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Food is NOT the enemy — especially when you can make delicious low fat favorites!
Without food, there is no life. Too often, when learning to live a healthy lifestyle, fear rears it’s ugly head and we worry about what if I can never have… chocolate… french fries… wedding cake…BBQ… donuts… hamburgers…
You get my drift. You can fill in the blanks with your own favorite foods. This article is about food cravings, and I’d like to start off by saying we often crave what we fear we can’t have.
HAVE YOU BEEN RULED BY FEAR?
That’s the psychological craving we experience. Here’s the good news; with a little creativity, you can healthfully enjoy most of the types of foods you’ve always loved.
- Want chocolate? OK. We can have healthy, low fat chocolate desserts.
- How about french fries? Not a problem. I’ll show you how to make scrump-dil-eee-is-cious, low fat oven baked french fries!
- What about wedding cake? A wedding cake has to be really special, right? Well, I haven’t had the need to make one yet, but I know others who have and they’ve been fabu!
- What about one of my all-time favorite foods… gooey, sticky, finger-licken good, BBQ? Can we have that? Yes, of course! That’s an easy one! In fact, I’ll share some taste treats so delish that you’ll want to have your friends over just to have a BBQ — and I promise you — no one will guess they’re low fat and healthy!
- Donuts? Yep! I’ve got some GREAT oven baked donut recipes that will knock your socks off. Your life will never be the same!
- Hamburgers? Yes… yes… yes! Well, of course, they’ll probably be turkey burgers or veggie burgers, but you’re gonna love them! They have all the trimmings and fixings to become your new favorites!
You see, my friends, there are many foods that we psychologically crave and the good news is, if you stick around this blog long enough, you’ll find oodles and oodles of delicious recipes that will fulfill each and every one of your mouth desires.
PHYSIOLOGICAL CRAVINGS
But there’s a completely other kind of craving I want to address in this post and that’s the physiological craving.
The truth is, as an obese person, I was completely unaware that SOME or MANY of my cravings were probably being caused because of the lack of balanced nutrition in my body.
When the body lacks certain vital elements, it craves quick fixes in an attempt to bring it into balance. Of course, the quick fixes don’t work for long and so the cravings go on and on.
I THOUGHT I WAS OUT OF CONTROL!
The fact is, I was out of balance. See how hard we can be on ourselves.
Here’s what you need to know…
The reason behind food cravings can be as simple as not eating the right balance of protein, fats and carbohydrates which your body needs in order to function optimally.
Cravings can also be a sign of vitamin or mineral deficiency.
WHAT YOUR BODY REALLY WANTS
Here is a list of a few common cravings and what nutrients the body may need.
| Craving… | What your body may really need… | Healthy food options that have it… |
| Chocolate | Magnesium | Raw nuts and seeds, fruits, legumes |
| Bread, toast | Nitrogen | High protein foods, nuts, beans |
| Sweets | ChromiumCarbon PhosphorusSulfur Tryptophan |
Broccoli, grapes, dried beans, fruits nuts Cranberries, horseradish, cruciferous vegetables, kale, cabbage raisins, sweet potato, spinach |
| Fatty/oily foods | Calcium | Broccoli, kale, sesame seeds. turnip greens, |
| Alcohol | Protein Avenin Calcium Glutamine Potassium |
Nuts Oatmeal Broccoli, kale, sesame seeds. turnip greens Spinach, parsley, cabbage, beans Bitter greens, seaweed, apricots, bananas |
| Coffee / tea | Phosphorus Sodium Chloride (salt) Iron |
Whole grains, legumes, fruit, nuts Sea salt, apple cider vinegar Seaweed, greens, black cherries |
| Carbonated drinks (ie. Coke) | Calcium | Broccoli, kale, sesame seeds. turnip greens |
| Salty foods | Chloride | sea salt |
| General overeating | Zinc Silicon TryptophanTyrosine |
Leafy vegetables Nuts and seeds Raisins, sweet potato, spinach Oranges, green vegetables, red fruits |
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting post. I like the chart of cravings and healthy substitutes.
I agree that when we have a craving for something, we can always find a healthy alternative instead. I wanted pizza, so I made sprouted grain english muffin pizzas with veggie cheese and a healthy tomato sauce. They were really good!
I have found that the more I eat like this, the less I crave any “real” junk food. I”m thankful for that!
.-= Eating Raw Foods Info´s last blog ..Raw Foods – Are You in This Alone? =-.
I’ll be checking out your blog. I’ve been interested in raw foods, not as a complete way of life, but as healthy alternatives. I even went to the Living Light Institute in California for lunch and it was AMAZING! Bought the cookbook, but have been afraid to really delve into it.