Craving to Lose

By Dr. Joey Shulman, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, October 11, 2005

This article was brought to you by Truestar Health: The World's Most Comprehensive Nutrition, Fitness & Healthy Lifestyle Resource

Do you suffer from sweet tooth syndrome? Do you crave salty foods such as pretzels, french fries or peanuts? If so, you may be a candidate for a nutritional tune-up! What do I mean by this? Often times, in the throws of a food craving, healthy eating and weight loss plans get tossed by the wayside. The good news is that I am here to show you how to be crave-free, how to lose weight and how to feel great.

When you have cravings, it is an indication that you are experiencing a biochemical imbalance. In other words, due to a lack of various minerals or vitamins or eating too many refined carbohydrates, your hormones become unbalanced resulting in the desire to eat salty or sweet foods.

This is how the craving process works:

1. You eat too many refined foods and sugars such as pop, candy, white flour pasta, bread, cookies, cakes or muffins. In addition, your amounts of protein and essential fats are deficient in the diet.

2. In response to eating white flour or sugar products, your blood sugar levels rise.

3. As your blood sugar levels rise, your body responds by secreting insulin from the pancreas to facilitate the uptake of the blood sugar into the cells.

4. Over time, from consuming refined flours and sugars daily, the body tends to over-secrete insulin.

5. An over-secretion of insulin results in excess storage of fat and causes blood sugar levels to drop too low to a state called hypoglycemia.

6. Hypoglycemic symptoms include fatigue, moodiness, fogginess and to top it off – more cravings! The vicious cycle of cravings, fatigue and inability to lose weight ensues.

It is important to note that a craving is a powerful signal from the brain and is much more intense than merely wanting to eat a specific food. Thus, resisting cravings is almost impossible. Consider the feeling of, “I want to eat a piece of chocolate” versus “I need to eat a piece of chocolate now!” Trying to fight off cravings is often an exercise in futility. The key is to clean up your nutritional act by following the steps below.

Steps To Break the Craving Cycle:

1. One of the most effective steps to end the craving cycle is to eat balanced meals. By this I am referring to making sure you have a lean protein, low glycemic index carbohydrate and essential fat at each and every meal and snack. Do not panic if this sounds rather complicated, it is not. Simply refer to the Truestar Meal Plans and Nutrition section for hundreds of meal plans that are balanced, meet your dietary needs and are delicious and easy!

2. When you are trying to break the vicious cycle of cravings, your cravings may intensify for a few days before getting better. Instead of indulging in the “wrong” types of foods that will only perpetuate the cycle, try having sweeter and healthier options to get over the hump such as herbal tea, chewable vitamin C tablets and cut-up fruit with low-fat yogurt and nuts. In addition, if you need to munch at night, stick to cut-up, low glycemic index veggies such as cucumbers or celery.

3. Drink plenty of distilled water to flush your system. Water mixed with natural lemon or watered down juice is an excellent way to hydrate yourself and to put an end to a nagging sweet fix.

4. For additional support, try TrueCRAVE – a supplement that offers a synergistic blend of ingredients specially selected for assistance with cravings for high glycemic index carbohydrates such as cookies, muffins, white bread and other sweet treats.
Remember, cravings are a very specific way your body talks to you. Instead of giving into them each and every time, try breaking the habit by cleaning up your nutritional act. Although it may seem difficult at first, by doing so, you will quickly notice that the pounds will melt away and your energy will soar.

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