Why am I craving carbs?

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering ‘why am I craving carbs and sugar?’ or ‘am I a carbohydrate addict?’ – you’re definitely not alone! As dietitians, we see that many of our clients come to us with these exact same concerns, often followed with feeling guilty after eating. And this makes sense, given that diet culture often leads us to believe that we’re ‘weak’ or just have a total lack of willpower if we give into a craving. 

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Instead of feeling shame for having certain cravings, we teach our clients to observe these body signals and use them as effective tools to reflect on what might be going on for us, to understand the different types of hunger and why we’re eating, or what might we be lacking in terms of our self care. This can be so insightful in helping us to understand what do we really need in this moment?

Get ready to dive into all things carbs so you can feel empowered, rather than stressed about what to do with these cravings! In this post we’ll cover: 

• What carbohydrates are and why you need them?
• Are carbs caused by nutrient deficiencies?
• Are carb cravings bad?
• Common misconceptions about carbs
• What to do if you feel a carb craving coming on 
• Meal and snack ideas when you’re craving carbs

To cover some of the most common questions right up front, let’s dive in:

What are Carbohydrates and Why am I Craving Them?

Before we get into what may be causing your carb cravings, let’s review a little bit about what carbohydrates actually are. So many of our Make Food Feel Good Community members come in with  food rules and fears around carbs (sometimes subconscious), which often stem from the demonization of carbs throughout mainstream media, nutrition ‘experts,’ and even well-meaning family or friends. But in our opinion, carbs should be celebrated and not feared – here’s why. 

Carbohydrates are one of the 3 macronutrients that our body needs to function and thrive (along with protein and fat.) Carbohydrates are our body’s preferred fuel source as they are easily broken down into glucose. Our brain, nervous system, and red blood cells rely exclusively on glucose for fuel. They cannot store glucose like our muscles or other organs can, so they need a constant supply from our diet. In addition, adequate carbohydrate intake can support proper muscle growth and maintenance, assist with digestion and hydration, and can improve our mood and sleep patterns. 

Ally Choo, Registered Dietitian

Given the many and important functions of carbohydrates, it’s no surprise that our brain and body crave them. But sometimes it’s not always easy to tell what the root cause is for these cravings. Here are some of the main reasons you might be craving carbs:

Restriction

• This may surprise you, but restriction can be both physical and mental. When we physically restrict energy, especially from carbohydrates, our body initiates a cascade of biological survival mechanisms that drive us to eat more. For example, increased levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin and the neurotransmitter neuropeptide Y are released in response to food deprivation, which increases our appetite and our drive to seek out and crave carbs. This often results in unpleasant eating episodes that can feel out of control. 

• Mental restriction can also increase our obsession with food. Mental restriction often comes in the form of pseudo permission to eat ’forbidden’ or ‘special’ foods, meaning that you allow yourself to eat foods that you consider ‘bad’ or ‘unhealthy’ only if you compensate by working it off or eating less the next day to atone for the guilt you feel. Although you physically eat the food, it leads to feeling emotionally deprived in the future.

Unbalanced blood sugars 

• Having large spikes and drops in your blood sugars can cause you to crave carbohydrates. Because our body loves to maintain homeostasis (that is, the state of steady conditions maintained by living systems) for optimal functioning, the ‘caveman brain’ effect can take place when our blood sugars dip too low. This is where you’re urgently pulling open the pantry or digging through the fridge to find anything that’s a quick source of energy (examples include candy, chips, and other fast energy foods.) Causes of chaotic blood sugars can include going too long without eating, eating only carbohydrates without balancing it out with a protein and/or fat, or underfueling day to day.

Stress 

• Let’s face it, adulting is hard. On top of parenting, pursuing career aspirations, keeping a household, focusing on our finances, and maintaining our own well being, it’s hard not to feel like we’re struggling to keep our head above water. Throw in a global pandemic, and no wonder we are all in a state of chronic stress. When we feel chronically stressed, this can lead to increased carbohydrate cravings as stress can often manifest into a scarcity mindset. We are wired for survival, so when we don’t feel safe, our brain can increase cravings for fast energy (including bread, pasta, cakes etc) to be stored up for later use. This survival mechanism has kept humans alive through millions of years, although it can be problematic in our modern day and age. 

