Healthy Sweet Snacks | Nutritional Fitness

Understanding Cravings – Why You Crave What You Crave

Most of us have cravings that we give in to from to time however have you ever stopped to think about why you are having cravings? I know that I have for some things but for other things I just right it off and think nothing more about it. Truth be told, you have the complete control what cravings that you get if any just by understanding what your body needs. Most of the time what our body’s crave has nothing to do with what we are craving to eat and really has no added benefit to you what so ever, in fact it can hurt you.

The real truth is that the companies that make junk foods such as candy bars, sodas, or even fast food understand what your cravings are and even add small amounts of what your body truly wants to get you coming back. If you think about this is probably why you have a favorite snack or a strong craving for a childhood food. Just to start off with and not keep this topic to drawn out, I will list a few of these top cravings and things that you can do to better help you in your health and fitness journey.

Why do you crave sweets?

So to start out with, let’s say that you start getting a craving for chocolate all of a sudden or maybe you crave it more often that normal. What this means is that your body is lacking in magnesium, magnesium can be obtained from a much healthier source such as fruits, raw nuts, or seeds. When I say raw, I mean no additives such as heavy salts or coatings like most convenient stores have. Sadly most things these days that are right in front of our faces are not good for us, those foods may be advertised as being healthy but the next time you get a free minute it may be in your best interest to research that healthy alternative that you saw in the convenient store, it most likely is not what you think it is. Send me a comment or question and I will be glad to help you find a true healthy alternative.

Now to the infamous sweets craving, if you are having cravings for sweets in general and not exactly chocolate then you are lacking chromium which is a nutrient that can be obtained by a lot of normal foods such as broccoli, grapes, cheese, chicken. It could also be from a lack of phosphorus which can be obtained from chicken, meats, fish, eggs, dairy, and nuts. Another leading cause for this cravings is carbon which can be obtained fro eating fruit. Whether the sweets craving is a lack of chromium, phosphorus, or carbon the end results can just about be resolved by eating some of the same foods that are common such as chicken, fruits, or nuts.

Cravings that women get more often

Well, this might sound funny coming from a man but take it from my wife, this helps. Women get a lot of cravings pre-menstrual, this is from a lack of zinc. Generally speaking, it is best to eat seafood, leafy veggies, or red meat. You can take a zinc supplement, however, be sure that you do not take to much, this is why eating to obtain zinc is best because it is harder to get to much zinc from overeating, you will get a copper aftertaste if you are getting too much.

Cravings for Carbohydrates

Craving processed flours such as breads, bagels, crackers, noodles, or chips could be an indicator of insulin resistance, hypoglycemia (blood sugar fluctuations), chromium deficiency or fatigue. Unlike craving sweets, you will most of the time not even notice this craving. By adding more fiber to your diet can help with your blood sugar control also eating rich fruits, or veggies to obtain the nutrients chromium and magnesium Including more fiber in your diet for better blood sugar control and eating more chromium and magnesium will help overcome cravings like this. Don’t get me wrong carbohydrates are good for you but eating the wrong foods to obtain them is one of the leading reasons why we gain weight so easily and is what makes it harder to lose this weight.

Conclusion

Not all cravings are easily isolated, this article is meant to give you an idea of some of the more common signs, sometimes we crave food that we like but this still doesn’t mean that those foods are good for you.

As always I would very much appreciate your feedback so leave a comment below about what you are interested in seeing and also keep in mind that I will be adding much more informative post coming soon.

Thanks,

Shane

So how about that deep down craving that you sometimes get or if you are like me generally always walks around with you?

I have tried that whole “Eating what I want then working out till I drop thing” and lets just say that did not work out well. Always left me tired from rapid diet change or not really understanding what I was putting in my body to also being extremely sore from working out. Sore enough that I couldn’t hardly move and did that get me any closer to having a flat stomach or losing any weight….No

Come to find out, all those people that we see on TV and the movies don’t really eat the way that they show. That’s not to say that they don’t have a sweet tooth because I believe that everyone does not matter how much we try to deny it.

Then there is the whole “Here is a healthy protein packed bar thing”. Truth is, go to any store that sells a snickers or anything similar and you see that it too also has protein in it. Probably just as much as the so called “Healthy protein bar” that we all have bought once or twice in the past.

There is a way to have a sweet tooth and it does not have such a negative effect on you, try looking up healthy fruits and make a shake or smoothie with them. I once thought this was too time consuming for the no benefit that I was getting but that is because once again my focus was more on my natural sweet tooth and not nature’s sweet tooth. Try making a smoothie in a blender with frozen fruit with no ice and use coconut as the base or what you are going to mix with it.

Here is my favorite:

Frozen strawberries and coconut water

Just fill the blender with about two to three cups of frozen strawberries then pour the coconut water in until right about to when it covers the frozen strawberries then blend. Pour and enjoy your new smoothie, if you want to add a small amount of whey protein powder to it then that’s fine as well. The taste will not change, just the color of the smoothie.

If you need a few examples of shakes or smoothies then visit the top rated shakes section of this website.

You can do this with a lot of different fruit or even change the base from coconut water to a low calorie silk milk.

Another one of my favorite fruit is Acai berry, it is very good for energy if you are feeling tired and don’t want the caffeine jitters. Plus is taste good as well, knocking that sweet tooth craving out.

There is an Acai berry sorbet and a few different on the go drinks, distilled water and Acai berry.

As a request from several people that want to know where I get the Karma Wellness water here is 4 of my favorite flavors.

Really if you start digging into it, there are many different types of healthy choices that we can make instead of the easy in your face one, the final decision is ours.

Please leave a comment in the comment below.

Thanks,

Shane