Food cravings

Book excerpt: Food craving refers to an intense desire or urge to consume a specific food. In Western or Westernized societies, these craved foods usually have high palatability and are energy dense, that is, they have high sugar and/or fat content. Accordingly, the most often craved food is chocolate. Food craving is a multidimensional experience as it includes cognitive (e.g. thinking about food), emotional (e.g. desire to eat or changes in mood), behavioral (e.g. seeking and consuming food), and physiological (e.g. salivation) aspects. Experiences of food craving are common, that is, they do not reflect abnormal eating behavior per se. However, very intense and frequent food craving experiences are associated with obesity and eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. The aim of this research topic was to gather new contributions to a variety of aspects of food craving, which include its assessment, cognitive and emotional triggers, moderators, and correlates of food craving, and the relevance of food cravings in clinical issues, among others.