Dear Healthy Foodie,

Can you explain something to me about cravings? I've read some things that say that cravings are your body's way of asking for nutrients it needs, but I often get cravings for stuff that I know isn't good for me. Is my body really telling me it needs fries and gravy?

Sharon


Hi Sharon,

I doubt your body is telling you it "needs" fries and gravy. I'm not sure where you're getting your snacks from, but I'd be willing to bet your fries are cooked in hydrogenated oil, the salt on them is refined table salt and the gravy is probably a chemical concoction with MSG featured prominently on the ingredient list. Not exactly everything the body needs to thrive.

It is necessary to distinguish between the different communications one is receiving from their body. A gentle hankering for a particular food which may continue off and on for a few days could be your body's way of communicating its needs. Hardcore "I must have this now" cravings for foods you know you shouldn't be eating are probably due to some sort of imbalance.

Making this distinction is an important step in learning to listen to your body in order to give it exactly what it needs and avoid giving it what it doesn't. I believe that, if we learn how to listen, our bodies can tell us exactly what to eat, when to eat it, when we've had enough and when something just won't do. Your body knows what to eat to be healthy and be at its ideal weight, but too often our imbalances, and even to a certain extent our personal biases, get in the way of our body's messages.

But it's also necessary to learn to interpret these body signals properly. It is commonly thought in holistic nutrition circles, for example, that experiencing chocolate cravings means that one is magnesium deficient and that making the proper dietary or supplement adjustments should dimish or completely dissolve these cravings altogether. Although organic raw chocolate is a good source of magnesium and antioxidants and isn't a bad thing to have in your diet, more often people are reaching for a Snickers bar, loaded with sugar, artificial flavours and hydrogenated oils - not a healthy way to satisfying your craving.

Similarly, I dated a girl once who noticed that at a certain time of the month, every month like clockwork, she craves red meat; particularly steak. We speculated that this could be because she is needing iron in an easily absorbable form. I suggested she try adding more spinach, eggs or legumes to her diet.

In order to get to the point where you can really hear what your body is telling you, you need to get rid of the imbalances that are causing the bad cravings. These cravings are the ones that usually hit you over the head with their intensity and are often for foods you know you shouldn't be eating - processed foods, sugar, high starch or refined carbs. Sugar and refined carb cravings are often caused by a Candida overgrowth. Candida albicans is a harmful bacteria that, although a natural part of the flora of the digestive tract, can grow out of hand due to bad diet and excessive antibiotic use. Candida loves refined carbs and alcohol, and can cause cravings for these very foods.

Additionally, cravings for processed foods can often be due to an additive or chemical in the food that the body is having some sort of reaction to. These reactions can give us a jolt, as with MSG or caffeine, which we enjoy on some level. These jolts could also be caused subtle allergic reactions which stimulate the adrenal glands giving us a shot of adrenaline. We may get to the point where these jolts become necessary just to get us through the day without falling asleep, but it's doing the body no good at all. Continual stimulation of the adrenal glands can lead to adrenal fatigue, making us even more dependent on sugar, caffeine or some other stimulant to battle constant exhaustion.

There are a number of other reasons someone could experience cravings. Hormone imbalances can lead to sugar and carb cravings. Eating excessive amounts of sugar and processed foods can eventually lead to a state of insulin resistance where the cells can't get the glucose they need and continually signal the brain for more food. Ingesting artificial sweeteners have also been shown to cause excessive food cravings.

Getting a handle on these food cravings is a necessary step in the process of getting yourself to a state of perfect health. It is not necessarily easy work, however, and you may need to employ the help of a holistic nutritionist or Naturopathic Doctor, particularly if you're dealing with hormonal imbalances or Candida overgrowth. Ideally one should be healthy enough not to experience cravings at all and will be able to interpret food desires for what they are - a communication from your body telling you what it needs.


The Healthy Foodie is Doug DiPasquale, Holistic Nutritionist and trained chef, living in Toronto. You can email him with questions at dugdeep@gmail.com.