A food craving is an intense desire to consume a specific food, and it’s different from normal hunger.
Are cravings something strictly linked to pregnant women? No. Have you gone out at night to buy chocolates or have you driven for a long time to buy a cake that you like so much? We all have done it at least once.
Do you think that women have a bigger “sweet tooth” than men? There are studies that say that during pre-menstrual syndrome and menopause, we women want to eat sweet things, but it has been difficult to know why, some studies blame hormones and others only at a gender tendency.
I consider myself a lover of sweet things, it’s something I’ve had to learn to manage over time, I try to give myself some permission once a week, as not everything in life is proteins and vegetables, right?
Drewnowski, a well-known researcher on taste and food preferences says: “food cravings arise to satisfy emotional needs, such as calming stress and reducing anxiety”.
There are cravings that are directly related to the sense of sight, also known as “visual hunger”, sometimes we see a juicy hamburger on TV or a pizza that makes our mouths to water. And what do we do? 5 minutes later we are cooking something similar or driving to the restaurant.
Surveys estimate that almost 100 percent of young women and nearly 70 percent of young men had food cravings during the past year.
Can we differentiate cravings from real hunger? When sugar levels drop in the blood, you tend to feel tired, irritable, and with concentration problems. It’s the body telling us that it lacks fuel to keep working, and that’s the best moment to consume nutritious and varied foods.
Whatever the cause is, we have to be prepared for when it happens, having healthy recipes that allow us to calm the anxiety that comes when you least expected.
Here are some suggestions:
The popular Mug Cakes are special in the sense that they can be a super fast solution to satiate a craving. The possible combinations are endless. The cooking is ideally in a microwave, and in just 1 minute you can have a delicious cake ready. The preparation should look like the picture below:
Nutella and Chocolate Mug Cake
Mix in a mug 1 egg, 2 tablespoons of Nutella, 2 tablespoons of oatmeal flour, and 1 tablespoon of powdered cocoa without sugar. Mix all the ingredients very well, and bring the mix to the microwave for 1 minute.
Oatmeal, Apple, and Cinnamon Mug Cake
Mix in a mug 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of coconut sugar (or brown sugar, or any sweetener of your liking), 3 tablespoons of applesauce (grate a peeled apple), 1/3 cup of oatmeal flour, and 1/4 teaspoon of powdered cinnamon. Bring to the microwave for 1 minute.
Blueberry Mug Cake
Mix very well 1 egg, 1 teaspoon of sugar (any type you like) or sweetener, 1/4 teaspoon of lemon zest, 1/3 cup of almond flour, 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, and 10 blueberries. Bring to the microwave for 1 minute.
Oatmeal Mug Cake with Chocolate Chips
Mix very well 1 egg, 1 teaspoon of sugar (any type you like) or sweetener, you may also use 1/2 banana, 1/3 cup of oatmeal flour, 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 10 chocolate chip morsels.
Delicioso…..