Cravings Uncovered: How to Identify What Your Body and Mind Are Really Asking For

Have you ever found yourself overcome by a strong craving and not quite sure why? You’re not alone. Cravings can feel confusing, frustrating, and sometimes even defeating—especially when we’re trying to eat well or make healthier choices.

But the truth is: cravings aren’t just about willpower. They’re actually messages. They’re your body (and mind) trying to tell you something. The trick is learning how to listen to what those cravings are really telling you.

There are many possible causes of cravings, so let's begin uncovering what’s really going on underneath them—so you can respond with more awareness instead of impulse.

1. Physical Causes: Is Your Body Missing Something?

Cravings often arise when basic physical needs aren't being met:

• Imbalanced Nutrition: Under-eating sufficient nutrition, especially protein, can lead to blood sugar swings and cravings for sugar and simple carbs.

• Nutrient Deficiencies: Cravings may signal a need for certain micronutrients like magnesium, zinc, calcium, sodium, or iron.

• Lack of Sleep: Even one poor night of sleep can disrupt hunger hormones, increasing appetite and cravings the next day (1, 3).

• Dehydration: Thirst is often mistaken for hunger. Try water first when you notice a craving, before reaching for a snack.

2. Emotional and Psychological Triggers

Cravings can be triggered by emotional responses, driven by the brain's stress centre the Amygdala:

• Stress: During stress, the body releases cortisol which can increase cravings for high-fat, high-sugar foods as a way to soothe the nervous system.

• Boredom or Habit: Many of us eat out of routine rather than true hunger, or graze due boredom or a deeper emotional need.

• Comfort and Reward: Food is often used to self-soothe or reward, which reinforces automatic eating patterns.

3. Hormonal Influences

Your hormones have a big say in your cravings, especially for women.

• Menstrual Cycle: Fluctuations in oestrogen and progesterone, can increase cravings, especially in the mid-luteal phase when metabolic rate rises slightly (4).

• Cortisol and Stress Hormones: Chronic stress can dysregulate our hormonal system and lead to increased cravings, especially for quick-fix comfort foods.

• Insulin Resistance: Blood sugar instability—which is common in perimenopause—can trigger frequent, intense sugar cravings. Declining oestrogen levels affect insulin sensitivity and can increase abdominal weight gain (2)

  
  
  
  

4. Environmental and Habitual Triggers

Your surroundings and past habits often shape cravings:

• Conditioned Cues: Habits are formed with repetition over time. If we have built a habit of having dessert after dinner each night, then this becomes a learned routine leading to expectation, rather than a true need.

• Marketing & Social Influence: Advertisements, social media, and even our friends’ or family's food choices can spark cravings.

• Food Rules & Restriction: The more we label foods as “bad” or off-limits, the more we tend to crave them. Deprivation and diet culture often fuels cravings.

How to Start Understanding and Managing Your Cravings

To successfully manage our cravings we first need to start listening to them and understanding them.

Here are a few ways to tune in to your cravings:

• Stop, Breathe and Reflect: When you notice a craving, and before acting on it, first pause, take a few deep breaths and reflect by asking yourself:

  
  

  • How am I feeling in this moment? (eg stressed, overwhelmed, bored, anxious, tired, thirsty). This will help you identify whether the craving is physical or emotional.

  • Is there a healthier option I can choose? (perhaps what you truly need is stress management, a drink of water, or to do an activity or some movement that will be more mentally or physically stimulating).

  • Which choice will best support me and my health goals in this moment? (This question allows you to tap into your inner why of what is most important to you).

  
  

• Eat Balanced, Regular Meals: Supporting your body's physical nutritional needs is paramount to managing cravings. Are you consuming the ideal amounts of energy for your body's needs? Are you consuming sufficient macronutrients and micronutrients that your body requires through your diet? Are you eating at regular intervals or are you skipping meals? Seeking support and advice on how to support your body's nutritional needs can be extremely beneficial.

  
  

• Keep a Craving Journal: When a craving strikes, jot down the time, what you’re craving, how you’re feeling (physically and emotionally), and what’s going on around you. Patterns will often start to emerge, and through this process you will gain awareness and insight on how to manage your cravings differently.

  
  

• Be Curious, Not Critical: Avoid harsh and critical self-talk. Understanding cravings is so much deeper than a lack of willpower. Instead of seeing your cravings as the enemy, see your cravings as messengers. Begin to listen to your cravings with curiosity rather than judgement, about what you truely need physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Seeking support to manage stress, emotions, and trauma can be extremely helpful in managing emotional cravings.

By learning to listen to your body’s cravings, and respond with more intention and self-compassion, you can successfully manage and reduce the cravings that you experience.

If you would like more support in navigating through your cravings on a physical and/or emotional level, don't hesitate to reach out and book in a Health Strategy Call

Yours in Health

Kristy

References:

1) Greer SM, Goldstein AN, Walker MP (2013). The impact of sleep deprivation on food desire in the human brain. Nat Commun.2259. doi: 10.1038/ncomms3259. PMID: 23922121; PMCID: PMC3763921 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3763921/

2) Briden, L. (2021). Hormone Repair Manual: Every womans's guide to hormones after 40. Pan MacMillon Australia.

3) Schmid SM, Hallschmid M, Jauch-Chara K, Born J, Schultes B. (2008). A single night of sleep deprivation increases ghrelin levels and feelings of hunger in normal-weight healthy men. J Sleep Res. Sep;17(3):331-4. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2008.00662.x. Epub 2008 Jun 28. PMID: 18564298.

4) Smith, M., Aghayan, M., Little, J., Prior, J., Cohen, T. R., Soon, Z., Bomide, H., & Purcell, S. (2025). Appetite and energy intake in laboratory and free-living conditions remain consistent across menstrual cycle phases when using precise measurement methods. medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.02.28.25323098