Why do we get food cravings for things we know are bad for us? Get expert advice on understanding those unhealthy habits
Food cravings are something we’ve all dealt with – whether it’s the irresistible urge for something salty late at night or the need for a sugar fix in the middle of a stressful afternoon.
As someone who’s been a personal trainer, fitness nutrition specialist, and health coach for years, I’ve had thousands of conversations about cravings. I’ve come to understand that cravings are much more than just a lack of willpower. They’re signals – sometimes subtle, sometimes loud – that our bodies and minds are trying to send us. Learning how to listen to them can help us take better care of ourselves, both physically and emotionally.
Food cravings are a mix of physiology and psychology. When someone craves salty foods, for example, it could be a sign that their body is low on electrolytes like sodium, especially if they’ve been sweating a lot or are slightly dehydrated. Sweet cravings can often be linked to a dip in blood sugar or even a need for magnesium. A craving for chocolate might be your body’s roundabout way of asking for more magnesium-rich foods like nuts, seeds, or leafy greens. A lot of cravings are rooted in emotion.
There’s also a powerful connection between cravings and memory
Cravings for crunchy foods like chips or pretzels can sometimes be about more than texture or taste. They can reflect a desire to release tension or stress. The act of crunching feels satisfying, almost like a physical release of pressure. On the flip side, creamy or fried comfort foods can represent a desire for warmth, familiarity, or reward.
There’s also a powerful connection between cravings and memory. If you always had ice cream after a tough day growing up, your brain remembers that pattern. So, when adult stress creeps in, your brain might go, “Hey, remember what made you feel better before?” That learned behavior can be challenging to break, especially when the brain’s reward system lights up in response to sugar and fat, reinforcing the craving cycle.
It also helps to eat a balanced diet. When your meals are filled with whole, nutrient-dense foods, you’re less likely to feel those extreme cravings. Your body has what it needs, so it doesn’t have to scream for sugar or salt to fill in the gaps. I’ve seen firsthand how small changes – adding protein to breakfast, including more fiber throughout the day – can quiet cravings that used to feel overwhelming.
At the end of the day, cravings aren’t the enemy. They’re information. The more you listen to them with curiosity rather than judgment, the more in tune you become with your own body. And that’s where actual health begins. If you ever find yourself wondering why you want what you want, take a breath, check in, and know that there's always something deeper worth exploring.
Comfort food
Jennie Norton is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist at Vegan Wins, where she provides targeted dietary counseling. Her wealth of experience has taught her a lot about emotional eating
I’ve had clients for years who are exasperated by cravings, as though they’re a sign of weakness or loss of control. They’re not. Your body is attempting to communicate something to you with cravings, and it’s generally not simply about food.
When someone is craving sweets, especially later in the day, I usually look at how they're eating earlier in the day. Skipping meals or under-eating can cause a drop in blood sugar, and then your body wants a quick fix. It's also connected to stress and emotional comfort. A lot of clients use sweet foods as a way of self-soothing when they're stressed or burnt out. It's not uncommon, and it makes sense, sugar can release dopamine, so there's a chemical feedback loop happening as well.
Salty, crunchy foods are a different tale. I routinely observe those cravings in people who are nervous or in need of a tension release. Think about chips or pretzels, they’re loud, they’re aggressive, and they give your mouth and jaw something to do. It’s almost stress release through chewing. There’s also the connection to hydration and mineral balance, specifically sodium. Sometimes a person’s been sweating more or not drinking enough water, and that salt craving is physical.
Fried or fatty foods usually only come into play when someone's really, really tired or not getting enough fat throughout the day. The body requires energy, and it requires it now. And those foods are calorie-dense and satisfying in the short term. It's also something I see in people who grew up with those foods being home or comfort. There's an emotional aspect, not necessarily nutritional.
Carb cravings are probably the most misunderstood. The brain relies on carbohydrates as its favorite fuel source, and when intake becomes too low, as it often does with low-carb dieting, it backfires. The cravings come on full force. I've seen clients eliminate carbs for weeks, only to binge on bread or pasta. That is not a problem of willpower; that's a normal physiological response.
Getting acquainted with the craving is generally the initial step toward a more wholesome relationship with food. It’s not about cutting things out or disregarding your body, it’s about finding out what’s missing and addressing that need in a way that truly satisfies.
At a glance
Take a look at these common cravings to see what’s really going on inside.
Chocolate
Craving pleasure, comfort. Your body needs: magnesium, copper, B vitamins, chromium, selenium, essential fatty acids.
Alternative: seeds, dark chocolate, veggies, fruit, oily fish
Carbs
You need a mood/energy boost. Your body needs: nitrogen, chromium. You may have low blood sugar.
Alternative: high protein food such as meat, fatty fish. Nuts, beans, chia seeds
Sweet
Sad, depressed, lacking pleasure in life. Your body needs: chromium, carbon, phosphoros, sulphur, tryptophan.