Attempting to regulate low mood and cope with unpleasant emotions

• Carbohydrate intake is directly linked to the release of serotonin, aka the ‘feel good’ neurotransmitter, in the brain. Serotonin is an important chemical that helps to improve mood, prevent feelings of depression, and help us to feel more alert when we’re awake. We may notice our carb cravings increase when we are feeling unpleasant emotions such as boredom, feelings of overwhelm, or emotional/physical exhaustion. Eating for emotional reasons is completely normal, however it can become a problem if it is your only coping mechanism. We talk about this more in depth in this post about boredom and emotional eating here.

Learned behaviour/habit

• Because carbohydrates are linked to feeling good, using carbohydrates as a reward can be a behaviour you learn over time. In his book ‘The Power of Habit,’ Charles Duhigg explains that the 3 components of a habit loop are: cue, routine, and reward. Given we are all habitual creatures, it makes sense that using carbs to treat ourselves would quickly turn into a habit. A habit loop can look like: you get to the movie theater and you see the concession stand, your routine includes always buying a large popcorn regardless of your hunger level or how you feel, and your reward is the buttery, carbohydrate-rich snack. Recognizing which habit loops no longer serve you by harnessing mindfulness and learning how to make changes that are more aligned with your core values is something we teach our clients in our  Make Food Feel Good Group Coaching Programs as well as through our 1:1 nutrition coaching sessions. 

Are My Carb Cravings Linked to a Nutritional Deficiency?

• There is a school of thought that we crave certain foods based on what nutrients our body might be lacking. For example, many people attest that their chocolate cravings are because of a deficiency in magnesium or that their sudden craving for meat is due to low iron. While this argument sounds compelling, the evidence is lacking. Your sweet and/or salty carb-rich craving is more likely due to physical, psychological, or social factors, as mentioned above.
• That being said, yes, carb cravings may be the result of either physically or mentally restricting carbohydrates in your diet and your body’s response to needing that fuel and energy!

Are Carb Cravings Bad?

• No! Cravings get a bad wrap in our weight-centered society and are often seen as a sign of weakness, lack of willpower, or evidence of failing at self control. However, any craving, especially for carbohydrates, can be seen as an effective tool for self reflection and to check in on where we might be physically, emotionally, and mentally. Noticing intense cravings can give us a lot of information and help us determine if an aspect of our self care is lacking (ex. sleep, mood, physical nourishment, social connection, etc.) This can also be a great opportunity to reflect on why you’re eating and explore the different types of hunger so you can get to the root cause of the craving and honor it in the most loving way, more on that below.

What Can You Do When You Feel A Carb Craving Coming On?

• Did you know that there are actually 3 different types of hunger you might be experiencing day to day? These are often referred to as stomach (physical), heart (emotional), or mouth (taste) hunger. One of the first things you can try when you feel an intense carb craving is to get curious and assume physical hunger first. Reflecting on when and what you ate last, if you skipped a meal, or missed carbohydrates throughout the day, can be helpful to decipher what you’re feeling. It’s important to rule out physical hunger because if you ignore or delay true physical hunger, it will only lead to more intense and unstoppable cravings!

• If physical hunger has been ruled out, doing a mental and emotional scan can be helpful to determine if you are wanting to eat due to a specific sensory aspect of the food (mouth hunger) or if you are trying to fulfill an emotional need with food (heart hunger). By bringing in mindfulness (that is, self awareness without judgement) and self compassion, you will be able to honour each type of hunger in the way that most serves you. 

