Collaborative Post | If you have ever found yourself craving comfort food in the fall season, then you are not alone. It is happening every time the true fall season starts. You are more tempted to grab mashed potatoes when you would rather have a salad. A bowl of chili is also better than anything cold and crunchy. It is not due to a lack of discipline. It is a common reaction tied to daylight and temperature shifts. When you know what is driving fall cravings, you can learn to work with your body rather than against it.
The Biology Behind Fall Cravings
Less sun during the shorter days leads to less serotonin, the neurotransmitter that is responsible for the sense of calm and satisfaction. That is why a plate of pasta is so comforting on a grey November afternoon. It releases a temporary spike in serotonin. Your body is not malfunctioning. It is a way of dealing with a chemical change that cannot be managed in any other way.
There is also a slight increase in basal metabolic rate with lower temperatures as your body expends more energy to maintain its core temperature. That is what real “hunger” means. For many, cortisol, the stress hormone, also rises during the fall and winter months. This happens partly because there is less light exposure and partly because fall and winter bring back more hectic schedules. When cortisol levels are high, you tend to crave sugary foods and fat because your body sees them as an easily accessible source of energy during a stressful time.
Building a Fall Eating Pattern That Works
Here, consistency matters more than perfection. Balanced weekly meals with plenty of protein will make a sugar craving less likely on a Thursday afternoon. If you consider meal prepping soup and grain bowls on Sunday, then dinner is done for the weeknights. You will not have to think about ordering a quick and easy takeout.
While cooking every meal from scratch might be too time-consuming for some people, a meal prep delivery service offering fall comfort food options can be a great solution that still delivers nutritional value while eliminating the need to sacrifice convenience. Meals with a designated balance of protein, fiber, and good fat provide a helpful framework for fall eating, which can be a busy season, whether it is the hectic weeks before school starts or the busy weeks leading up to the holidays. It is not about eating “perfectly.” It is about making the easy option the nutritional one so you do not feel like you are fighting a battle.
Daylight, Mood and Your Appetite
Less daylight than usual does not only impact serotonin. As the sun sets earlier in the evening, melatonin is synthesized earlier. You may feel fatigued at 6 p.m. even after getting a good night’s sleep. Many times this fatigue is mistaken for hunger. When looking for a way to alleviate low energy, many will turn to a dense, warm food to soothe their stomach.
In many regions, Vitamin D levels also tend to drop during the fall and winter months, as the skin produces less vitamin D when there is less sunlight. Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with mood swings and fatigue, which increases the tendency to eat comfort foods made up of carbohydrates. However, none of these factors mean you have no power over fall cravings. It implies that your craving is a physical desire, not a mental one, and by working on the desire instead of the habit, you will see results.
Why Restriction Backfires
It is ironic that diets that eliminate entire food groups or forbid carbs altogether in October often result in the exact opposite of what the intended goal was. The more deprived you are, the more you want the limited food. By week two, most people are consuming more of the food than they would have without the deprivation. When something is scarce, your brain sees it as a threat, and it will meet that threat with the desire to have more.
Restriction also does not take into account the reason for the desire. When the body is trying to boost its energy reserves in response to the colder weather, an undernourished or highly restrictive diet can increase the amount of physical stress. The better approach is to recognize that the appetite will naturally increase in the fall, and you can deal with this increase by making better choices, rather than restricting amounts of food.
How to Handle Cravings Without Restriction
There is no need to give up comfort food for a nutritious diet during the fall season. You just need a plan that meets your cravings and your nutritional needs.
- Add protein to your comfort foods. Ground turkey and beans make a chili that will keep you full longer than a predominantly starch-based chili. The chili will still provide the warmth and heartiness you are looking for.
- Continue to rotate fiber-rich carbs. Sweet potatoes are cozy and warming. In addition to refined carbohydrates, oats and squash offer more stable blood glucose and lasting energy.
- Soak up the sun early in the morning. Going outside for 10-15 minutes in the morning helps regulate the body’s internal clock and may curb the mid-afternoon energy drop that can lead to snacking.
- Check your vitamin D levels. A simple blood test can tell you whether or not it makes sense to add supplements to your diet.
- Build warm meals with intention. Soups, stews, and roasted vegetable dishes allow you to fill up on food without too many calories.
All of these strategies do not mean you have to give up on your pumpkin bread, or a second serving of your stuffing at Thanksgiving. They change your baseline eating level and allow you to indulge every once in a while without it becoming a routine.
Conclusion
Fall cravings are real. They have a biological background, and these cravings can be managed without completely giving anything up. Find out what drives you, create a menu that pleases your taste buds and meets your nutritional needs, and do not force the season’s “comfort foods” to go away.
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