Somewhat interesting but not directly related to LC. I don't agree with all the authors recommendations. Particularly, 'Give in.
Go ahead and eat what you crave, but just a tiny bit.'

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/hom...ave&floc=HR-1_T

Fully 97 percent of women and 67 percent of men experience food cravings, that intense yearning for a triple-decker chocolate cake or salty tortilla chips dipped in spicy salsa.

Important Fact No. 1: Such cravings are psychological, not physical.

Important Fact No. 2: Give in to your food cravings too frequently and you'll get fat.

Men typically crave protein, fat, and salt: Roast beef, burgers, fries, steak, pizza and chips.

Women are more likely to crave sweet, high-carbohydrate, high-fat foods: Chocolate, cookies, ice cream, pasta, and bread.

The Washington Post reports that cravings do help fuel chronic over-consumption of calories. After all, if you're craving that raspberry chocolate ice cream, you're not going to eat just a teaspoon of it. And don't fool yourself into thinking that irresistible craving is actually your body's way of supplying a missing nutrient. It's not.

That oft-cited theory was tested recently by Marcia Pelchat, an associate professor at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, a private research facility in Philadelphia. A group of healthy, young adults was placed on a liquid diet that provided everything they needed--calories, vitamins, and minerals. But some of the participants still craved specific foods, which led Pelchat to conclude that "nutritional deficits are not necessary for cravings."

Even if it isn't a physical need, it is a psychological desire. Adam Drewnowski, who researches food cravings at the University of Washington's Center for Public Health Nutrition in Seattle, said he thinks people develop food cravings as a result of stress. To compensate, the body "drives them in the direction of food, usually food with sugar and fat," Drewnowski told the Washington Post. "I often notice that offices with very stressful mental work and deadlines usually have bowls of M&M's around." The candy's fat and sugar bathes the brain in endorphins--those feel-good chemicals that make that intense work more bearable.

How can you beat your cravings? The Washington Post offers these suggestions:

Trick your craving into a low-calorie option.
If you just have to have chocolate, go for chocolate sorbet instead of ice cream. Choose pretzels over potato chips.

Distract yourself.
You have to have the popcorn. Before you get it, wait 15 to 20 minutes and do something besides think about it. Sometimes the craving will go away.

Eat a variety of foods.
Most people crave what they're not getting in their normal diet--be it taste or texture.

Get the "trigger" foods out of the house.
Crave potato chips? Don't buy them.

Give in.
Go ahead and eat what you crave, but just a tiny bit.

Interesting.

I generally don't get "food cravings", in that "oh I just have to have <whatever> now" feelings. The closest thing to a food craving I have experienced is a particularly strong desire for a certain food item. Recently I've been "craving" macadamia nut & white chocolate chip cookies, in that I would like to eat them. I've also experienced these feelings for strawberry or chocolate cheesecake, and ice cream with everything (nuts chocolate cookie dough etc). However the feelings are not overpowering or compelling. It's more like "hmm that would be really nice to eat".

I wonder what it feels like to feel compelled to eat something from a strong desire. I don't know what that is like (which may surprise you looking at my former high weight ).

Another thing I find interesting is that I tend to favor food popular with men. I most favor salty, protein, fat, crunchy, etc. I know it sounds contradictory to say that, considering all the foods I "crave" were fat/carb sweet combinations. However, just a small tiny bit of those fat/carb sweet food will satisfy me. I will get sick of ice cream after a spoonful or two, believe it or not. With salty/protein & fat/crunchy type food, I could eat and eat and eat and still never get enough. I really really desire the stuff. I have to be careful not to over salt my chicken skin for example as I WILL eat till over stuffed then.

I can't and never could tolerate energy dense carbs unless they were fried in fat (chips) or texturally complement "good stuff" i.e. fat salt and meat (chinese noodle and rice dishes for example, or sicilian pizza bread, garlic sticks dipped in butter, etc). In other words, the carbs had to be a back ground or textural accent to fat/protein/salt for me to enjoy the dish. Also if I don't eat it often enough (a nice fatty piece of meat especially) I start to desire it intensely. My sister, a huge carb craver and faithful patron of dunken doughnuts, will be like "oh my god, this bagel is sooo good!". She'll ask me to try it, imploring me to revel in the carby goodness with her (now that I'm more or less on maintenance I make small allowances for minor deviations). The stuff just tastes disgusting to me. She doesn't believe I actually don't like the taste of bagels and things like that, but I honestly don't. It tastes like chewy bland starch. I never did care for that stuff. I was very selective in the breads and starch products I like, and virtually all of them had lots of fat, weren't very sweet, and had an interesting texture (most likely crunchy).

Honestly I should have never been fat, as my taste preferences are very compatible with Atkins. It's just unfortunate that I was eating the wrong things out of ignorance and bad habit.

I don't ever have really strong cravings... But I do have some foods that I haven't eaten in a long time and when I think about them I remember how good they used to taste. My two biggest would be french fries dipped in a vanilla shake and pizza. I think it's interesting that both of those foods are high in fat and carbs.

Me too, but what I found when I decided to indulge in those foods is that they don't taste as good as I remember. Then they're just not worth it.

Unfortunately, I STILL haven't learned this lesson I cheat, expecting it to taste divine and then it doesn't and I usually end up eating a bunch of other HC c*~p, trying to get that 'high' and I never do!

I hope someday I'll finally get this thru my thick skull and in the mean time, maybe somebody else will learn from my mistakes???

Nicole

That is an understatement! It's surprising how often I will suddenly "crave" something when I'm not hungry, bored, etc. Just catching a glimpse (print ad, etc.) or reading a post about something will flash my brain with a "craving" for whatever it is. Fortunately I have learned that cravings are just a thought, not a physical need, and to ignore them.

To adapt a quote from a 60's TV character: "Cravings are a thing of the mind. The mind can be controlled."

Some cravings are physical. Low blood sugar can cause cravings. While the liquid diet may have had sufficient calories, it probably was too low in fat and much too high in carbohydrates. This would cause blood sugar fluctuations and result in cravings. My cravings are much reduced on Atkins as compared to when I was low-fatting. I don't think Atkins changed me psychologically, but the physical changes (stable blood sugar) helped reduce the cravings.

I agree Dodger!