How to Eliminate Cravings

Cravings for sugar, caffeine, and alcohol is often the factor that throws most people off of any attempted diet.  Though it may seem impossible to imagine going without these things if you crave them, it is not impossible.  In fact, if you are able to eliminate cravings for these stimulants all together, you will not be thinking about eating or drinking the substances that will only lead to higher calorie and sugar intake and ultimately defeat your weight loss goals.
Since the key to eliminating cravings is to understand why we have them, I will examine where cravings come from and will provide you with six lifestyle changes that will reduce and eventually eliminate your cravings all together.

Why do we have cravings?
More often than not, people have cravings due to having a deficiency of a particular vitamin or hormone.  The biggest deficiency tied to cravings is a hormone called serotonin which is also known as the "feel good hormone."  Since ingesting sugar, caffeine, alcohol and nicotine stimulates serotonin in the brain, a deficiency in serotonin has been tied to cravings for these stimulants.  Though ingesting these substances will stimulate serotonin, the problem is that these stimulants are all quick fixes and when the effects of the stimulant wears off, serotonin levels will crash and cause one to have cravings once again.  This quick fix and crash cycle will go on throughout the day and instead of solving the serotonin deficiency, stimulants will only serve to make it worse.

What causes serotonin deficiency?
If you are someone who craves sugar, caffeine, alcohol or nicotine, it is most likely due to a lack of serotonin.  Though serotonin deficiency can be genetic, it can also be caused by our lifestyle.  Some of the factors that can deplete serotonin in our system are stress, insufficient sleep, insufficient exposure to sunlight, lack of exercise, lack of essential amino acids, and use of stimulants such as sugar, caffeine and nicotine.

So how do we eliminate cravings?
Boosting your level of serotonin and having a regular level of serotonin going to your brain throughout the day will eliminate your strong desire for foods and substances that that will temporarily stimulate serotonin.  Incidentally, the serotonin deficiency factors listed above are the factors in our lives that we must addressed in order to eliminate cravings. Working toward eliminating or reducing stress, getting adequate sleep, adequate exercise and adequate sunlight, eating the right foods and cutting stimulants out of our lifestyle habits are all sure methods for stimulating serotonin, which will lead to the elimination of cravings.  Following is a break down of each of these six factors.

Diet Choices: 
The factor that may be the easiest for us to control is our diet factor.  A lot of times people who wish to loose weight will actually eat things that make cravings worse.  For example, if you skip breakfast or skimp on any meal, you are likely to have cravings and end up eating something very bad for your dieting efforts. Additionally, there is a dieting myth that eating carbohydrates will make you crave more carbohydrates.  This may be true with simple carbohydrates like sugar but it is not true for whole grains. Caffeine and nicotine may be appetite suppressants; however, they deplete serotonin and when the effects of these stimulants wear off, your next choice of a fix may end up being sugar. 

So what should we eat?  The answer may seem quite simple since most of the foods that are good for us are also rich in amino acids that stimulate serotonin.  However, the best rule to follow when eating is to assure that each meal or snack is a serotonin stimulating meal.  This means you will need to eat protein and a little bit of whole grain.  These should be the main two elements in each meal.  Though protein and whole grains are the best serotonin production combination, eating vegetables and fruits will also add to the vitamins and amino acids needed for serotonin production. 

Also, if you are trying to loose weight, filling up on fruit and vegetables is much better than getting hungry and snacking on processed foods which are likely to have tons of sugar or corn syrup.  In fact, you want to consider sugar in all its forms as the main enemy and the thing you should strive to avoid.  Incidentally, though alcohol is generally considered a suppressant, it is considered a stimulant when it comes to serotonin since alcohol is loaded with sugar.  Caffeine and nicotine are considered appetite suppressants because they produce a temporarily serotonin fix which temporarily reduces cravings.  Caffeine and nicotine will still deplete serotonin when the effects wear off so if you wish to reduce or eliminate dependence on these substances, following serotonin boosting diet will help you get off caffeine or nicotine without gaining weight as a result.


Stress Reduction/Laughter: 
No matter how well we eat, sleep or exercise, excessive stress will ultimately chase serotonin away.  So if you have a boss, coworkers, family members or friends who create a hostile environment or drive you crazy, they are actually chasing away your serotonin and in turn causing you to have cravings.  Though we cannot always control how others treat us, communication can go a long way as well as avoiding people who are perpetually negative or confrontational.  We can also do a lot to eliminate stress by reducing what we try to accomplish in a day.  Try to take time to relax and spend quality time with your friends and family.  Make sure you have time each day to stop and smell the roses.

