Weather significantly impacts our body in various ways, influencing physical health, mood, and overall well-being. As weather changes, it may shift our body’s metabolism, hormonal balance, and how we feel. This may lead to food cravings of different kinds. Research says that the kind of food that we desire may be impacted by environmental factors including weather.
Different weather conditions can influence our appetite and the types of foods we desire. For example, cold weather often leads to cravings for warm, hearty, and high-calorie foods like soups, stews, and baked goods, as the body seeks to generate warmth and energy.
Conversely, hot weather can suppress appetite, leading to a preference for lighter and more refreshing foods such as fruits, salads, and cold beverages. Rainy or gloomy weather can also trigger cravings for comfort foods, as these are often associated with nostalgia, warmth, and coziness. The body’s response to weather, such as changes in energy expenditure and mood, plays a significant role in shaping these cravings.
Furthermore, weather changes can affect nutrition and mental health. Prolonged exposure to gloomy weather can reduce sunlight intake, lowering vitamin D levels and potentially leading to mood disorders like Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). This can also impact the food you crave for to make you feel better.
Let us discuss the weather and food cravings connection in detail :
Cold Weather:
Need for more calories: In cold weather, the outside temperature is quite lower than our body temperature. So, our body works harder to maintain its core temperature of around 37 degrees centigrade. Maintaining body temperature can increase energy expenditure. This often leads to an increase in appetite and craving for high-calorie foods to generate warmth and energy.
Comfort Foods: People tend to crave hearty and rich dishes on a wintery day. If you are in India, you want to snuggle in your cozy quilt and have foods like soups, pakoras, samosas, chai, chhole bhature, aloo-poori, halwas, and cakes, etc, which provide both warmth and comfort. These foods are often higher in carbohydrates and fats, offering a quick energy boost and a sense of deep satisfaction.
Reduced Activity: Cold weather can lead to reduced outdoor activities and a more sedentary lifestyle at home. This can increase the likelihood of snacking and seeking comfort foods that are relaxing and satisfying.
Hot Weather:
Decreased Appetite: High temperature and humidity can make you feel restless, and it suppresses your appetite. This is also because the body prioritizes cooling down over digestion, which can slow the digestive process.
Hydrating Foods: You also lose a lot of electrolytes due to sweating in the summer. It leads to a preference for lighter and more refreshing foods which also makes up for electrolytes. You may crave juicy fruits, fruit chaat, cold beverages like fruit juices, sharbats, cold milkshakes or lassi, etc which are not heavy on the system but at the same time refreshing and satisfying. Due to high temperatures, we crave frozen foods too like ice creams and ice lollies.
Salty Foods: Loss of electrolytes due to increased sweating in hot weather can also lead to prompting cravings for salty foods to replenish sodium levels. This might explain the craving for spicy chaat in the summer season.
Rainy Weather:
Comfort and Nostalgic Foods: Rainy days often bring about cravings for comfort foods that are warm, rich, and filling. These might include foods associated with cozy, nostalgic memories of childhood or youth. The foods you had with your family when it rained in your village or town. It can be anything like bhuna bhutta (corn on the cob roasted on coal), shakarkandi ki chaat (sweet potato), chai-pakora, kachori, etc. You eat these foods to connect with those happy times again for comfort.
Mood and Boredom: When it’s rainy weather for many days, overcast grey skies and rain with less sunlight can lead to feelings of sadness, lethargy, or boredom. This may increase cravings for comfort foods as a way to boost mood and feel better. You may want to order some pizza to just overcome boredom.
Seasonal Changes:
Seasonal Foods: The availability of seasonal produce can also influence cravings. For example, people may crave mangoes, jamun, litchis, phalsa, plum, and foods made from them in summer and saag, makki ki roti, carrot halwa and other root vegetables, vegetable soups, and stews in winter.
Cultural and Holiday Foods: Certain weather patterns are associated with specific holidays and cultural events, which often come with traditional foods. For example, people may crave thandai, gujhiya and kaanji during Holi in spring. You may long for ghevar in the rainy season or saavan as it is associated with Teej festival. Mithais during Diwali are a must and Christmas and New Year are incomplete without rich plum cake in winter.
Biological and Psychological Factors:
Serotonin Levels: Serotonin is a ‘Happy hormone.’ Sunlight exposure affects serotonin levels, which can influence mood and appetite. Reduced sunlight in the winter can lead to lower serotonin levels, potentially increasing cravings for carbohydrate and sugar-rich foods that boost serotonin production. So, you will be happy for some time after having these foods.
Emotional Eating: Weather can impact mood, which in turn can affect eating behavior. Stress, boredom, or sadness caused by adverse weather conditions can lead to emotional eating. You might tend to crave unhealthy foods due to emotions.
Nowadays even advertising also impacts our food cravings in different seasons. Advertisements are pretty intelligent these days and change as per the season and expected cravings during that part of the year.
Coping Strategies:
Though you must enjoy foods you like, you must not overindulge in any weather. If you are giving in to weather cravings too much, it might not be good for your weight and overall health. To manage weather-related food cravings, it is helpful to plan balanced meals, stay hydrated, and find alternative ways to cope with emotions, such as engaging in physical activities or hobbies.
Additionally, embracing seasonal and healthy options can satisfy cravings without compromising nutritional goals. Eat mindfully not mindlessly and choose your foods wisely!