Conquer Cravings for Good

It may not be easy, but it IS simple!

When you read that title, was your first thought about food cravings? It’s true that cravings for unhealthy foods are a daily phenomenon for many or most people, so I will definitely address food cravings, specifically. Before I do though, I want to mention that we modern humans crave all kinds of things, beyond processed food. We crave healthy things such as rest and deep sleep, warm sunshine, playful movement, community, authentic creative expression, love, happiness, and inner peace. We feed a great many different kinds of unhealthy habits in our desperation to numb these persistent cravings. And we will continue to do so, until we understand and correct the few, simple root causes.

With the right knowledge, and enough willingness, you can take back your power and learn how to stay ahead of all cravings. Health comes from healthful living, and that means knowing and respecting nature's laws. These laws govern all aspects of life, and your health and wellness can only ever be as good as your weakest links.

I am going to shine a light today on correcting habits that lead to unhealthy food cravings, but please note that if you address these things, you will find yourself conquering cravings in other areas of your life as well, as a wonderful natural by-product.

Powerful food cravings can undermine the most diligent dietary efforts. When you cave in to these cravings, you may feel disappointed and frustrated with yourself, confused, and even powerless. If that isn't punishment enough, you will likely suffer some unpleasant physical symptoms as well. Let's face it, cravings are real, and they test your commitment to health. Many of the food-stuffs you may crave actually contain addictive substances, such as the opioids in grains and chocolate (addictive, toxic, morphine-like molecules), or the caso-morphine in cheese. Salt, spices, and processed sugar excite your system and lead to cravings. And for different people, certain foods trigger emotional associations, which can also exert a powerful influence.

Your diet may be great, but if you are over-stressed and sleep-deprived, you could still find yourself at times feeling overcome with powerful cravings for unhealthy foods. I have learned how to mostly eliminate these cravings, and how to stop them in their tracks if they do make an appearance.

Here are the 7 most common pitfalls:

1. Not eating enough Fruit.

Fruit is the staple of a healthy diet. It is the major source of our healthy calories. Vegetables are important and provide us with lots of nutrients, but they do not contain enough calories to sustain us and many of them are tough to chew and digest. Fatty foods like avocado and nuts are calorically dense, but a healthy diet gets less than ten percent of its calories from fat. That leaves whole juicy fresh fruit as our primary food for optimal health. Most people don’t realize just how much fruit we need to eat to meet our caloric needs, especially when we become naturally active.

Because of its high water content, we must eat a much larger volume of fruit than of more concentrated cooked (or dehydrated) foods, to get the same number of calories. This takes some practice! Our stomach loses its natural elasticity on a typical lower volume diet, and we must help it to regain this ability to stretch and flex so that it can comfortably accommodate an appropriate quantity of water-rich fresh foods. In the beginning, if you eat a juicy fruit meal until you feel full, you may have not eaten enough because your stomach wasn’t elastic enough to expand as you ate. Initially, it is helpful at each fruit meal to eat until satiated, then to eat a few more bites. In this way, your stomach will regain elasticity and be able to accommodate a more natural volume of fresh food.

Not eating enough fruit will set you up to crave unhealthy complex carbohydrates like grains and starches, processed sugary foods, or concentrated foods like fats, in an effort to get enough calories (and nutrition).

2. Too much fatty food

Eating too much dietary fat (more than ten percent of total calories) is inevitable if you don’t eat enough fruit on a raw diet. This is one of the most dangerous (and common) pitfalls, because too much fat in the diet contributes to many serious diseases. It coats the arteries and interferes with the body’s ability to deliver oxygen and glucose to its cells. Nuts, seeds, and avocados are primarily fatty foods. Too many calories from fatty foods will leave you feeling sluggish, and wondering why you aren’t experiencing the abundant energy and vitality promised by raw food diet advocates.

3. Irritants and stimulants

Some commonly used irritants and stimulants are: salt, pepper, spices, garlic, onion, vinegar, coffee, tea, alcohol and chocolate (including raw cacao), and processed sugar. Many or even most gourmet raw recipes contain salt and garlic. Our body does require sodium, which is sufficiently available in its organic form in fresh fruits and vegetables. Inorganic salt of any kind, including Celtic and Himalayan sea salt, is poison to our bodies and must be diluted with water from our tissues. This dehydrates us, and leads to unhealthful water retention, and also makes us less able to taste the natural saltiness in our natural foods.

Garlic and all the other substances listed irritate the delicate lining of our digestive tract, interfere greatly with the digestive process, and contain chemicals or other factors that are bothersome to and unusable by the human body. Consuming any unusable or toxic substances burdens the body, taxes its resources, and contributes to degenerative disease. Though some of these substances are touted for certain beneficial properties, we can better receive these benefits from non-irritating foods.

