Cravings: You won't believe what your body is trying to tell you!
By ATW Nutrition Coaching
A craving for an unhealthy food often seems irrational – why would our bodies crave something that is bad for us?
We shouldn’t WANT chocolate or potato chips or sweets when we're trying so hard to 'be good' and lose some weight. Or, SHOULD WE?
Your body knows exactly what it needs to function optimally, and cravings are its way of telling you that there’s a deficiency somewhere – this is usually a mineral deficiency. However, your body can’t send a photo via WhatsApp to tell you what to look for at the grocery store.
So it sends a message to your brain to ‘bring on the cravings’ associated with certain minerals. This is why we often crave foods that are 'bad' for us - because these are often the foods our brains associate with particular minerals because of the strong response we have to these foods.
So now that you know you shouldn't ignore your cravings, all you need to know is how to understand what your body actually NEEDS when you crave certain foods.
Five common cravings:
So here are five common cravings (sugar, carbs, fried fatty food, salty food, and chocolate) and their interpretations so you can listen to your body’s cravings and nourish it with exactly what it needs.
Always remember that ALL minerals and nutrients come from the earth.So eating a diverse diet of plant-based foods will solve all these problems and you shouldn't struggle with cravings again.
- 1.Craving sugary foods
If you crave sugary foods a lot then your body is probably deficient of one of the following minerals:
- carbon
- chromium
- phosphorus
- sulphur
- tryptophan
Instead of trying to figure out exactly which of these you need, a good catch-all solution is to eat a snack of mixed nuts, a bit of cheese and some fruit. These three items cover all of these minerals pretty well and should take away the craving.
A craving for an unhealthy food often seems irrational – why would our bodies crave something that is bad for us?
- 2.Craving bread, pasta or other carb-heavy foods
If you find yourself craving huge bowls of pasta or wolfing down a loaf of bread without thinking, your body needs nitrogen.
To take care of this deficiency you need protein: From nuts, seeds, beans or meat. Spinach, peas, and asparagus are also good sources of nitrogen.
A craving for an unhealthy food often seems irrational – why would our bodies crave something that is bad for us?
- 3.Craving oily/fatty foods
When on diet, or at any other time, oily/fatty foods should be a no-go. But sometimes a plate of greasy slap chips or fried chicken seems like the only thing that will satisfy you.
If this is you, you need more calcium in your diet.
Get it from dark green leafy veg, almonds, sesame seeds/tahini, sunflower seeds, cheese, or organic milk.
A craving for an unhealthy food often seems irrational – why would our bodies crave something that is bad for us?
- 4.Craving salty foods
Could you eat a bag of plain salted chips without the chips?
If so, you may be silicon or chloride deficient. Sort this out by eating some nuts, fatty fish or seeds.
A craving for an unhealthy food often seems irrational – why would our bodies crave something that is bad for us?
- 5.Craving chocolate
Believe it or not, a chocolate craving is not a good enough excuse to eat a slab (or three) of your favourite choccie.
Your body probably wants magnesium, and you need to get it from some raw cacao, nuts, seeds, veggies or fruit.