How To Combat Cravings For Unhealthy Foods During Weight Loss – Eating fast food during pregnancy is tempting for many women, as your body may crave salty or sweet foods. However, eating junk food may not be a good option because pregnant women need healthy prenatal nutrition to nourish themselves and their growing fetus.
Since junk food has low nutritional value, eating it can adversely affect the development of the fetus. Some of the negative effects of junk food may include increased digestive problems, weight gain, and increased risk of genetic abnormalities or birth defects in children. Therefore, it is recommended to avoid unhealthy eating habits and choose your food choices carefully.
How To Combat Cravings For Unhealthy Foods During Weight Loss
This post discusses some of the side effects of eating junk food during pregnancy and how to curb cravings.
Ways To Crush Your Unhealthy Cravings For Good — Eat This Not That
You and your baby need plenty of nutrients during pregnancy for healthy weight loss and proper development of your baby’s brain, bones, organs and immune system.
Junk food has low nutritional value and does not provide adequate nutrition for the health of mothers during pregnancy. When you fill up on junk food, you have little room to eat the nutritious foods you need.
Junk food slowly stimulates the brain’s satiety center, leading to overeating (9). Excessive consumption of junk food can lead to unwanted weight gain and related health problems during pregnancy.
A study on pregnant rats found that rats fed a high-fat diet during pregnancy had pups that preferred fatty foods. They have altered brain circuits and are vulnerable to fatty foods in adulthood. However, balanced diets have been shown to reduce cravings for fatty foods in rat offspring (1).
Ways You Can Beat Junk Food Cravings
It’s not easy to stop eating junk food. So, read on as we share some tips for managing cravings.
Make a conscious decision to eat healthy foods during pregnancy to improve the health of you and your baby.
New mom and blogger Mahima Satvik shares her tried and tested healthy snacks during pregnancy. “At the strangest times, hunger pangs hit me,” he said. So, I always have snacks – nuts, fruit, yogurt and cereal. “Having them handy has kept me from reaching for junk food.”
Be smart, cook some meals at home and indulge your cravings. If you have the urge, other options are:
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If, however, you plan to eat out, then here are some dining options to ensure food safety (8):
According to recent clinical studies, neural mechanisms affect dopaminergic circuits during pregnancy and lead to food cravings (10).
Food cravings in pregnant women begin as early as the fifth week of pregnancy and end in the third trimester (11).
There is no scientific evidence linking junk food consumption to pregnancy complications or birth defects. However, frequent or excessive consumption of junk food may lead to unwanted weight gain (obesity), which can lead to congenital abnormalities and other complications such as stillbirth, macroectoplasm, and premature birth.
What Are Some Healthy Ways To Deal With Food Cravings?
Eating too much junk food during pregnancy can lead to a low birth weight fetus (macrosome). High fetal weight may slow labor and increase the likelihood of medical intervention during labor. Therefore, it is important to maintain a healthy weight during pregnancy (9).
Junk foods may seem tempting, and you may crave them all the time. However, eating junk food frequently during pregnancy may not be a good choice. Pregnant women require nutritious foods to nourish themselves and their babies. Junk food is low in nutrients and may increase the risk of pregnancy complications such as diabetes and digestive problems. Some great healthy snacks are fruit, nuts and yogurt. However, one bite of hamburger or pizza won’t hurt you. Enjoy your pregnancy, indulge yourself occasionally, and don’t forget to take care of your health.
Summary: Junk food cravings are common during pregnancy. However, it is recommended to avoid junk food while pregnant due to health risks. Therefore, we recommend that you save this information as we list healthy alternatives to junk food.
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How To Stop Unhealthy Food Cravings?
Claudia Wilson is a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist, Board Certified Sports Nutrition Specialist, and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). With 12 years of experience, she now runs her own private practice, All Nutrition, and writes a punch or two. Claudia holds a BS in Public Health and an MS in Nutrition. Claudia has been involved in sports for 10 years … more
Swati Patwal is a Clinical Nutritionist, Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) and mom with decades of experience in multiple areas of nutrition. She started her career as a CSR project coordinator for a healthy eating and active lifestyle project with meals for school children. She then … more worked as a nutrition faculty and clinical nutrition coach
Rebecca is a pregnancy writer and editor with a passion for delivering research-based and entertaining content in the fields of labor, pregnancy, birth and postpartum. She graduated in Biotechnology and Genetics from Osmania University Loyola Academy and received a certificate in “Nutrition and Life in Pregnancy” from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU). It’s about health and … more
Anisha holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology from USTM, Meghalaya and a Master’s degree in Applied Microbiology from VIT, Vellore. With two years of experience, he has worked on different research projects in the field of food science. In addition, he has an internship experience as a R&D Project Trainer in Petroleum India Limited. As Anisha writes… Craving more food can be your biggest enemy in your weight loss journey. Food cravings can be caused by a variety of mental and physical factors, including hormonal imbalances, stress, and sleep disorders. When it comes to healthy food cravings, people usually crave junk food high in sugar, fat, and carbohydrates. That’s because these foods trigger “feel-good” chemicals in your brain that make you addicted to them.
What Are Your Food Cravings Telling You?
Indulging in them can lead to obesity and other health problems. Knowing what food cravings are and taking steps to control them can make a big difference in helping you achieve healthy weight loss. Read on for some tips on how to stop food cravings. 1. Consume enough calories
Your body naturally has an urge to eat when you’re not getting enough calories and nutrients, which can lead to strong cravings for certain foods.
Although there is a complex relationship between calorie intake and food cravings, calorie restriction can temporarily worsen cravings.
On the other hand, consistent caloric restriction may be associated with reduced cravings for both general and specific foods.
Combat Food Cravings With Healthier Foods
Either way, regularly filling your body with healthy, filling foods and watching your calories may reduce food cravings.
Allowing yourself to overeat may increase the likelihood of strong food cravings, even though not being hungry is a natural body signal.
Perhaps, the last time you fed your body was when you were starving. Your blood sugar may be low, and your body may be normalizing you to eat high-energy foods.
On the other hand, when your blood sugar levels are stable, you won’t experience intense hunger pangs.
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Fortunately, you don’t need to eat every two hours to keep your blood sugar levels under control. Instead, eat when your body calls for food.
Overconcern with calories can lead to restrictive eating, in addition to consuming time, energy, and mental energy.
Although some people find short-term benefits in tracking their food intake, always sticking to calorie counts can damage your relationship with food and create unnecessary stress. Conversely, if you overeat certain foods or cut calories to reduce calorie intake, you may experience strong food cravings.
If you’re having trouble counting calories, overeating, or food cravings, consult a qualified health professional, such as a registered dietitian.
Thoughtful Ways To Effectively Tackle Junk Food Cravings
Eat less highly processed carbs to help control your appetite. This may lead to a brain response, with a diet high in processed carbohydrates having a significant effect on blood sugar levels, which can lead to cravings for foods that are high in appetite.
You don’t need to follow a low-carb diet or other special diets to manage your food cravings, so don’t worry.
Just focus on eating less processed carbohydrates like cakes and candies that are high in sugar. For complementary, healthy substitutes, substitute high-fiber, nutrient-dense carbohydrates like sweet potatoes, oats, and zucchini.
Maintaining a healthy body weight is so important to your overall health that it should come as no surprise. It may also reduce food cravings.
How To Stop Craving Junk Food
People with a high BMI, which measures body weight for height, have more appetite than people with a BMI that is considered normal.
Overweight people are also more likely to crave palatable foods
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