How To Eat Properly To Support Your Cravings
You know those moments where you suddenly just NEED chocolate, but you don't know why?
Your body is incredibly intelligent and knows what it needs, even if you're not consciously aware of it. When it is sending you intense signals like a craving for chocolate, it is trying to tell you something! Usually that you are missing an important mineral or amino acid.
What specifically are your cravings trying to tell you?
Today we are going to talk about all your different cravings and what your body actually needs.
Nutrient Deficiency
Cravings = deficiency.
Your body is extremely aware of itself and its needs. When you are experiencing physical cravings, it’s trying to tell you that it needs specific nutrients. There is only one problem… with the abundance of processed foods, artificial flavors, refined sugar and natural flavors in our food, it can be easy to mistake something mostly void of real nutrition as what your body wants.
Nature intentionally pairs particular flavors with particular nutrients. When you eat a raw blueberry, you are literally tasting the antioxidants and nutrients the blueberry is filled with.
When a food company puts “natural blueberry flavor” in one of their foods, they literally isolate and take only the flavor from real blueberries, but none of the accompanying nutrients. Then they put this natural flavor in a processed food. When your body eats and/or craves that processed food, it thinks it is getting the nutrients that are in blueberries, but it actually isn’t.
This is why cravings can be terribly confusing! After eating processed foods for years, our taste buds can become confused as to what they really want.
To help navigate your cravings, I created a simple chart to help you identify the nutrients your body is craving when you want certain foods.
Cravings Guide – Nutrient-Dense Solutions
| If you’re craving this… | Your body really wants this… | Here are healthy whole foods that have it: |
| Chocolate | Magnesium | Raw nuts and seeds, legumes, fruits |
|
Sweets |
Chromium | Broccoli, grapes, cheese, dried beans, calves liver, chicken |
| Carbon | Fresh fruits | |
| Phosphorus | Chicken, beef, liver, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, nuts, legumes, grains | |
| Sulfur | Cranberries, horseradish, cruciferous vegetables, kale, cabbage | |
| Tryptophan | Cheese, liver, lamb, raisins, sweet potato, spinach | |
|
Bread, toast |
Nitrogen | High protein foods: fish, meat, nuts, beans |
|
Oily snacks, fatty foods |
Calcium | Mustard and turnip greens, broccoli, kale, legumes, cheese, sesame |
|
Coffee or tea |
Phosphorus | Chicken, beef, liver, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, nuts, legumes |
| Sulfur | Egg yolks, red peppers, muscle protein, garlic, onion, cruciferous vegetables | |
| NaCl (salt) | Sea salt, apple cider vinegar (on salad) | |
| Iron | Meat, fish and poultry, seaweed, greens, black cherries | |
|
Alcohol, recreational drugs |
Protein | Meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, nuts |
| Avenen | Granola, oatmeal | |
| Calcium | Mustard and turnip greens, broccoli, kale, legumes, cheese, sesame | |
| Glutamine | Supplement glutamine powder for withdrawal, raw cabbage juice | |
| Potassium | Sun-dried black olives, potato peel broth, seaweed, bitter greens | |
|
Chewing ice |
Iron | Meat, fish, poultry, seaweed, greens, black cherries |
|
Burned food |
Carbon | Fresh fruits |
|
Soda and other carbonated drinks |
Calcium | Mustard and turnip greens, broccoli, kale, legumes, cheese, sesame |
|
Salty foods |
Chloride | Raw goat milk, fish, unrefined sea salt |
|
Acid foods |
Magnesium | Raw nuts and seeds, legumes, fruits |
|
Preference for liquids rather than solids |
Water | Flavor water with lemon or lime. You need 8 to 10 glasses per day. |
|
Preference for solids rather than liquids |
Water | You have been so dehydrated for so long that you have lost your thirst. Flavor water with lemon or lime. You need 8 to 10 glasses per day. |
|
Cool drinks |
Manganese | Walnuts, almonds, pecans, pineapple, blueberries |
|
Premenstrual cravings |
Zinc | Red meats (especially organ meats), seafood, leafy vegetables, root vegetables |
|
General overeating |
Silicon | Nuts, seeds; avoid refined starches |
| Tryptophan | Cheese, liver, lamb, raisins, sweet potato, spinach | |
| Tyrosine | Vitamin C supplements or orange, green, red fruits and vegetables | |
|
Lack of appetite |
Vitamin B1 | Nuts, seeds, beans, liver and other organ meats |
| Vitamin B3 | Tuna, halibut, beef, chicken, turkey, pork, seeds and legumes | |
| Manganese | Walnuts, almonds, pecans, pineapple, blueberries | |
| Chloride | Raw goat milk, unrefined sea salt | |
|
Tobacco |
Silicon | Nuts, seeds; avoid refined starches |
| Tyrosine | Vitamin C supplements or orange, green and red fruits and vegetables |
In addition to this chart, my friend and fellow health and wellness extraordinaire, Abbey Gibb – holistic nutritionist and founder of the lifestyle network, AbbeyGibb.tv – has an exciting trendy recipe that will give you exactly the nutrients you need in the morning! Check it out:
And remember, we’re in this together.
