Episode 246: Decoding Cravings: Exploring the 8 Root Causes You Should Know About
Imagine you were experiencing daily migraines and I said, “Just stop having headaches.”
Or you were dealing with chronic constipation and I said, “Just make yourself go.”
Or you had debilitating fatigue and I said, “Just ignore it, it’ll go away.”
I hope you would look at me like I was insane. Because that’s not how you treat symptoms. You don’t just ignore them or will them away, you get to the root of them.
Well what if I told you cravings are a symptom. Not a personality flaw.
It’s true. Your body can’t just whisper in your ear what’s going on inside, so it communicates with you via body sensations, symptoms, diseases, and yes, cravings.
And after spending decades working on my own relationship with food and working with hundreds of clients on exactly this issue, I’ve come to find there are 8 underlying causes of cravings.
Get to the root of them, break free from them.
1. Blood sugar imbalances.
When your blood sugar spikes from eating either too much, or eating starchy, sugary, processed foods it inevitably takes a drastic drop shortly thereafter. As a response, your brain sends signals to reach for that bag of chips in the vending machine asap to bring your blood sugar back up.
On the flip side, if your blood sugar plummets because you skipped a meal or worked out on an empty stomach, once again your brain goes on a mission to bring things back into balance by sending you straight for a sugary coffee or sweet treat.
I’m sure you’ve experienced this.
Errands take longer than expected, it’s been 6 hours since you’ve eaten, you get in the door and instead of making the healthy, balanced lunch you had planned on, you head straight for the pantry and frantically eat half a bag of chips standing in the doorway trying to stop that shaky, weak feeling that’s so uncomfortable.
2. Nutrient deficiencies.
The appetite center of the brain has receptors that detect when certain nutrients are low.
For example, if you’re depleted in sodium you’ll likely crave salty chips and pretzels.
If you’re low on iron you may want red meat (I know I always crave a big ole burger during my cycle if I don’t intentionally incorporate more dark leafy greens, legumes, and organic liver).
A magnesium deficiency can lead to chocolate cravings which is often what’s going on when you crave chocolate during your cycle.
3. Overly restrictive diets.
This has both physical and psychological elements. First off, your body’s number one priority is survival. So if you’re eating too little for too long, your brain will register that as a food shortage and will increase your hunger hormones in an attempt to motivate you to find more food.
And I can tell you from experience, if I’m relaxed about treats and food in general, moderation is easy.
But the second I tell myself “I shouldn’t eat that” or “I really need to cut carbs”, suddenly all I want is carbs and when I do allow myself to eat them, I lose all sense of moderation or control.
4. Gut dysbiosis.
When pathogenic bacteria grow in your gut, they can deplete different nutrients leading to those nutrient-deficiency cravings we talked about earlier.
They can literally change your taste buds and send signals directly to your brain, making you crave the foods they like (ie starchy, sugary ones). And they can affect the production of hormones like ghrelin and leptin, altering your hunger and satiety.
5. Hormonal issues.
Hormonal imbalances from things like PMS, PCOS, and hypothyroidism can make it more difficult to regulate blood sugar and can cause very low energy, driving us to reach for fast fuel from things like pasta, crackers, bread, and baked goods.
6. Fatigue.
Whether you’re tired from a crap night of sleep, PMS, a too-intense workout, hypothyroidism, gut dysbiosis, or stress, your body interprets it all as the same thing: your gas tank is running on empty.
The quickest way to fill up the tank? Carbs and sugar.
Even in their natural form (fruits, veggies, and whole grains) they break down more quickly compared to fat or protein. Make them processed (pretzels, chips, cookies) and now your body has to do virtually no work to get immediate fuel.
7. Emotional dysregulation.
If you don’t know how to handle uncomfortable emotions like anger, sadness, frustration, or even boredom, food is the easiest quick fix to reach for as it masks those hard emotions with a high dose of happiness hormones like serotonin and dopamine.
8. A lack of primary foods.
Secondary foods are what feed our body. Primary foods are what feed our soul. Think family, relationships, self-care, a fulfilling career, personal growth, spirituality, passions/hobbies, and adventure.
And when you’re depleted in primary foods, you’ll reach to secondary foods to fill that void.
You’ll notice, not a single one of these 8 root causes can be solved with willpower. Which is why muscling through never works for long.
But imagine a world where you didn’t feel controlled by your cravings, where that nightly pull to the pantry dissipated, where you didn’t fear eating a treat because you knew you could eat it in a relaxed, balanced way.
Believe me, I never thought that was possible for me either, but when I started addressing my own root causes directly, that’s when everything changed. And that’s exactly what I’m teaching to my Club members inside our fall challenge.
We cover every single one of these 8 elements over the course of 6 weeks.
And last week in particular we tackled our cravings head on. I made it my mission to give incredibly simple, actionable, but highly effective strategies so no matter the driving factors behind your food choices, you know exactly what to do to take back control.
If you want to join The Club and get in on this challenge, it’s just $29/month.
In addition to the challenge (which in and of itself is packed with some of my best advice for losing weight without having to rely on deprivation), you’ll also get immediate access to all my signature programs like Follow Your Gut, Unleash Your Transformation, my Diet Free Weight Loss Masterclass, my Fad Diet Detox, and my Hormone Belly Blueprint.
Plus I’m constantly jumping into the message board answering questions, sharing new recipes, and playing accountability buddy to anyone who needs it.
There’s a lot more detailed information over at katspangler.com/theclub if you don’t want to do this alone anymore.
Yes it’s a steal, and yes it’s going to be the best investment you’ve ever made in your health.
The Club Members: If you want to dig deeper into your cravings, just head to The Vault and pop into week 4 of the Fall Challenge Module. Don't forget to share your biggest aha moment on the message board!
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