Have you ever wondered how to stop food cravings? We've all been there… Wanting dark chocolate so much that you didn’t catch a single word during that meeting just salivating over the thought of it… Craving a burger so desperately that you were willing to drive an hour just to make sure you got it… Or stopping everything you were doing, at the most inconvenient time, and during the worst weather conditions, to get to a coffee shop no matter how far, just to get a cup of coffee?

A little known fact: Cravings are not quite the same as hunger. In fact, they couldn’t be more different.

Hunger is controlled by the stomach, but cravings are controlled by the brain. Hunger is all about your survival mechanism, but cravings are all about your body communicating with you.

For example, the next time you have a craving—let's say for something sweet—you can ask yourself: “Is it just sugar I am craving? Will I be satisfied by sucking on a sugar cube? Or is it something more specific? Perhaps chocolate?”

If the answer is indeed chocolate, it is your body’s way of letting you know you may be deficient in magnesium (raw cacao is one of the highest natural sources of magnesium). If you know this, you can then find all the foods that have a high content of magnesium and slowly add them to your diet, which then gets rid of your sweet food cravings.

Of course, the list goes far beyond sugar cravings, chocolate, and magnesium. Below is a chart of all the common food cravings, flavor cravings and eating habits you may experience, the reason behind each craving and all the foods you can eat to fix the craving!

Feel free to leave your questions, comments, and feedback below the chart.

Summary & More Resources

Feel free to access these other cravings resources for more help on how to stop food cravings:

Author Tanya Alekseeva is a Wellness Coach who specializes in Raw Food Nutrition and Detoxification. She works with a variety of clients ranging from corporations to individuals and schools. She is the founder of Better Raw and Corporate Créme in London. Tanya travels nationally and internationally to provide seminars, workshops, detox programs, and one-to-one coaching and is also an author of several books, including “Purified: Complete 7 Day Detox Program”.

Did you recognize any food cravings that you experience in the chart above? Do you have your own questions, comments or feedback to add? Then leave your thoughts below!