Food cravings can be simple and they can be complicated. One way they can be simple is, you see an ad for chocolate and think, “that sounds so tasty,” and an hour later you are still thinking about it—still craving the chocolate. Food cravings can be complicated when they are linked to emotions, for example when you are kinda bored and lonely and you find yourself checking the fridge just to see what’s there… where food becomes a comfort, a friend and a way to pass the time. These are two common examples of cravings, and yet they are very different in nature and therefore need to be understood and managed in different ways.

A general food craving can occur for many reasons, one being that it is a response to a sensory stimuli: seeing—talking about—smelling a food—which then causes a craving for that food. It can also be a message from your body about what it needs. Food cravings can seem to come out of nowhere. These cravings are often a signal