Are reduced cravings good or bad?

Reduced cravings can mean a lot of things. It can mean that you are going through the right plan or that your diet is doing more harm than good.

Increased food cravings or strong feeling of hunger can make you overeat. Very often people end up eating a lot of processed and high-calorie stuff when they feel intense cravings that they cannot control. This invariably results in weight gain and can lead to obesity and all the health problems that come along with it. Having cravings in control may mean that you are following the right kind of diet and eating foods like protein that are keeping you satiated. But at time it could also mean you are eating foods that are just suppressing your appetite and could be harmful in long run.

When reduced cravings is a good thing

If your cravings have reduced because you had enough food with each meal which provides you satiety for 3-4 hours, it is a good thing and one must continue with the diet.

When you are suppressing cravings with caffeine

Caffeine is an appetite suppressor which means one is likely just under eating, which is harmful in the long run.

When cravings are reduced as a result of starving yourself

Did your cravings reduce because you were starving yourself for an extended period and now you don’t feel hungry? This is the worst. While it can lead to quicker weight loss, extreme calorie deficit due to under eating causes:

• muscle loss
• reduced appetite
• low energy
• slowing down your metabolism

Research shows that even after stopping chronic dieting, metabolism recovery can take years. So, assess your cravings. The root cause of your reduced cravings can tell you a lot about the efficiency of your current programme.

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