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Fettucini alfredo, penne alla vodka, and of course the classic spaghetti and meatballs – is your mouth watering yet? Pasta is a popular choice for comfort food among many. It’s not only budget-friendly and easy to whip up, but it also feels immensely satisfying to indulge in a hearty bowl of carb-rich delight. Interestingly, there are scientific explanations for this craving.<\/p>\n
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A study<\/a> in the journal Obesity discovered that carbohydrate-rich foods trigger the release of a brain chemical called serotonin. Serotonin is known to elevate your mood by reducing anxiety and depression, which explains why you might find yourself longing for a pasta treat (via Healthline<\/a>).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How sensitive your taste buds are to carbohydrates might also play a role in your cravings. Russell Keast, a researcher from Deakin University in Australia, mentioned to The Healthy<\/a>, “Individuals who are more sensitive to the ‘taste’ of carbohydrate also have some form of subconscious accelerator that increases carbohydrate or starchy food consumption.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n <\/p>\n Your body aims to maintain balance. An excess or deficiency in a specific vitamin or mineral can be the difference between feeling optimal and struggling to get out of bed (as noted by Everyday Health<\/a>). It’s believed that if your nutrient balance is off, your body might crave certain foods, though this is still debated (via Healthline<\/a>).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A major reason you might be yearning for a big bowl of spaghetti is if you’ve just embarked on a diet and have been cutting down on pasta or avoiding it altogether. According to a 2020 study<\/a> in Current Nutrition Reports, participants who were temporarily restricted from certain foods reported heightened cravings for them. This was supported by registered dietitian Gabbi Berkow, who told Livestrong<\/a>, “Prohibiting a food creates a stress response in your brain regarding that food because you’re constantly telling yourself not to consume it. The brain eases that stress by succumbing to the craving.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fettucini alfredo, penne alla vodka, and of course the classic spaghetti and meatballs – is your mouth watering yet? Pasta is a popular choice for comfort food among many. It’s not only budget-friendly and easy to whip up, but it also feels immensely satisfying to indulge in a hearty bowl of carb-rich delight. Interestingly, there […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nutrition"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Other reasons behind your cravings<\/h2>\n
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