The truth about food cravings

Craving a big, chunky piece of buttered toast does not mean your body is deprived of grains. Food cravings have little to do with nutrients and plenty to do with the brain chemistry of pleasure and reward. Cravings may centre on texture (creamy, crunchy) or taste (sweet, salty) but they all have something in common - overindulging can sabotage your diet.

Ice-cream

People who get cravings tend to have higher BMIs -- no surprise since fattening foods are often the object of desire. The combination of cool, creamy and sweet makes ice-cream an irresistible treat - but a costly one in terms of calories. A 60g scoop of vanilla dairy ice-cream can have 106 calories and 5.9g of fat.

Better bet: frozen yoghurt or fruit lollies and desserts.

Crisps

It's the combination of salty and crunchy that gives crisps their allure. Depending on the flavour, a 25g bag has around 133 calories. Munch your way through a large sharing-sized 150g packet on your own and you're looking at 795 calories – around a 30% of man's recommended calories intake or 40% for a woman.

Better bet: dip celery or carrot sticks in hummus. You'll get a satisfying crunch with fewer calories and more nutrients.

Chocolate

There are many theories on chocolate cravings, ranging from magnesium deficiency to mood swings. But one thing is certain: scoffing a bar of  chocolate is a quick way to add a couple hundred extra calories to your day.

Better bet: have a small square of cocoa-rich dark chocolate. It has less fat than a typical bar of chocolate  and some studies suggest it may be good for the heart.

Popcorn

Sometimes a certain environment can trigger a craving, like the desire for popcorn at the cinema. Memory plays a big role in cravings - you've enjoyed popcorn at the cinema before, so you expect to again. The NHS says unsweetened or unsalted popcorn can be a healthy snack, but the Food Standards Agency has raised concerns over large cinema portion sizes that are often high in fat, sugar or salt.

Better bet: go for unsweetened or unsalted popcorn and choose a smaller portion size.

Football fan food

If the game's not the same without a pint of lager and a packet of crisps, you may be prone to another example of setting-induced cravings. Sitting in front of the TV watching the match could be ruinous for your waistline. Consider these numbers:

• 1 440ml can of lager - 128 calories
• 1 20g bag of pork scratchings - 121 calories
• 1 bag (25g) of crisps -  133 calories

Better bet: choose unsalted nuts, dried fruit and homemade popcorn as  healthy alternatives.

Doughnuts

If you're dieting, doughnuts are like the forbidden fruit. That fact alone may be enough to trigger a craving. Research suggests that a yo-yo pattern of eating favourite foods one week and putting them off-limits the next can intensify cravings. If you are really having a craving, better to have just one bite than to put it off-limits completely. The trouble with doughnuts is they offer very little nutritional value for their calorific content.

Better bet: wholemeal bagel with peanut butter.

Red meat

Do you feel like a meal is not a meal unless it involves a big helping of meat? The good news is you don't have to give up meat to achieve a healthy weight - just watch your choices. A typical takeaway cheeseburger has about 310 calories (including the bun) and just one 40g thick grilled pork sausage can pack 118 calories without a bread roll.

Better bet: consider a home cooked veggie burger or sausage and a wholemeal bun.

Pizza

Pizza is one of the UK’s favourite foods. It does have some health benefits: a 100g slice of pizza with meat toping has 13g of protein – but 10g fat and 255 calories a slice - so the calories add up quickly.

Better bet: make pizza at home with a wholemeal base and a sprinkling of reduced-fat cheese. Top with fresh tomato slices, broccoli or other vegetables.

Pasta

Pasta ranks among the top five favourite foods in many countries. The trouble is most people eat white pasta, which is made with refined flour. White pasta has only a third the fibre of wholewheat pasta, which means it may take more to fill you up. Rich pasta sauces can be diet killers, too.

Better bet: eat wholewheat or wholemeal pasta with a vegetable-based sauce.

French fries

Want some fries with that? This salty sidekick is hard to turn down when ordering at a fast food restaurant. But large fries can have as many calories as a burger -- about 380 at a typical chain.

Better bet: opt for fruit or a simple side salad – but beware the calories in dressing. Or if you have willpower of steel, order fries but limit yourself to five or six.

Nuts

Whether at the pub or a party, it's easy to keep dipping your hand into the nut bowl, but all those handfuls add up. 100g of mixed nuts packs more than 600 calories.

Better bet: stick to nuts with the shells on. Eating these will slow you down.

Coffee

Coffee cravings may go beyond your typical food craving, thanks to the addictive powers of caffeine. You may feel you can't fully wake up without your morning dose. Fortunately, coffee has very few calories - until you load it up with full fat milk and sugary syrups. A 355ml whole milk latte can have more than 176 calories even before adding syrup at 20 calories a time..

Better bet: go skinny with skimmed or soy milk and avoid toppings, syrups or cream on top.

3 o’clock snack attack

If the snack machine tempts you during your mid-afternoon tea break, you may be experiencing a between-meals drop in blood sugar. Unfortunately, a few chocolate biscuits are just a short-term fix, and a high-calorie one at that.

Better bet: eat snacks that combine a protein with a wholegrain, such as low fat cheese on wholewheat crackers. Healthy snacks can actually ward off food cravings and help you stick to your diet.

Nervous nibbles

Do you find yourself reaching for the biscuit tin before a visit from the in-laws or a presentation at work? Sometimes food cravings are not triggered by hunger but by unpleasant emotions, including stress and anxiety. This is called emotional eating and if you do it regularly, it's likely to undermine your diet.

Better bet: replace nibbling with stress management techniques - take a vigorous walk, try yoga or relax in a hot bath.

Bad day binge

Emotional eating is also common at the end of a bad day. You may use "comfort foods" to soothe feelings of anger or sadness. In extreme cases, emotional food cravings can lead to bingeing – eating large amounts of food without stopping when you’re full.

Better bet: Look for emotional comfort outside the fridge. Phone a friend, listen to some favourite music or write about your day in a diary.

Control cravings: Eat snacks

If cravings mainly strike when you're hungry, try eating healthy snacks between meals. Carefully planning your snacks can help you keep hunger --and cravings -- at bay. Portion control is vital – each snack should be less than 200 calories. Good choices include yoghurt with fresh fruit, a boiled egg, a fruit smoothie or carrots and reduced fat hummus dip.

Control cravings: Take a walk

You already know that exercise can help you lose weight by burning calories. But now there's evidence that brisk walking can help you eat fewer sweets. In a study published in the journal Appetite, participants who took a 15-minute walk were half as likely to eat chocolate at their desks compared with those who took a 15-minute rest.

Control cravings: Low-fat diet

Putting favourite foods off-limits can make you crave them in the short term, but the opposite may be true in the long term. That's the conclusion of a study in the journal Obesity. After sticking to a low-carb diet for two years, a group of overweight adults craved carbohydrates and starchy foods less. A second group following a low-fat diet reported fewer cravings for fatty foods.

Control cravings: Indulge a little

A taste in time saves nine! Resisting sweet food when you're at a party can be difficult. Rather than depriving yourself until you cave in, try indulging in a small serving of the desired food. You may find that just a taste will satisfy your craving.

Related reading

• Take control of your food cravings
• The truth about belly fat
• Slideshow: Salt shockers
• Slideshow: Truth about sugar addiction
• Comfort food without the guilt
• Slideshow: Diet mistakes you should see
• Slideshow: Foods that boost your mood