Sweet or Salty?

Welcome! Today we’ll be discussing sweet, salty, bitter, pungent and spicy foods. Let’s get started!

Are you craving something sweet?

Sweet foods vary widely in nutritional content, from chocolate, cookies and pastries, to sweet vegetables, fruit and fruit juice. As much as possible, try to satisfy your desire for sweet flavor with a milder, less extreme food that doesn’t contain refined white sugar.

Certain vegetables have a deep, sweet flavor when cooked, like corn, carrots, onions, beets, winter squashes and sweet potatoes. Eating a lot of sweet vegetables will satisfy your natural cravings for sweet foods, and reduce your cravings for sugary, processed junk food.

Natural sweeteners can also help with sugar cravings. My favorite, along with some of my clients, is raw honey. Unprocessed honey is one of nature’s richest sources of antioxidants with a ton of health benefits. Due to the presence of live enzymes, raw honey is easily digestible for most humans. The sweetness comes from natural fructose that is absorbed slowly by the body, so there’s less of a sugar rush. It’s great to have around the house to use in tea or salad dressings, or even when baking.

Are you craving salty foods?

Cravings for salty foods often indicate mineral deficiency. All salt originates in the sea, and natural sea salt contains 60 different trace minerals, which are the basis for the information of vitamins, enzymes and proteins. Most Americans use common table salt, which has been refined and stripped of many of these minerals. People’s diets are generally lacking in minerals because much of our food has been highly processed and chemically grown, hence the popularity of these foods. Before you go out and have a bag of pretzels or chips, try eating a wide variety of vegetables, especially leafy green veggies, which are very high in minerals. These foods often satisfy the craving for salty foods, which is really a desire for more nutrition. You may also want to purchase a high-quality sea salt to use in your cooking.

Are you craving bitter foods?

Today’s typical diet doesn’t contain many healthy bitter foods. Bitter foods enhance digestion, so a craving for bitter flavor, may actually be a craving for nutritious foods to cut through fat and stagnation in the body’s organs and digestive tract. Most people satisfy bitter cravings by drinking coffee and dark beers. If you find yourself craving bitter tastes, try eating dark leafy greens, such as dandelions, mustard greens, arugula, kale and collards. These greens will unblock stagnant organs and promote healthy assimilation and elimination.

Are you craving pungent flavors?

Chinese cooking often incorporates pungently flavored foods that act as digestive aids. In traditional Chinese medicine, ginger is an herb for the large intestine and lungs. It enhances the function of, and promotes healing in, both organs. So, if you have a craving for heavy, saucy Chinese food it may be your body asking for the healing properties of pungent flavors. When this happens, try grating fresh ginger on your vegetables or in your soup. Other foods that will quench this craving are cayenne, scallions, onions, leeks, garlic and pepper.

Are you craving spicy foods?

Are you looking for an array of flavors, both subtle and strong, or are you looking for hot spices? So much standard American food is lacking in flavor because it’s been on the shelf for such a long time and is stale, bland and tasteless. This kind of food lacks vitality, energy and aliveness and includes added fat and cholesterol. When people eat this kind of diet for years, the body can become overweight and stagnant. Blood becomes thick, and circulation slow. As circulation weakens, organs and extremities become cool. At this point, the body may start craving spices.

When people crave spicy foods they often turn to pizza or hot Mexican spices. These extreme foods warm the body, but also create a lot of stressful, chaotic energy. Instead of eating a pizza, with its dry, hard crust and heavy cheese or refried beans and hot jalapeño peppers, try a bowl of noodles, such as soba, mixed with green vegetables and a nice marinara sauce with oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, onions, garlic and celery.

You can use a variety of spices and condiments to add kick to your food. Two popular choices are ground cayenne and hot pepper sesame oil, both of which you can find at any health food store. You can also chop jalapeño peppers and add them to a salad or stir-fry for that extra bit of spice.

Stay tuned for the last portion of cravings in tomorrow’s blog!

Stay Nourished,

~Coach Stephanie