Cravings: Do you get them? And what do they mean?

When you hear the word “diet” what do you think of?  Look around and you will find someone who is always either “dieting”, thinking about going on a “diet”, or just stopped “dieting”.  The term “diet” has become a negative term in our modern day society.  Diet simply means – what we eat daily.  For example, if you eat cookies and pizza, then that is your diet, or you may have a diet of meat and vegetable.  You get the idea.  So when you hear someone say “I am going on a diet” all it means is they are going to switch up their typical diet to something else.  Most people that switch up their diet and start restricting certain things from their current diet will eventually start experiencing cravings of either sweet or salty foods. Typically these cravings are what make people revert back to their old diet and stop getting results.  This can discourage many people.  This blog is going to shed new light on cravings and how to deal with them.

First off, let me just say that no matter what your brain tells you, your body is much smarter.  Let me explain this statement before your brain has a fit.  When you tune into your body, it gives you signals on how to adjust your food, whether it’s cravings, headaches, bloating, or feeling extremely good and energetic (this is our overall goal). If we learn how to read those signals properly, we can adjust our foods accordingly. (That is why this is the first thing I focus on when teaching my clients about proper nutrition).

Let’s get back on track with cravings.  Say you get a sweet craving.  This is a great signal from our body.  Many people view it as a negative side effect of whatever new diet they are trying out, or even the regular everyday diet they are on, because it makes them binge on processed carbs.  When our body is craving something sweet, all it wants is more glucose, or glycogen in the blood stream. It’s telling us that the meal before was not satisfying enough in that department.  Now the issue lies in whether we listen to our brain and fill the sweet craving with the first sweet thing we see, which is typically bad carbs, such as cookies, candies or cakes. If we had just listened to the body, we would have reached for a fruit, because fruit WILL satisfy the sweet craving and it will also provide us with vitamins and minerals.  What it will not do is make us over consume the carbohydrates like many processed cookies and candies will.  The best way to prevent that is to be prepared, and to always have fruit readily on hand and in the house.

Another typical craving that many people get is the salt craving. This means that we are missing sodium out of our diet (which is extremely vital for increasing circulatory efficiency and blood volume) especially good quality salt not the processed chemical laced table salt typically found in everything.  So if we listen to our brain it will reach for the first salt thing it sees, which are chips and salty pretzels.  If we listen to our body we will just add more good quality salt to our foods (such as Celtic Sea Salt).

Why do I keep bashing the brain so much and saying that our body is more intelligent? Well our body receives its signals from its hormones and tissues and relays that information back to us.  Our brains get all of their information from the media; commercials on food, the latest supplements, lots and lots of television, or from other people who’ve heard about the latest and the newest fad “diet”;  Basically everywhere but its own body. There is so much information and misinformation out there, that our brain is confused about who to listen to and why.  So when it’s confused, it will reach for what’s in front of it, and that is typically junk food.

To sum up:  Do not be discouraged if you are having cravings.  Listen to your body and it will tell you what it needs in order to be healthy.  Give the body what it wants and make sure it is the healthiest option possible.  ALWAYS be prepared with healthy options by having them on hand and get rid of the unhealthy ones.  Stop going ON and OFF “diets”, have a diet that you can live on for the rest of your life.  This diet can always have food added to it and taken away from it.  It should be viewed as something enjoyable, not something people regret doing.  “Diets” don’t last long and are difficult to maintain, but a diet that is part of a healthy lifestyle is easier to maintain and enjoy.

Yuri Salnikov

Chrono CrossFit