Focus
Who hasn't used food to calm stress and reduce anxiety? Salty, sweet, crunchy or creamy - the craving for these tastes and textures is rarely in response to a nutritional deficiency. Instead, these cravings drive an emotional coping mechanism that manipulates your feelings. Emotions may carry you into the kitchen, but it is the physiological responses in your brain that keep you there and keep you coming back. It is literally all in your head. How does this work? Regular bingeing on sugar stimulates dopamine, your feel good chemical. So enticingly addictive. Carbohydrates also boost serotonin in the brain, calming you down. And fat dampens receptors, making you numb to your emotions. Unfortunately, when this chemical wash wears off, your real world problems are still there.
Well said
"People crave attention and appreciation more than they do bread." Mother Teresa
Fact
The brain accounts for approximately 2% of our body weight, but consumes around 20% of our glucose-derived energy (carbohydrate) - more than any other organ in the body. NCBI
Spotlight
Cacao is a far less processed version of the cacoa bean. Unlike the more common cocoa, it isn't subjected to the same nutrient nuking high temperatures and is not mixed with sugar and dairy. As a result, cacoa is extremely high in antioxidants, is the highest plant based source of iron and contains more calcium than cow's milk. It is also a natural mood elevator - sometimes chocolate really is the answer.
Practice this
Nurture yourself so you don't need food for comfort. If you are hit hard by a craving, take time to identify the source of the emotion triggering it. Dealing with the source may be the most effective way to cut your craving. However, if the source of your problems is your mother-in-law, eat the chocolate.
Recipe
Craveworthy crunchy lentil cucumber salad - https://www.pcrm.org/good-nutrition/plant-based-diets/recipes/lentil-cucumber-salad
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