What is the difference between a craving and hunger?
Unfortunately there's no hard and fast definition for either term. Physiological hunger generally comes on slowly and may be accompanied by physical symptoms like a growling stomach; you may also have stomach pains and feel unfocused or a little dizzy. Your body is telling you it needs fuel — you need to eat. These feelings disappear after eating and do not recur until several hours later. But hunger is not completely physiologically driven — there are biological, sensory and cognitive components, says Richard Mattes, M.P.H., Ph.D., R.D., a professor of nutrition at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.
A craving, on the other hand, pushes you to eat even when your body doesn't need more fuel. If you are "hungry" within one to two hours of eating a good meal, you're probably experiencing a craving. The emotional or psychological desire to eat often has no relation to when you last ate and may not go away after eating. It is usually triggered by an event, a feeling or an emotion. One red flag that can help you distinguish a craving from hunger is whether the instinct to eat is focused on a specific food. "A craving is different from hunger in that it is more directed to a specific food, taste or texture," says Mattes. "A craving results in more radical behavior — the motivation to follow the sensation is stronger." And the difference isn't necessarily just a question of psychological motivation, Mattes says. "There are two schools of thought here — those who think cravings reflect biological signals and those who think they're more behaviorally driven. And there's no consensus."
Do we all have cravings? Well, almost all of us. A report in the journal "Appetite" has stated that cravings for foods are extremely common, with 97% of women and 68% of men reporting episodes of food cravings.
True or False: If you have an appetite, it means you're hungry.
False. According to Mattes, "Appetite refers to food-seeking behavior that guides consumption." It does not, however, predict how much you eat. Appetite and food intake do not correlate, in part, because the definition of appetite is so broad. It includes all the impulses and instincts that guide our relationship to food. So depending on how much we crave, our level of hunger, our tendency to indulge or deny craving, and the amount of food it takes before reaching satiety, the amount we actually consume can differ greatly from person to person, even if the hunger level is similar.
"In fact, it is possible to be hungry without having an appetite, though this usually occurs only when someone is sick, or perhaps depressed or very stressed. The body sends signals that food is needed (hunger), but due to one of these states, food might be unappealing, and consequently there is no appetite," says Hollie Raynor, Ph.D., a staff psychologist at The Miriam Hospital's Weight Control & Diabetes Research Center in Providence, R.I.
True or False: Waiting 20 minutes before you go for seconds will help curb your appetite.
True, to some extent. You may have heard that it takes 20 minutes to recognize that you're full. While there's a certain amount of truth to the idea that our bodies aren't designed to recognize satiety instantaneously, different foods are processed differently, so there isn't a specific rule about the time we need to wait. That said, however, Raynor estimates that it takes "about 15 to 30 minutes to feel full. This is because satiation or fullness occurs due to many different components — receptors in the stomach, hormones in the gut and intestines — which all take time to occur" so that your brain finally gets the message that you've eaten, and you don't necessarily need to eat more.
True or False: The best advice for a craving is just to let it pass.
True and false. Many researchers believe that the life of a craving is about 20 minutes — meaning that if you can wait it out, it will pass. "However, many times the craving passes only temporarily, and a reactivation of the craving occurs," says Martin Binks, Ph.D., psychologist and director of behavioral health at the Diet & Fitness Center at Duke University Medical Center. He suggests waiting it out with some sort of distraction and actually targeting the source of the craving. First, evaluate your hunger level by checking how long it's been since you've eaten. If it's at least four hours, you're probably experiencing hunger, not just a craving, and you should have something to eat. If it's less time and you're not hungry, you're probably having an emotionally based craving. Try to figure out what you really need — are you reaching for food because you're bored, lonely or anxious? You need to tackle the particular issue behind the craving. For instance, if you're bored, come up with something to stimulate you that doesn't involve eating. Many experts also suggest drinking a glass of water to make sure that you're not just thirsty. Often times we mistake thirst for hunger.
Other experts suggest submitting to the food craving but keeping it under control. "Although there is not much research on this question, if you really want something, you should eat it in controlled portions. This will help you overcome the craving and get it out of your system," says Mattes. Don't worry too much about "giving in" to a craving — just make sure you're not overindulging. Measure out the snacks you typically crave beforehand; never eat directly out of the container or package.
True or False: Your body knows when it's nutrient deficient and therefore craves the nutrients you need.
False. While there is some debate over what causes cravings, most experts agree they aren't a biological necessity. "It is not clear at this time if cravings are biological, cognitively driven, learned or a combination of the three," says Raynor. "However, food cravings for most people are not related to nutritional deficiencies."
As Mattes points out: "If we craved foods because we needed them, why would people ever have nutrient deficiencies? Cravings are based on custom. When people are stressed or depressed, for whatever reason, they gravitate toward foods that are associated with better times and happier sensations. Pregnant women might crave chocolate, depressed people might crave ice cream. But if there were some biological need, if chocolate were really special, there would be universal cravings, not culturally specific cravings."
True or False: If we could take a pill that made us feel full, we would all lose weight and keep it off.
False. Think about it. How many times have you been completely full after a huge steak and then eaten dessert just because someone put it in front of you? The scientific journal "Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews" reported that the most important reason people stop eating is because they become tired of the food, not because they are full. In other words, if you're enjoying the taste, you'll keep on eating even if you're full. "The more options and variety there are, the more a person will eat," says Raynor.
In fact, "One of the reasons pharmacological solutions have not been effective long term is the individual's disconnection from feelings of hunger and fullness. Just having a full stomach is not enough to stop eating; many people eat for emotional or other reasons," says Binks.