Laughter is another way to stimulate serotonin and release stress.  So if there's nothing to laugh about, watch some comedy.  If you have kids, joke or play around with them and they are sure to make you laugh.  Your kids will also benefit from some good health laughter.  Stimulating other hormones will also stimulate serotonin.  You, as well as others, will benefit from expressions of love and affection such as a hug or an occasional kind word.  So surround yourself with positive people and try to avoid the people that tend to bring you down.

Exercise:
Another way to reduce stress and boost serotonin is by getting exercise.  Though the ideal way to get exercise would be to go to the gym regularly or to go out for a jog, the reality for most people is that it is hard to get enough motivation to keep up with most exercise plans.  So though an exercise plan is advised, before you make a plan, it is best to look for ways to naturally incorporate exercise into your daily life.  If you live close enough to walk to a place, consider walking instead of driving.  If you are used to taking an elevator, consider using the stairs instead.  Of course working exercise into our lives will mean working the time into our schedule.  Walking or cycling to school or work will certainly take longer than driving.  However, eliminating some of the rushing around is not a bad thing at all.  In addition to giving you more exercise in the day, eliminating some of the rushing from place to place will also help to eliminate stress.  Furthermore, if you have a busy and fast paced life, remember that time spent exercising can also be time to listen to a book on your iPod or Kindle.  Multitasking will not take away from the benefits you'll receive from getting a little bit of exercise each day.


Adequate Sleep:
A lot of time we have so much to do that we end up sacrificing our sleep in order to accomplish all that we have to do in a day.  However, not getting adequate sleep will start us off on the wrong foot when we wake up the next day.  In addition to your serotonin levels being low, getting inadequate sleep will most likely drive you to caffeine.  The intake of caffeine will mean that the day's serotonin production will be on a cycle of temporary stimulation and crash.  Furthermore, if you have depleted serotonin levels in the end of the day, you are likely to have trouble sleeping since serotonin is converted into melatonin at bed time.  If you do not have adequate serotonin, you may not be tired enough to sleep and may have another inadequate night of sleep.  For the purposes of serotonin production, getting six hours of sleep is enough for most people to be rested and not crave caffeine due to lack of sleep.  Adequate exercise will also help sleep habits since exercise will make you tired and make you sleep deeper.

Sunlight:
Not everyone has access to adequate sunlight and not everyone who does takes advantage of it.  If you are someone who lives in a sunny place, be sure to get out in the sun at least once a day.  If you are not able to get into the sunlight each day, taking vitamin D may help.  Though the sun provides essential vitamins, it also has a direct effect on serotonin.  This is why we think of sunlight and equate it with happiness whereas rain, and overcast skies are equated with sadness.  Some people may also suffer from depression due to lack of sunlight.  If this is the case, you may also benefit from lamps that are made to emulate sunshine.  Click for more info on sunlight exposure and vitamin D.


Avoid Sugar & Temporary Fixes
Last but not least, if you want to boost your serotonin levels and by doing so eliminate cravings, you should also make a conscious effort to eliminate serotonin producing temporary fixes.  You may be doing everything right but if you choose to go for some caffeine, nicotine, alcohol or sugar, the effect will be a crash in your serotonin levels.  Since many of these substances are worked into our lives in one way or another, quitting them may not be so easy.  Even though you will notice a decrease in cravings for these stimulants, you may end up turning to them because it is what you are used to doing.
I know that I can go without coffee if I am well rested and am following serotonin boosting habits. However, I love my coffee and would be sad to go without it.  If you are like me in this respect, try cutting back instead of quitting.  Then if you decide to quit all together, you will find that it will be much easier since the craving for that substance will not be driving you to continue using it.  Plus, your level of physical addition to the substance will be diminished as well.  As for sugar, I consider myself a chocoholic but the good news is that 70% dark chocolate actually stimulates serotonin.  So dark chocolate, which has a low amount of sugar can be a safe sugar fix if used in moderation.  Having a drink at night or social drinking may also be something people will not want to go without.  Though this may be the case, keep in mind that alcohol has tons of sugar.  If you are dieting, you may want to consider cutting back alcohol intake.  If alcohol is a craving, boosting serotonin should help with this craving as well. 

Though I am confident you will benefit from this information on how to eliminate cravings by boosting serotonin, this article is only a quick summary on the topic.  I encourage you to read further on the benefits of serotonin including further information on the best foods you can eat to boost serotonin production.

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