Cracking your food craving code

MANILA, Philippines – What are you craving for at this very moment? Whether it’s for the sweet creaminess of velvet cake, the saltiness of potato chips or the cold freshness of halo-halo, our food craving is our body’s way of telling us what nutrients it lacks.

This article, based on an article on WomensHealthMag.com, helps you crack your craving code.

Sweets

Craving sweets of any kind may mean fluctuations in the amount of sugar in your blood. Don’t give in to your craving for cake, candy, pie or other sinfully good saccharine delicacies because they worsen the problem by causing even more drastic changes in your blood sugar level which will lead to more cravings. Instead, eat fruit—preferably one not loaded with natural sugars.

Choose more high-fiber food like beans and legumes. Complex carbohydrates like whole grains are also good. All these will help keep your blood sugar stable.

Chocolate

A big bout of chocolate craving is a signal that your body is low in magnesium. While chocolates contain antioxidants that are good for us, they usually come with lots of sugar. So if you want to satisfy your craving, reach for dark chocolate which is 75% cacao, usually lower in sugar and higher in antioxidants. Other sources of magnesium are nuts, seeds, fish and leafy greens.

Who would have thought that a chocolate crave can be just as easily satisfied by eating leafy veggies?

Salty food

If you find yourself rummaging your kitchen for some potato chips, popcorn or other salty food, it simply means you’re stressed out. Scientifically speaking, it means your adrenal glands are worn out. The adrenal glands are two triangular glands atop the kidneys that give us energy and help us cope with stress.

So before opening that bag of potato chips, take a minute to do breathing exercises, meditation or other stress-relieving techniques. Research at the University of Utah in the US showed that people who take a break, breathe deeply or meditate before eating salty snacks reduced their stress hormones by 25% and cut the bingeing in half.

Red meat

Want nothing less than a hot plate of medium-rare steak? Craving red meat indicates iron deficiency, something which menstruating women are especially susceptible to. If you want to cut down on the meat, you can eat other iron-high food like legumes, beans, figs, unsulphured prunes and other dried fruits. But if you’re on a weight-loss diet, eat dried fruits in moderation as they are high in sugar and form acids.

Cheese

A sudden desire for cheese or pizza points to fatty acid deficiency which is common because few people get enough omega-3 fatty acids. Healthier options to replenish this fatty acid are raw walnuts, wild salmon, flaxceed oil and ground flaxceed.

The craving cure

When you’re craving food, you’re often actually craving for water. Most cravings and hunger pangs are signals from our bodies that we are dehydrated. By some estimates, 80% of people are chronically dehydrated.

So before you grab a snack, drink a tall glass of water first then wait half an hour. More often than not, your craving or feeling of hunger will disappear. –With reports by Pia Ranada/Rappler.com