What Do Your Food Cravings Mean?

This is an excellent short article giving you insight into what your food cravings could mean and how to deal with them. 

Did someone say cheesecake?... I mean broccoli.

Why is it that on occasion, we find ourselves with an intense craving for specific foods? It might be caused by any number of things – hormones, stress, boredom…or simply a desire for something a little bit naughty. In this post we will be talking all about cravings. What do your cravings mean and how to keep them under control for good!

What are our bodies telling us?

The foods we eat can have an extraordinary effect on our bodies. Food cravings can be linked to low serotonin levels, the body’s happy hormone. When you consume foods like chocolate and other sugary snacks, the body releases its ‘happy hormones’. That sensation you get devouring a chocolate bar is your body producing endorphins and feel-good hormones triggered by the glucose rush – easy to see how you can become addicted to the sweet taste of lollies, chocolate and fizzy drinks.

This is just skimming the surface – cravings can be triggered simply watching TV! Don’t worry; you are not the only one who can’t watch Jamie Oliver’s incredible 15 minute creations without getting an urge to recreate it! And it’s not just that, the aroma of foods can set off our olfactory system into overdrive and trigger cravings.

Now I find this bit really interesting…cravings can even be triggered by common vitamin and mineral deficiencies.  It’s hard to imagine that with the myriad of food options on offer we still have trouble getting everything we need.

Cravings mostly consist of sugary, fatty immediate neurotransmitter satisfaction foods – not likely to be broccoli, beetroot or spinach, right?

The father of holistic health Bernard Jensen (PhD), with 70 years of experience in natural therapies and nutrition, released his research on food cravings in his book ‘Chemistry of Man’ in 2007. He discusses the following…(refer to the image above)

Some more tips to help cravings...

Keep healthy snacks like granola power bars, fruit or nuts on you at work or home so when and if cravings do arise, you have your weapon of choice sitting in your hand bag or pantry.

The last tip for staying on top of cravings is to foster a deep relationship with your body and naturally listen to what it is intuitively telling you. This can take a while to truly understand the whispers in which our body uses to communicate, but trust your body, it has always been there for you beating your heart and filling your lungs with air.

Getting to know your body is the first step in discovering how to stay healthy – after all, who knows their body better than you?

You can view the original article here:

 http://www.movenourishbelieve.com/nourish/what-do-your-cravings-mean/