Yes, you should feed your food cravings! I know, I know everyone tells you that they are bad. They seem to want to take over your entire being. After all, who really wants to eat pickles and cheese?! And yes, you probably give too much money to Dove or Hersey’s but you should feed your cravings.
Why? It’s your body's way of telling you that something is missing. Which is a good thing, right? Rest assured it is. On one hand, your “translators or neurotransmitters” may not be working properly. When your brain sends a signal of a craving it's because you're lacking some essential nutrients. How you translate or fulfill it, on the other hand, is a completely different thing.
We translate according to our former less-informed habits that we probably picked up as a child. Your mind naturally returns to things that are familiar to you, including your food habits. I grew up on ridiculous amounts and various sources of unnatural sugars. Now, I’ll have two to three pieces of my favorite fruit in the mornings. And guess what?I ’m not craving junk food because I fed my cravings. You can too!
You have to learn to decode your cravings so that they serve you. Here's how:
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STEP 1: IDENTIFY
The first step to decoding your craving is to identify what the feeling or taste is that you're seeking. I personally used to crave a Butterfingers or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups at random times. The actual signal coming from my brain was “sugar”.
STEP 2: CONSIDER
Next, consider what you’ve eaten or drank over the last couple of weeks or month and look for any patterns or reoccurrences. Doing so will help you analyze what’s happening with your body. After fulfilling the craving with your habitual food did you feel alive after having it? How soon did the craving return? Were there any side effects or downsides to what you ate (crashing effect, weight gain, low energy)?
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STEP 3: INVESTIGATE
Investigate what foods contain the underlying craving that you were “dying” to consume. In my case it was sugar. Clearly, candy bars and cookies are not the optimal choices of health and come along with various side effects (weight gain, decreased appetite, elevated blood sugar, white spots, etc). At the end of it all, the common denominator of my craving was that I need sugar.
STEP 4: REPLACE
Lastly, without getting into “why” your sugar is low (I'll address that another time), find natural raw foods that contain what’s known as natural food sugar. By providing your body with “natural sugar” from real food like fruits, you gain many benefits. You not only solve the craving and deficiency, but you provide vitamins, minerals and enzymes your body can use to serve you.
Marquese Martin-Hayes is a certified raw vegan nutrition specialist and is the founder of The Proper Perspective, a practice designed of life coaches to help individuals, families, and corporations maximize their impact. He is the co-founder of The Proper Physique, a nutrition coaching practice, Jus Juus, a juice boutique concept, and he dabbles in other better living ideas.
