Your Cravings: Decoded

What do you crave? The saltiness of potato chips, the cool creaminess of ice cream, or the rich flavor of chocolate? Whatever you’re longing for, it may be your body’s way of letting you know you’re missing valuable nutrients. Here’s how to decode your cravings.

All Cravings—Most cravings are actually misinterpretations from our bodies that we are dehydrated. By drinking a tall glass of water first, you may be giving your body exactly what it wants and alleviate the craving altogether. By some estimations, 80 percent of people are chronically dehydrated. So, before you reach for food to nix your cravings, quench them with some water. Then wait half an hour. More often than not, they’ll be gone.

Sweets—If you crave sweets of almost any kind you may be experiencing blood sugar fluctuations. Giving in to pie, candy, cake, or other goodies only makes the problem worse by causing blood sugar roller coasters that lead to more cravings. Instead, choose a piece of fruit when you’re craving sweets. And, regularly choose more high-fiber foods like beans and legumes, and complex carbohydrates like whole grains keep your blood sugar stable.

7 Ways to Tame Your Sweet Tooth

Salty Foods—Cravings for salty foods like potato chips or popcorn often means chronic stress may be taking a toll on your adrenal glands—two triangular-shaped glands that sit atop the kidneys and give us energy and help us to cope with stress of all kinds. Getting on top of the stress in your life is essential. Try meditation, breathing exercises, or other stress management techniques. Research at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City showed that people who take a break to breathe deeply or meditate before reaching for salty snacks reduced their stress hormones by 25 percent and cut the binging in half.

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Val M.

1:59AM PST on Jan 3, 2013

Thanks

January 3
send a green star

g d c.

3:01PM PDT on Sep 13, 2012

September 13
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LMj S.

1:40PM PDT on Aug 27, 2012

Thank you for sharing!

August 27
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1:39PM PDT on Aug 27, 2012

Michele M.

2:14PM PDT on Jul 29, 2012

Now I understand why I am craving salt all the time it seems I never get enough...yet I am always concerned about how much I get due to my kidneys and my heart.

July 29
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Heidi H.

1:39AM PDT on Jul 18, 2012

Great information. Now I finally understand why I sometimes crave salt. I will use meditation next time I get a craving. Thank you so much.

July 18
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Mercedes P.

2:19AM PDT on Jun 30, 2012

Great article, thank you!

June 30
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Kelly R.

5:36PM PDT on Jun 15, 2012

I really appreciate your wonderful article. I was wondering why I have been craving popcorn so much lately. Thanx, now I will pray more and trust my God more