Crazy Food Cravings? You Can Get Rid Of Them For Good.
So often, people believe that their food cravings and constant “cheating” on their diet is a result of their lack of discipline or motivation.
Giving into food cravings is linked to discipline, but that is purely on the surface level. Beneath that lies some insidious, commonly overlooked reasons as to why you crave certain foods and sabotage your healthy eating goals. Most people, mainstream and alternative doctors, dieticians and nutritionists aren’t trained to look beyond “discipline” as being the only factor contributing to your insatiable cravings.
I will touch on four other seemingly small, but insidious reasons you are struggling to keep your cravings at bay.
1. Sabotaging inner children.
Have you ever heard of the concept of the wounded inner child? Well, we have several within us, ranging from ages 0-18years. These are not literal “children” within us, but aspects of our psyche. They harbour the biggest traumas and wounds that we have experienced. Even if you feel you’ve had a “good childhood”, there is almost always some locked up, overlooked emotional turmoil within. Liana Shanti has great resources for tapping into your inner children and core wounding. Even with the best, most loving parents, we unfortunately still end up with core wounds from ALL of our childhood experiences, and the people we were surrounded by (not just our parents).
Often when we experience feelings of discomfort, we are likely to reach for comfort food, or cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol. Food addictions are real, and they happen to people who appear to be of a healthy weight range. Food addictions are not mutually exclusive to people who are overweight, which is a common misconception and stereotype. I myself, have been a healthy weight range most of my life, and still had disordered eating habits. Especially when it came to comfort eating; for when I was stressed, or bored. This was often unconscious and disguised as “intuitive eating” or “treating myself” (because I worked out so hard). Trends such as #ifitfitsyourmacros #cheatdays really glorified and enabled these eating patterns too.
Next time you feel strong cravings for certain foods, especially the ones that you loved in childhood, ask yourself a simple question or two: “what am I avoiding, what discomfort am I experiencing that I don’t want to face?” and, “is this food choice going to give me more energy and contribute to my [insert health/fitness goal], or is it going in the opposite direction?
2. Candida overgrowth in your digestive tract.
Contrary to popular belief, candida overgrowth is not sexist; men get it too. And it is not just to do with vaginal thrush. It shows up as fungal toenail infections, discoloured/white-coated tongue, painful periods, infertility, gas and bloating, night sweats, leaky gut, skin issues, depression and anxiety, eczema, hormonal imbalance, insatiable cravings for pasta, lollies, chocolate, pastries, bread, and dairy, and more.
This fungus will also alter your taste buds and brain activity, meaning that healthy foods may seem really off putting to you or “boring”. You may also find you become irritable if you are unable to have your 3PM chocolate fix, or whichever vice you find yourself having a hard time to kick.
Main contributors to the overgrowth of this fungus in your digestive tract (which become widespread bodily symptoms) include: antibiotic use, high sugar diets, stress, birth control pills, tap water (chlorine and fluoride kill the good bacteria in the gut), constipation and diarrhoea, mold/chemical exposure, heavy metal exposure and toxins in food, artificial food additives, and more.
I myself have experienced drastic improvements in my physical and emotional health after doing Health Mastery Institute’s Heal Candida Now Cleanse; clear and glowing skin, regular and “clean cut” bowel movements, less bloating and gas, painless and light periods, improved mood, more energy, and better recovery from my workouts.
3. Parasites.
Yes, even if you live in a westernised country with drinkable tap water, you still get parasites. They are unavoidable, which is why it is best to do a cleanse 6-12months a year (6 months if you have pets or work with animals). These parasites end up in your digestive tract, blood stream, liver and other various organs. They wreak havoc on your body’s homeostasis and cause serious health implications. Seeing them expelled during bowel movements is both a disgusting yet satisfying experience. They are no longer robbing you of your nutrients and causing issues such as: abdominal pain, diarrhoea, gas and bloating, explosive bowel movements soon after eating, chronic fatigue, excessive weakness, dry skin and hair, hair loss, itchiness, hives, allergic reactions, rashes, nervousness, depression and anxiety, foggy brain, insomnia, teeth grinding, disturbed sleep, issues with appetite and weight gain/loss, arthritic pains, sore muscles and joints, anaemia, sexual health and infertility problems, and more.
These little suckers are very intelligent and along with candida, will influence the hormones that control your brain leaving you with impulsive cravings that you have a really hard time getting under control.
Parasites can enter our bodies through: restaurants (from staff who are carriers or contaminated food), public restrooms, owning or playing with pets, eating fruits and vegetables that are not washed thoroughly, grocery store cart handles, gardening, undercooked fish (sushi), swimming pools, meat - especially beef, hot tubs, gym equipment and many of other ways.
As I said, these are unavoidable, however, the symptoms and illnesses that result from parasites ARE avoidable. The cleanse I used is also from Health Mastery Institute (who I did my health coaching credentials through).
4. Altered brain receptors as a result of high sugar, high fat foods.
It’s not a secret anymore that the combination of high sugar, high fat foods has an opioid-like affect on the brain. It become addictive. So foods that fall into these categories are literally everything that you can get from bakeries, packaged goods, chocolate, dairy products, etc. Not to mention, that consuming foods with high fat, high sugar content on a regular basis, without sufficient practices to cleanse and support your liver, is a sure-fire way to develop Type II Diabetes and gall bladder issues.
So, what do you do with all that information?
It’s up to you. My role as a health coach is to provide education for the purpose of empowerment. For the purpose of people being able to arm themselves with true knowledge to make informed decisions in regards to their health. Not doing things just because an “expert” told them to. No; because they did the research, took things into their own hands, weighed up the pros and cons of their decisions, and did what felt best for them.
Now that you know all of that, you get to decide how to kick the sugar cravings and other symptoms that you may have identified with.
With love,
Amya