Have you ever gone on a diet and suddenly had insatiable cravings for a certain food? It’s that old saying - we always want what we can’t have. It’s one of the reasons restrictive diets always backfire.
Finding a way of eating that consists of balance is foundational if you want to be a healthy weight. Without balance, you are destined to be on the roller coaster of weight gain and weight loss, with cravings thrown in to the mix at every turn.
A look at the complexity of cravings
They happen to all of us, even healthy eaters. But they can be especially powerful when you diet or severely restrict what you eat. This happened with the Atkins diet, a high protein/fat diet which was hugely popular some years ago. People on the diet reported weight loss but had insatiable cravings for bagels and other white flour foods. They missed carbohydrates, and if only they’d had a share of fruits and vegetables along with the neat and fat, they might have been fine.
Balance is the baseline
The best starting point for anyone looking to tackle cravings is to start with a healthy balance of fats, protein and complex carbohydrates. Vegetables should dominate your dinner plate, and there should be some thrown into breakfast and lunch as well. Whole grains like rice or quinoa along with a protein source like fish egg, lentils, dairy or lean meat round out a balanced plate. Eating this way will satisfy your nutrient needs, but there is still more to the story.
The Secret Vegetable Formula
Think about the way different vegetables satisfy in different ways. One group, the “sweet” vegetables like sweet potatoes, summer squash, beets, carrots, corn and cooked onions have a relaxing effect. Dark greens do the opposite - they are bitter in flavor and tend to have a focusing effect. Eating from both groups helps keep your taste needs satisfied, where if you only lean toward sweet vegetables you may find yourself craving salty foods. If you only lean toward the bitter vegetables, you may crave something sweet.
The body is so intelligent in knowing it needs to keep in balance. When you go off the tracks with sweet or salty, stop and look at what you’ve been eating for meals and pull back into balance.
Cravings and Emotions
We’ve all seen the iconic photos of the heartbroken jilted lover soothing herself with a spoon dipped into a jug of ice cream. Emotions, family traditions, illnesses, fatigue, loneliness and depression are all triggers for cravings. Sometimes we just need to forgive ourselves in these instances because they likely will be short-lived.
But the diets of deprivation like the Atkins or other restrictive diets should be avoided at all costs, as they linevitably lead to cravings that upend all goals for a healthy stable way of eating.
Foods with pleasurable tastes and textures are often used as a reward or to provide solace. This may start in childhood and continue through life. Foods like ice cream and cookies rank high as "comfort foods" - foods eaten in an attempt to soothe away troubles. The desire for such items grows stronger during stressful times.
Just as people learn to expect pleasure from certain foods, cravings for foods may be influenced by cultural associations. You might have strong expectations to have certain foods at certain times and places because of these connections.
Tips for Overcoming Cravings
Experiment in moderation with the food you are craving to see if it satisfies. Research shows you’re better off having a small dish of ice cream if that’s what you want than depriving yourself until you go overboard. When I want ice cream I buy one small container at the grocery store or ask for a kiddie size cone at an ice cream shop. I’ve learned that having a pint or quart in the freezer just doesn’t work for me.
Seasonal changes naturally alter your food needs. We’ll be having our annual Spring Cleanse/Reset in late April when the foods that naturally support your seasonal nutritional needs are in full bloom and you’ll see how this transition lightens your appetite in advance of warmer weather.
Examine your physical and emotional status for clues to why you are craving something.
Make sure you have enough water, as the sense of thirst is not as sharp as the sense of hunger.
Look at your daily menus and see if you are getting enough grains, vegetables, protein and fat.
Think about what non-food qualities may be missing from your life – these may be keys to why you are having physical cravings. Are you lonely? Stressed? Tired?
Do something that makes your heart sing and see if your food craving disappears. You may remember as a child being outside having fun and your Mom needed to coax you to come inside for dinner. Joy can make food cravings disappear.