• Avoid the ‘Eat Around’ – this is what happens when we’re craving something salty and savoury like chips, but we try to ignore this craving and eat celery sticks instead, then it’s cashews, then it’s a piece of low fat cheese with tomatoes… By the end of it, we’ve eaten around our whole kitchen and have found our way back to eating the chips. This is because when we ignore, delay, or deprive our cravings, it often leads to us eating more food, feeling unsatisfied, and then coming back to the foods that we wanted in the first place. Mindfully eating foods that are satisfying is key, which is why Discovering the Satisfaction Factor is one of the Intuitive Eating principles.

• Make sure to have an abundance of foods you prefer on hand and in your pantry. Studies show that when we have access to preferred food, it helps to settle the scarcity mindset and allow our brains to truly know that we have continuous access to nourishment. However, if you have experienced or are currently experiencing food insecurity, this shift will be more complicated, and may need additional support from trusted professionals.

• Incorporate mindfulness and employ the 3 T’s: Turn off, Tune in, and Take 10. When we’re distracted, we’re less in tune with our intuition and body signals. With this disconnection from our body, eating can often turn into a mindless snacking episode, where we’re unsure if we’ve truly enjoyed the food or not or how much of the food we even ate. This is why we recommend turning off  distractions (TV, phone, podcasts, radio…), tuning in (what is your hunger level (try out this hunger and fullness scale to help you familiarize with the different levels of hunger), and take 10 (try to take at least 10 minutes to mindfully enjoy your meal.)  During this time, enjoy a portion of the food you’re craving, revel in the satisfaction, let go of guilt, and move on!

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What should you eat when craving carbs? 

What is the most effective way to curb a craving? Eat what you’re actually craving! (See the ‘eat around’ above).

Here is a list of some of our favourite well balanced meals and snack ideas that include carbs and will satisfy that craving while providing energy, nutrition…and deliciousness.

• Salted Caramel Energy Balls
• California Bruschetta
• Chocolate Baked Oats
• Baked Mushroom Risotto
• Nourishing Oat Flour Pumpkin Muffins
• Soft & Crispy Oatmeal Almond Butter Cookies

For ease, I’ve also rounded up these 15+ quick and easy meal prep snacks so you’ve always got something ready to go and on hand! 

Common Misconceptions About Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are addictive

• While there has been a lot of speculation and media attention given to the concept of ‘food addiction,’ the evidence doesn’t hold up. The idea of ‘food addiction’ has been proposed because scientists have found that both substance use and food can activate dopamine pathways and regions within our brain. However, there are many reasons, other than addiction, that can explain why food is rewarding. For example, studies have shown that music, the feeling of falling in love, and playing games also light up dopamine centers within the brain, yet it’s difficult to make a strong argument for, say,  a ‘music addiction.’

• Additionally, there are many limitations and flaws in food addiction studies, many of which are often conducted on rats. Interestingly, studies on food restricted rats show that they will overeat sugar consistently, but in the same studies, control rats that had regular access to food did not overeat sugar. What these studies show is that food restriction may increase the rewarding aspect from food, but we wouldn’t call that food addiction. Lastly, studies show eating ‘forbidden food’ decreases bingeing. This directly goes against the Food Addiction Theory, which would predict that eating the forbidden food (ie. the addicting substance) would result in increased binge eating.

Low carbohydrate diets will lead to sustainable weight loss

• While reducing carbohydrate intake may initially result in some rapid weight loss due to fluid loss (the word, after all, is carbo-HYDRATE), a reduction in overall energy intake, and the loss of muscle tissue, research suggests this will not be maintained and will likely result in rebound weight gain. Additionally, dieting and weight cycling (ie. repeatedly losing and regaining weight) has been shown to be detrimental to our physical and mental health

Now over to you

• Do you find yourself craving carbs?
• What are your thoughts on carbohydrates?

Share with us in the comments below! And if you found this post helpful, pass it along to a friend or family member who could benefit from it too!

Looking for more support?

Looking for support to end the diet cycle, trust your body and learn the nutrition that feels amazing for YOU? Learn more about my Make Food Feel Good Program here where hundreds of women have found lasting success through my proven framework and step-by-step guided support. Let’s Chat!

The post Why am I craving carbs? appeared first on Lindsay Pleskot, RD.