Alternative: avocado, banana, protein, eggs, fish, fruit, broccoli, sweet potato, nuts
Fatty, fried food
Needing emotional release. Your body needs: EFAs, sodium, carbs, calcium.
Alternative: Oily fish, olives, avocado, coconut, nuts, seafood
Ice cream
Needing a mood boost, comfort, connection to good memories. Your body needs: calcium, sugar, fat.
Alternative: fruit, frozen yoghurt, greens, smoothies.
Salty/Crunchy
Feeling stressed, angry, frustrated. Your body needs: chloride, silicon, water.
Alternative: water, fruit, fatty fish, nuts, seeds.
Caffeine
Adrenal fatigue, stress, caffeine addiction. Your body needs: iron, vitamin C, salt, phosphorus, sulfur.
Alternative: broccoli, black cherries, fish, leafy greens, meat, eggs, chicken, fish, nuts, red peppers, onions, garlic, vitamin C, herbal teas
Sugar cravings
One of the most challenging cravings to overcome is sugar. Nutritionist Emma Thornton is a qualified nutritionist and understands that the compulsion can feel overwhelming. Emma explains sugar cravings, what stimulates them and what you can do to fight that irresistible urge for sweet treats and snacks.
What causes you to crave sugar?
Sugar cravings affect us all from time to time, that irresistible temptation to tuck into something sweet, whether it’s a bar of milk chocolate, a slice of cake or even a can of Coca-Cola.
What causes these intense cravings, though? Well, when it comes to sugar, there are plenty of different culprits to blame! That’s part of what makes the problem so difficult to tackle but, since knowing is half the battle, here I’m going to briefly cover a few of the most common causes.
Habit: We humans are creatures of habit – most of us have our routines and preferred ways of doing things, and our eating habits are no exception. Generally, most of us prefer to take our meals at roughly the same time each day and even set aside time whilst working to indulge in a little snack.
If you’re habitually visiting the vending machine every day or munching on a biscuit at 11am each morning then your brain and body will start to anticipate this kind of behaviour, stimulating a craving when you do not satisfy this pattern.
Emotional eating: Stress is a major factor behind sugar cravings; this is in part because, over the years, we’ve programmed our brains to perceive sugar as a ‘reward’. The very act of eating sugar becomes a form of comfort and can trigger the release of happy hormones, such as endorphins, which may give your mood a temporary boost.
When you’re feeling down or under pressure, it’s natural to seek out this kind of high, plus you have to consider how stress affects your hormones too! Very often, when we experience stress, our blood glucose levels can rise but, once they inevitably crash, we’ll experience cravings too!
Fatigue: Do you find yourself assaulted by cravings after an intense session at the gym or when you’re feeling especially exhausted? This type of response is actually quite normal– sugar, after all, is a primary source of energy for your body which explains why our earliest ancestors were devoted scavengers, hunting for berries.
The problem is that most of us aren’t reaching for natural sources of sugar, like fruit, but rather heavily processed forms that contain far, far too much sugar like cake or chocolate
Dehydration: It’s not unheard for feelings of thirst to manifest as hunger pangs but, when it comes to sugar in particular, dehydration can stimulate cravings. This is because your body needs an adequate supply of fluid to help metabolise glycogen (stored sugar) and, if this isn’t happening, your body will start to trigger sugar cravings to give itself a quick energy boost
Poor sleep: Sleep is absolutely crucial for so many areas of your health, so any form of deprivation is going to have repercussions. In the case of your appetite, a lack of sleep can upset the hormones that regulate your feelings of hunger and satiety, ghrelin and leptin.
Simply put, sleep deprivation increases your levels of ghrelin, the hunger hormone, and can make you less responsive to leptin so you will experience cravings.
Dieting: You’ve been trying your best to eat healthily and have recently embarked on a new diet regime – so why are your cravings suddenly going out of control? Well, if you’re sticking to an intense diet, it’s possible that you could be skipping meals or not eating the right foods at the right time. Consequently, your blood glucose levels are going to take a nosedive, which will naturally trigger sugar cravings. In fact, fluctuating blood glucose levels are one of the main overriding causes of sugar cravings so this is really something that you want to be on top of.
The other issue with dieting is that it can leave you vulnerable to nutrient deficiencies. In particular, low levels of calcium, magnesium and zinc can sometimes contribute to sugar cravings. Zinc especially is useful as it helps to support your production of insulin.
How do you stop sugar cravings?
1. Balance your blood glucose levels
As I mentioned earlier, keeping your blood glucose levels nicely balanced is crucial if you want to avoid those dreaded sugar cravings. This naturally means that you will need to examine what you are eating and try to eliminate a few of the obvious culprits (cakes, chocolate, sugary cuppas and ice cream!) but, more importantly, you need to think about when you’re eating.
Consistency is everything, so focus on having regular meals every 3-5 hours and think about what you’re putting on your plate. Protein, for example, can be very useful if you’re trying to avoid cravings; according to one study published the Obesity journal, a test group of overweight men were able to significantly reduce their cravings by getting a quarter of their calorific intake from protein.
