The HCG Diet can cause changes in your body’s metabolic process like any other dietary transition. As your body adjusts to the transition you might experience symptom like headaches. This typically occurs during the first few days of the P1 diet.

Just as you experience headaches from reducing sugar and caffeine intake, with HCG diet, you can experience similar symptoms. Your body expects to receive the same fuel it used to receive. In addition to that, the HCG in your body is forcing your stored fat into your bloodstream as a source of energy. So this is a different source of energy, as a result, you may experience a headache.

Fortunately, this doesn’t last very long. Most dieters experience a headache for 1-2 days of their HCG protocol. It is also common that those who experience a headache were on a high sugar diet on their gorging days. In this case, the headache is more of a metabolic detoxification from sugar rather than the HCG itself. If you are on the traditional diet, then probably you may just be protein deprived.

Understanding the changes can help you alleviate and minimize your headaches. There are few things that you can do about it.

1. Drink plenty of water. Sometimes, when you are on HCG Diet you may have headaches because you are dehydrated.
2. Are you getting enough sleep? Some have said that they sleep a lot less during HCG Diet. Well, it’s a well-known fact that when you lack sleep you can get a headache.
3. Gorge on fatty foods during loading phase to prevent carb withdrawal symptoms. A person who consumes a lot of carb before starting the hcg diet, the worst their headaches will be. Aside from a headache, you may experience hunger, muscle sore, food cravings and nausea when detoxing from bad carbs.
4. Some hcg dieters also found that eating apple helps ease their headaches. This is a natural remedy and it works. But when you do the apple trick, see to it that you remove 1 fruit from your dinner or lunch.
5. Aspirin can help relieve pain. Be sure that you have a couple on hand in case you suddenly feel a headache.

Cravings for unhealthy foods like sweets and starches are your worst enemy when you are on HCG diet. Fortunately you’re not alone in your fight. Top nutritionists have revealed the secrets to help you master your cravings and how to keep them under control.

What are the causes of food craving?

For you to understand how to fight your cravings you have to determine where they come from. When you think of cravings- like the pint of ice cream from the freezer or the chocolate chip cookies from the kitchen counter. You often assume they’re the result of some physical need for a certain type of food. But is it the food that’s bothering you? Definitely not- it’s your cravings!

Our cravings have more of a psychological cause than physical. Some experts believe that food cravings can only last from 3-5 minutes. And those cravings are often for junk foods and processed foods high in salt, sugar and fat. Cravings originate from the reward processing activity in the brain. This becomes conscious and integrated with the feeling of “longing”. When you eat foods that you like, your brain releases a chemical that gives you “happy feelings”. Craving is a way for our brain to “request” a substance that will make us feel good.

There are many factors that can contribute to your cravings while on HCG diet but the three major factors include:

Emotional eating

People turn to desserts, sweets and other high carbohydrate food because of the feel good effect it has on the brain. Emotional eating can result from different causes such as sadness, anger, loneliness and even boredom.

Stress

Stress can cause people to resort to unhealthy eating. Situations like fatigue from lack of sleep, relationship problems and work stress can food cravings.

Hormones

Your serotonin level fall as your body estrogen falls in your every cycle. But your stress hormone increases. This can leave you with a feeling of being cranky and a need for a sundae or a pint of ice cream.

There may be other factors depending on your personal needs and situations. But once you will understand that cravings are not just the results of wanting the foods physically you’ll be able to apply the secrets in mastering your cravings.