The real reason we crave bread, cheese and chocolate
The first time I’ve encountered food cravings wasn’t when I was pregnant (didn’t crave a thing during pregnancy) but a few years prior to that when I was exploring the raw food lifestyle for the first time.
I was loving making all sorts of classic dishes out of plants and without cooking, yet all I could think of was Kinder Eggs.
Not even kidding.
I’ve never even had that many in the past, yet the cravings weren’t just for commercial processed chocolate, they were pretty specific.
I began to explore raw chocolate making then (it was almost 10 years ago now! Whoa), I was loving discovering what is possible with pure cacao but the very specific craving remained.
I then went on to learn everything about the Cacao fruit and all its mega powers to discover that often when us women are at a particular time of the month, we lose magnesium and our body naturally asks for chocolate because it knows that cacao contains loads of this mineral.
I figured, that’s it, I just need to eat lots of raw chocolate, my magnesium levels will replenish themselves and my cravings will go away.
It didn’t quite work out like that.
I still thought about those Kinder Eggs and it was driving me insane.
During that time of transitioning to a more plant based diet, by default I was cleansing and becoming more in tune with my body.
I began asking my body: ‘what do you need?’ rather than ‘what do you feel like?’.
It was during one of these moments that my body urged me to think on exactly why I may be craving those silky milky treats, because the answer was contained within.
I really had to close my eyes and visualise what exactly it was that raw chocolate couldn’t deliver.
It was obviously, not just the magnesium and antioxidant-rich chocolate itself or I would’ve been the happiest girl in the world crunching on cacao nibs. Plus I was already getting plenty of magnesium from leafy greens and antioxidants from berries.
Was it the sweetness? Nope, because if it was then I’d be satisfied simply by swallowing a tablespoon of white sugar.
The answer was clear. I longed for the creaminess, the milkiness, the fattiness, the dairyness!
I longed for fats.
Interestingly, although my cravings were that specific, eating Kinder didn’t seem to make me want it less.
Turns out that my body was trying to tell me that it needed lots of cold pressed essential fats and fatty acids, but the only way it knew to communicate this was pointing out the very thing that contained lots of fats, albeit the wrong kind.
It’s not like my body was ever going to get me salivating for a cup full of fish oil or a can of sardines, so it communicated the only way it knew how...
It kept reminding me of those creamy little buggers, creamy, creamy, fatty, fatty, till the message hit home.
I bought all kinds of seed oils, oil blends, extra virgin varieties and cold pressed extracts, then began blending them into my smoothies and shakes, desserts and salad dressings.
Soon after that, my cravings for Kinder Surprise went away. Forever!
Now I know that simply dreaming about a certain food doesn’t mean that you’ll be completely satisfied as soon as you give in to it. Certainly not long term.
I know to really think about that food and to really dissect what’s inside.
There lies the answer of what minerals and nutrients my own body may be missing. And that there is always a solution to how this deficiency may be restored.
At times, I may crave bread...
I know now that it is when I am boarding on a chromium or nitrogen deficiency.
If these cravings keep reappearing, I simply up my intake of cinnamon, grapes and sweet potato for chromium or greens, grains and legumes for nitrogen.
Other times I may long for cheese...
And I don’t mean ‘oh there’s cheese in front of me, I kinda fancy some’, I mean I reeeeeally want cheese so much that I’m willing to change out of my pj’s, at 9 o’clock at night, and walk for 20 minutes each way to the supermarket for cheeeeese.
That’s a pretty clear call for a top up on essential fatty acids and calcium.
I would go for more omega 3’s (EPA and DHA), tahini, broccoli and kale, then just like a miracle- not one more thought about cheese for months.
Those are the most common cravings that I’m sure you too experience from time to time.
I also get emails about more bizarre cravings like crunching ice or being too snacky or dreaming of alcohol.
These’s also cravings for coffee, fizzy drinks, burned foods, salty foods, popcorn, red meat, crisps and so many more.
And guess what- they ALL mean something.
And we will discuss them in depth at this Sunday’s workshop ‘What your cravings are telling you’.
More importantly, I will teach you how to make the most satisfying raw food delicacies such as a Butterscotch Marble Triple Choc Cake, Creamy Mylk-shake, Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms and a yummy Cheezy Dip, and we will enjoy them all in class.
11:30am-2pm Sunday 11th March...
Can’t think of a better way to spend Mother’s Day than doing what I love the most.
I hope you will join me, as now there are only a few tickets left.
Book here:
