Deconstructing Those Cravings...

Hello my flourishing souls! This week we will be focusing on those pesky cravings!!!

What are the 8 primary causes of cravings?

1. Dehydration: The body doesn’t send the message that you are thirsty until you are on the verge of dehydration. Dehydration occurs as milk hunger, so the first thing to do when you get a strange craving is to drink a full glass of water.

2. Lifestyle: Being dissatisfied with a relationship, having an inappropriate exercise routine (too much, too little or the wrong type), being bored, stressed, uninspired by a job or lacking a spiritual practice can all contribute to emotional eating. Eating can be used as a substitute for entertainment or to fill the void.

3. Yin/Yang Balance: Certain foods have more yin qualities (expansive) while other foods have more yang qualities (contractive). Eating foods that are either extremely yin or extremely yang causes cravings in order to reestablish balance. For example, eating a diet too rich in sugar (yin) may cause a craving for meat (yang). **

4. Inside Coming Out: Oftentimes, cravings come from foods that we have recently eaten, foods eaten by our ancestors or foods from our childhood. A clever way to satisfy these cravings is to eat a healthier version of one’s ancestral or childhood foods.

5. Seasonal: Often the body craves foods that balance out the elements of the season. In the spring, people crave detoxifying foods like leafy greens or citrus foods. In the summer, people crave cooling foods like fruit, raw foods and ice cream, and in the fall people crave grounding foods like squash, onions and nuts. In winter many crave hot and heat-producing foods like meat, oil and fat. Other cravings such as turkey, eggnog or sweets, can also be associated with the holiday season.

6. Lack of Nutrients: If the body is getting an inadequate amount of nutrients, it will produce odd cravings. For example, inadequate mineral levels produce salt cravings, and overall inadequate nutrition produces cravings for non-nutritional forms of energy like caffeine.

7. Hormones: When women experience menstruation, pregnancy or menopause, fluctuating testosterone and estrogen levels may cause unusual cravings.

8. De-evolution: When things are going extremely well, sometimes a self-sabotage syndrome happens, where we suddenly crave foods that throw us off balance. We then have more cravings to balance ourselves. This often happens from low blood sugar and may result in strong mood swings.

Did any of these stick out to you? I hope this helps you start identifying some of the places you can work on for own body!

**What are contracting and expanding foods?

Contracting foods: The most common and powerful contracting food is salt, which many of us consume regularly in large quantities. Salt is used commonly as a preservative, especially in artificial junk food. Other extreme contracting foods are animal foods, including beef, pork, ham, hard cheese, eggs, chicken, fish and shellfish. The main benefit of animal foods is that they are rich in protein and give us feelings of strength, aggressiveness and increased physical and mental power. However, when we eat too much of these foods, we create an imbalance and quickly feel bloated, heavy, sluggish and mentally slow. The more contracting foods we eat, the tighter our bodies become. As a result of eating contracting foods, the body naturally craves expanding foods as a way of maintaining balance.

Expanding foods: The predominant extreme expanding food is refined white sugar. Expanding foods provide feelings of lightness, elevations in mood and relief from blockages and stagnation. However, refined white sugar also causes rapid elevations in serotonin, followed by rapid declines. When serotonin levels fall, we typically experience feelings of depression, low energy, anxiety and loss of concentration. We crave extreme contracting foods to balance the equation and again find ourselves in the midst of the ping-pong effect using one type of extreme food to alleviate the effects of the other. Our bodies can enjoy a certain quantity of extreme foods without creating too much imbalance. But when we exceed our personal limit-and it varies with each individual-there are consequences. If you eat extreme foods daily, your body will become exhausted and depleted as it frantically tries to re-balance itself. To get out of this cycle, you need to deconstruct what you are craving, and seek out less extreme, healthier alternatives to satisfy you.

Stay Nourished

~Coach Stephanie