Adherence
Dietary restriction and attempted food deprivation increase the frequency and intensity of food cravings, whereas fasting generally suppresses them.
Do not assume that craving means you are nutritionally deficient. If you are restricting foods, expect cravings to increase due to psychological factors like thought suppression and cue reactivity. This is a normal psychological response to restriction, not a biological signal. To manage it, focus on the psychological triggers (mood, cues) rather than just the food itself, and consider that fasting may actually suppress cravings while partial restriction increases them.
Dieting or restrained eating generally increase the likelihood of food craving while fasting makes craving, like hunger, diminish. Attempted restriction or deprivation of a particular food is associated with an increase in craving for the unavailable food.
Why this rating
The paper synthesizes multiple prospective, experimental, and clinical studies, distinguishing between weak cross-sectional data and stronger prospective/experimental findings.
Source
The psychology of food craving
Andrew J. Hill · Proceedings of The Nutrition Society · 2007
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