This is going to be my first article on the “CRAZY AND impractical” side of cravings. As you read my previous articles, you’ll see that I have a specific and definitive answer to the question of what to do about your cravings. But first…
Why do people have cravings?
There are many different answers to this question. But I will say that the most common answer tends to be a combination of emotional, mental, and physical cravings. That can be luck of genetics, poor diet, lack of understanding about nutrition, and just too much stimulation in one area of your life.
Ex. Your at a party and smell delicious food and all you want is a soda. Besides, you have had 2 or 3 glasses already. How likely do you think it is that you’ll have 2 or 3 more? It is very likely. An apple might be just the ticket. You have the craving, you have the desire, you’re hungry, but you’re weak. You crave that savory salty potato chip. The thought of a potato chip just churning in your mouth gets you even more hungry. Have you asked yourself that question?
It is very possible to have cravings and not even know it. This is one of the trickiest parts of the whole topic. Is that we let these cravingsuckers get so out of control that we’re always trying to “cure” them with pills, alcohol, or other substances? Have you ever stocked your cupboard with sugar to “just say no to that craving”? If you do this, my heart will certainly bleeds for you. Your doctor will also probably tell you that you need a change of lifestyle. I’m sure they wouldn’t.
This is all very sad, but there is a way to deal with these cravings. Trust me, it will only take a little concentration and will power to get the nasty cravings under control. No more potato chips. Please. You certainly don’t need me to tell you how bad a bag of potato chips is for you.
How do you handle a craving? For example, say you need chocolate and your diet says you’re eating 2 or 3 pieces of chocolate a day, you might suddenly decide to go without chocolate and crackers and then be all crediturable about eating a piece of chocolate. This is the hardest thing for most of us can do, which is why I wanted to present you with this little tip.
It’s actually worse than the chocolate. Real chocolate is made with just cocoa and very, very few added ingredients. Many of the bags you buy of regular chocolate contain other unpronounceable ingredients. Have you ever noticed that ingredient list on your chocolate? There’s no words that begin with an “R”, it’s all FDA approved and preservative-free. Real chocolate is the healthiest food you can eat.
A straightforward way to figure out how many grams of “bad” ingredients you’re taking in with each chocolate bar is to read the ingredient list and consistently look for the word “cocoa” – what you’ll find is that most of them contain 70-90% cocoa butter, which is, by the way, still a liquid form of sugar.
I know it’s tough to do, but the simple way is – eat real chocolate! If you want the healthiest chocolate available, that’s what you’ll want to eat. If you want a treat that’s as healthy as a candy bar, then you need to eat high-cocoa dark chocolate.
Almonds, another food that used to be common and now rarely is, also have a high percentage of their fats in the cocoa butter, but they also have plenty o the carbohydrates. Almonds also have protein, fiber, iron, vitamin E.
I think that one of the major reasons people give up chocolate is that the doctors tell them their Chocoration Indules are going to kill them. This is the same thing that happens to sugar when it’s taken away from its natural state; it becomes addictive, is hard to get off the addiction, and then the more you eat the more you want it. In the case of sugar, the craving is more all-pervasive than most people realize.
Let’s use chocolate as an example of the whole issue. There are all kinds of health benefits to eating cocoa (raw chocolate), but let’s look at how it is obtained. There are many products available. Is there a reason other than wants and enjoyment that people don’t indulge themselves in the joys of chocolate consumption? It seems that the answer to that is “complexity”.
Chocolate is a Certified Functional Food, and that means it has been processed and certified by the FDA to have certain health benefits.
About The Author
Helena Eater
How much does the quality of food really matter? If you eat food that tastes good, your life will be better. If you eat food that tastes bad, your life will be worse. The difference between good and evil is partly subjective: what tastes good to me might taste bad to you. The difference is also partly objective: what restaurants I think serve good food might serve lousy food to you. But if we stick to objective measures — measures such as how much weight people gain or lose — we can cut through some of the subjectivity.