Including irritants and stimulants in an otherwise healthy raw diet generally leads to cravings and overeating, and interferes with natural taste bud recovery and with overall vitality.

4. Poor food combining and complex recipes

You will want to eat simply for best digestion and maximum energy. Complex food combinations lead to energy-intensive and often incomplete digestion, and to discomfort of various kinds. Gourmet raw food recipes invariably contain abominable combinations (“combo-abombos”). These incompatible combinations and complexity of ingredients tax the body and drain energy and vitality. See my book The Ultimate Raw Food Diet Detox and Wellness Program, for a detailed guide to food separating and combining, and some deliciously simple, well-combined recipes.

5. Not being naturally active

Activity and a simple raw diet complement each other beautifully. You cannot be truly healthy if you are not fit. We are designed to be quite active. When we are physically active, our appetite increases, and we can comfortably eat more food and thus take in more nutrition. When we are appropriately active, our metabolism increases (to normal) which results in more effective weight management. Digestion, absorption, assimilation, and energy levels all improve as fitness improves. Being “naturally” active means engaging in vigorous physical activity of the kinds that our bodies are designed for. We are naturally designed to walk, sprint, climb, squat, and lift and carry things. When we engage in less natural activities we need to be especially mindful of the possibility of strains and overuse injuries (such as joint strain from gymnastics, or “tennis elbow”). It is also possible, and not uncommon, for people to over-exercise, and not allow sufficient recovery time. As you can imagine, this also impairs health. For an eye-opening and very informative discussion of natural fitness, see Chapter 9 in How to Have the BEST Odds of Avoiding Degenerative Disease, by Don Bennett.

6. Not getting enough rest and sleep

During periods of deep rest and sleep, nerve energy becomes available as it is temporarily freed from tasks performed while a person is awake and active. This energy can now be put to work performing the critical tasks of healing, repair, building, and restoration. The body’s “batteries” have an opportunity to recharge. Without sufficient rest and deep sleep, the body’s innate ability to heal and restore itself is compromised, leading to stress, over-acidity, discomfort and disease. This is why it’s so important to pay attention to all the requisites of health. Also, insufficient sleep can set you up for mood swings, ineffective weight loss, food cravings, lack of discipline, and falling off the wagon with all your healthy habits. It is very important to avoid late-night eating, as the digestive task will then interfere with your sleep. Allow three to four hours between your last meal of the day and going to sleep. This will facilitate the depth of rest and restoration necessary for optimal health. If you find yourself uncomfortably hungry before bed, eat a small piece of juicy fruit.

7. Worrying about what other people think

Despite the fact that most people know how important it is to eat a healthy diet and practice healthy lifestyle habits, most people fall short of doing this, and are often acutely aware of their shortcomings. This is one reason why some people may “give you a hard time” about your new healthy diet and other healthy practices (if they can’t do it, you shouldn’t be able to do it). Another reason is that some people have been led to believe that a raw vegan diet is nutritionally inferior, or socially and emotionally unrealistic, and because they honestly care about you they’ll try to convince you not to follow this path, for your own good. You can thank them for their concerns and either assure them you know what you’re doing, or simply share with them that you plan to continue your experiment because it seems to be making you feel a whole lot better!

It’s important to avail yourself of the best information and support, so that you will become able to remain strong and steadfast on your journey to uncommonly vibrant health, despite other peoples’ fears, concerns, and lack of knowledge. Your steadfast example will inspire others, and those who are ready to do what’s necessary to live a fuller, richer, healthier life will eventually join you.

Here are the simple core truths - the natural laws - you need to adhere to if you really want to conquer cravings for good, and experience true health and wellness for life:

• Put fresh ripe fruit at the core of your diet.

• Greatly reduce dietary fat, irritants, and stimulants.

• Learn about a few supplements you may need, to cover all the nutritional bases

• Keep each meal very simple, and eat only when you are calm.

• Be active every day, and increase rest and sleep if you are tired.

• Spend lots of time outdoors, in nature, and in sunshine: every day when possible.

• Say or write your gratitudes and true desires daily.

If you will consistently put even one of these core principles into place in your life, you will be on your way to conquering cravings! Put all of them into place, and you will conquer food cravings for good, and be well on your way to conquering all other cravings in life. When one occasionally still arises, you will have the power to dissipate it rather than indulge in it. Believe that you deserve health and wellness, believe that you are more powerful than ANY cravings, seek the right knowledge and support, and you can succeed. In time, your body can cleanse itself, your taste buds can heal, your heart will get into the driver’s seat, and cravings will fade away in the brightness of your new radiance and purpose.