CRUSH the Crave!

New Year, new decade and new beginnings! It's that time of year to start something new. Many resolutions are in related to ending addictive or undesirable behaviors related to bad habits, smoking, weight loss, alcohol and sugar! Most keep their silent struggle to themselves as they view cravings as weakness, but cravings are important messages meant to assist you in maintaining balance.

Look at the foods, deficits and behaviors in your life that are the underlying causes of your cravings. When you experience a craving, deconstruct it.

Ask yourself what does my body want and why? The eight primary causes of cravings are related to:

• Lack of primary food
• Water
• Emotions and Imbalances
• Seasonal Changes
• Nutrient deficient
• Hormones
• De-evolution

Starting with the main cause, lacking primary food, you need to know what is primary food?

• Primary foods are whole foods in their natural state, such as dark leafy greens, vibrant colored fruits, and whole grains. In other words, Mother Earth made. If it's processed or comes in a box, it's man-made. Some solutions to improve bad food choices is to start out slowly and ADD whole foods to every meal. At some point, you will find yourself eating more whole foods, even craving them, and soon cut out the processed, and refined foods.
• Insufficient water intake is a huge proponent to cravings. The human body is made up of mostly water and you need to stay hydrated in order for proper functioning of vital organs. 

Lack of water not only leads to dehydration, but your body will send out 'thirst signals' that are often misinterpreted as hunger, causing you to eat when all you really need is water. An easy solution is drink a full 8 ounce glass of water before each meal and when you're hit with a craving. If you're still hungry after drinking, then eat. Each person should consume a minimum of 64 ounces daily, and more if you're active, exercising or out in the heat.

Emotional fluctuations and what I call Yin/yang imbalance.

• Certain foods have more yin qualities (expansive) while other foods have more yang qualities (contractible). Eating foods that are either extremely yin or extremely yang causes cravings in order to maintain balance. For example, eating a diet too rich in sugar (yin) may cause a craving for meat (yang). 

Eating too many raw foods (yin) may cause cravings for extremely cooked (dehydrated) foods or vice versa. The solution is to eat a colorful array of foods! Chose a balanced combination of lean protein, leafy greens, fresh fruit, healthy fats and whole grains.

• Comfort eating to soothe emotional upheavel or satisfy a childhood memory is another reason people have strong cravings. Being dissatisfied with a relationship or having an inappropriate exercise routine (too much, too little or the wrong type), being bored, stressed, uninspired by a job, or lacking a spiritual practice may all cause emotional eating. A good way to kill the crave is to decipher the emotion. Journal your thoughts, feel your feelings, rather than holding thoughts in, express how you're feeling.

Eating is sometimes used as a substitute for entertainment or to fill the void of insufficient primary food. Often times, cravings come from foods that we have recently eaten, foods eaten by our ancestors, or foods from our childhood. A clever solution to satisfy these cravings is to eat a healthier version of one’s ancestral or childhood foods.

Seasonal changes affect people's cravings. Often the body craves foods that balance the elements of the season.

- In spring, people crave detoxifying foods like leafy greens or citrus foods.

- In summer, people crave cooling foods like fruit, raw foods and ice cream.

- In autumn, people crave grounding foods like squash, onions and nuts.

- During winter, many crave hot and heat-producing foods like meat, oil and fat.

Cravings can also be associated with the holidays, for foods like turkey, eggnog or sweets.

If the body has inadequate nutrients, it will produce odd cravings. For example, inadequate mineral levels produce salt cravings, and overall inadequate nutrition produces cravings for non-nutritional forms of energy, like caffeine and chocolate. The solution is to balance food choices and eat a whole food diet.

Hormones can reek havoc on the body and especially in women during puberty, menstruation and menopause. When women experience menstruation, pregnancy or menopause, fluctuating testosterone and estrogen levels may cause unique cravings.

De-evolution or self-sabotage can lead to food cravings, because emotions are involved. You may not be eating over a painful memory or hurt feelings, but when things are going extremely well, sometimes a self-sabotage syndrome happens. You crave foods that throw you off, thus creating more cravings to balance yourself. This often happens from low blood-sugar and may result in strong mood swings.

Health starts from 'The Inside Out! Cravings are your body’s way of telling you it needs nutrients. If you fuel your body with bad choices, you'll wind up eating more food to try and get the vitamins and minerals needed. If you eat foods rich in nutrients, you'll need less food and lose your cravings because the body is satisfied.

For further nutritional education, recipes, and training, Dawn is a Nutritional Health & Fitness Coach.