There’s also some evidence to suggest that fibre – soluble fibre in particular – could help to manage your blood glucose levels as it slows down the absorption of sugar.
When cravings do strike, though, what’s the best thing to do then? Well, below I’ve included a few simple swaps that should help to keep your blood glucose levels nice and even, whilst also satisfying your sweet tooth.
- Snack - Chocolate
- Swap - 70% cacao chocolate
Why? - Dark chocolate might not be as good for you as some manufacturers make out, but good, high quality, unsweetened dark chocolate should contain plenty of antioxidants and stress-busting minerals like magnesium!
- Snack - Crisps
- Swap - Nuts and Seeds
Why? - Walnuts and pumpkin seeds might not sound particularly appealing next to crisps but it all depends on how you serve them. One of my favourite treats is to toast my pumpkin seeds with a splash of soy sauce. That way I have a snack that tastes great but is also rich in zinc, iron and B vitamins.
- Snack - Ice cream
- Swap - Nice Cream
Why? - If you love ice cream but aren’t so enamored with its high sugar content, you could try making your own ‘Nice cream’. Usually all you need is some dairy-free milk and fruit so it’s super simple and affordable.
- Snack - Cake
- Swap - Energy balls
Why? - There’s nothing wrong with cake if it’s an occasional treat but, if it’s making a daily appearance, you might want to consider swapping to a healthier alternative, like homemade energy balls. Incorporating fibre-rich dried fruit, nuts and natural sweeteners like cinnamon or cacao, these are easy to make and taste amazing!
- Snack - Bread
- Swap - Wholegrain alternatives
Why? - This is one of the easiest swaps on this list! If you’re munching on refined white bread, white pasta or white rice then it’s easy to switch to wholegrain alternatives. These won’t have been stripped of their original nutritional content so they should contain plenty of fibre and B vitamins!
2. Drink plenty of water
If you’re experiencing intense cravings, it’s extremely important that you try to drink plenty of fluids. Not only does this ensure that you can metabolise glycogen, increasing your energy levels, it also means that you can maintain a good balance of electrolytes. These include the trace minerals (magnesium, calcium, zinc and vitamin D) which help to support your nervous system and muscle function.
You should be aiming to drink 8-10 glasses of water a day – this is plain water, not carbonated water or caffeinated drinks. If you’ve been exercising, you might be tempted to also try a few different sports drinks but these are often loaded with artificial sweeteners which, as I’ve just discussed, aren’t exactly a miracle cure for sugar cravings. Instead, you could try a more natural alternative like A.Vogel’s Balance Mineral Drink (avogel.co.uk). Excellent for fighting fatigue and chockfull of important nutrients, this can help to keep you hydrated whilst also curbing sugar cravings due to its excellent content of essential minerals and vitamins.
3. Reduce your stress levels
Stress can be disastrous when it comes to encouraging sugar cravings so this is naturally an issue you will want to address. When it comes to difficult emotions like stress and anxiety, we usually recommend tackling them at the root cause, if you can. Of course, this might not always be possible, in which case you may need to think about how to manage your symptoms.
Keeping active, eating the right foods and practicing mindful exercises such as meditation can be great tools to help you here.
4. Get into a good sleep routine
Since sleep can have an impact on the hormones that regulate your appetite, it really makes sense that you’ll want to get yourself into a good sleep hygiene routine. This could mean examining the environment that you’re sleeping in; is it cluttered or are you keeping your work laptop next to your bed? If so, you might want to do a bit of reorganising so your room is a calm and relaxed setting. Make sure you’re not eating heavy meals or snacks right before you go to bed too – the last thing you need is to be kept awake because your digestive system is busy trying to break down your food.
Finally, and I cannot stress this enough, please try to avoid bringing your devices to bed with you! Smartphones, tablets and laptops – all of these emit blue lightwaves that can inhibit your production of melatonin, the sleep hormone.
Instead, try to focus your attention on other activities in the lead up to bedtime – why not have a relaxing bath? Spend some time on the sofa with a good book? Practice some meditation? These restful activities should help to keep you nice and calm, making it that little bit easier for you to drift off.
5. Keep active
Sitting down and remaining sedentary certainly isn’t going to do you any favours when sugar cravings strike. Rather than trying to distract yourself, you’ll be more inclined to mull them over and, eventually, give into them.
Keeping active, on the other hand, keeps your mind occupied, plus a little bit of exercise can also help to regulate your blood glucose levels. If you’re working your muscles and giving your body a good stretch, then you’ll naturally be using up more glucose which can help to lower high blood glucose levels.
Of course, you’ll naturally be a bit peckish afterwards but at least you’ll have earned a bite to eat. There’s plenty of great foods you can indulge in after a workout and, best of all, not all of them are full of processed sugars.
Finding ways to enjoy your favourite foods
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