref>

== Health and social consequences == {{Sources needed|section|date=February 2024}} Intense food cravings can disrupt healthy eating and lead to obesity and related health problems. Food cravings can also make it difficult to one to tend to other health needs, including sleep and exercise.

Aside from physical health matters, food cravings can disrupt social life, and lead to problems with employment and family. In extreme cases, extreme food cravings can lead to violence and legal problems, or contribute to accidents, especially motor vehicle accidents if a craving consumes ones mind.

== References == {{reflist|30em}}

== Further reading == {{refbegin}} * {{cite web| vauthors = Ordman R |title=The Nutrition Investigator|url=http://www.nutritioninvestigator.org/}} * {{cite encyclopaedia| encyclopedia=The encyclopedia of obesity and eating disorders| article=craving| series=Facts on File library of health and living | vauthors = Cassell DK, Gleaves D | edition=3rd| publisher=Infobase Publishing| year=2006| isbn=978-0-8160-6197-6 }} {{refend}}

Category:Eating behaviors of humans