We often have cravings for certain types of food and with reason. Cravings for chips or salty foods might be indicative of low mineral levels in your diet – your body knows that natural salt contains minerals and so tells the brain to ask for it. Cravings for ice cream or butter or fatty things might indicate an essential fatty acid deficiency – your body needs fat to make new cells and hormones so it tells the brain to ask for it. Cravings for red meat, candy, bread – all have a biological root and it’s just a matter of learning to read these cravings and address them in the healthiest ways possible. 

Your stomach doesn’t know many words

Most people consuming the Standard American Diet (or the SAD diet) are eating from a very limited range of foods to begin with. Cravings for macronutrients – fats, carbohydrates or proteins – are only going to take the form of something your body is familiar with. For example, if you’ve never eaten a tangerine, it’s unlikely when your body wants something sweet, that it will ask for a tangerine. It will probably ask for the sweetest thing it knows or to which it has been exposed. Maybe for you that’s a soda or a bag of gummy candy. If your body has exposure to variety and as much real food as you can feed it, it might have the vocabulary to ask for something that’s not only sweet but nutrient dense. Increasing variety in our daily diets can be as important as reducing low quality foods. 

The power of less will power.

Furthermore, cravings are not something that need to be suppressed, ignored or controlled. Your body may be crying out for something out of need and it may be an error to ignore this cry. I remember years ago a person I knew was trying to eat entirely vegan for health purposes (as opposed to for moral purposes). The only thing she really missed was butter. And not all the time. Just every once in a while. She substituted a vegan, artificial butter when she had this craving but it rarely went away. I wondered what the harm would be in just having the butter. Just a pat. Her veganism wasn’t borne of the protection of cows. Her body was asking for something, a real food with one ingredient. Maybe there was a reason. There is little sense in trying to muscle through these moments. Just eat the thing. Especially if the craving persists. Your cells might know something your brain doesn’t.

It’s time to let go of the idea that our cravings for food are some kind of moral flaw. Yes, human beings do crave salt, sugar and fat. From an evolutionary perspective, these nutrients mean survival (more on this in a future article). It’s time to start addressing these biological needs with what and when we eat. Don’t pretend they’re not happening and certainly don’t blame yourself for craving things in the first place. 

If you need help deciphering the messages your body is sending you, that’s what I’m here for. I promise you your body is trying to keep you alive and thriving. Listen to it with compassion.