Kick Cravings

Those foods such as SUGAR, ALCOHOL, PROCESSED & REFINED CARBOHYDRATES, all contribute to a change in not only our weight & general inflammation, but also in our brain function, our cravings, and our sleep. Overconsumption of these foods therefore increases our stress and our ability to manage our cravings. While it is best to abstain from these items, especially alcohol, if you do consume some sugar and refined carbs, we want to help you understand those cravings and how to curtail a few bites from becoming a cycle of stress & cravings.

Cravings happen in two ways:

• When our bodies are deficient in key nutrients (vitamins & minerals) due to a lack of balanced healthful eating, the body will send signals to ask for more. 

• When we begin to regularly consume addictive foods (high in sugar, alcohol or processed & refined carbohydrates) a change occurs in our brain chemistry that slows our thought processes, causes fatigue, and heightens negative & anxious thoughts. To combat this the body will crave more positive “hits” of short term energy & “happiness” i.e. sugars & alcohol.

Craving sugar, simply put, is craving minerals, vitamins and energy for our cellular functions. Sweets not only cause us to be deficient in these things but also, the  lack of these nutrients cause the craving for more sweets, and the cycle continues. The best way to combat these cravings is to include foods from each of the categories discussed below into your daily diet routine, in addition to avoiding regular indulgences.

Alcohol is a toxin to the body. No amount of alcohol is “safe” to consume. At the same time, we know that people often consume alcohol on a frequent basis, especially during the holidays. Alcohol in relation to cravings is an insidious paradigm. When we drink alcohol our blood sugar almost immediately rises (depending on what foods are being ingested). The brain is hit with a surge of “feel good” chemicals as well. Both the blood sugar and happy chemicals go down as quickly as they are raised as our bodies prioritize the metabolization of alcohol before all other foods & beverages. This means two things: 1) When blood sugar plummets, cravings for sugars and food in general increase. Leading us to over eat and especially those foods higher in sugar and carbohydrates. 2) The body turns off fat burning to prioritize riding the body of alcohol. Together these result in weight gain over time and water weight gain almost immediately as the body dehydrates. 

Tips: While KRN encourages abstaining from alcohol altogether, if you do partake, do so with these tools:  

1) Maximum 2 drinks 

2) Choose clear liquor and sugar-free mixers 

3) Dry wines are best and avoid beer and sugary mixed drinks 

4) Eat plenty of veggies and proteins before and during alcohol consumption,

opting away from carbohydrates and sugars 

5) Hydrate with plenty of water and 1-2 electrolyte tabs

Try to include foods from each of the categories discussed below into your daily diet

Ahh the carb cravings for bread, pasta and pastries are often cravings of habit-more so than cravings of missing nutrients our bodies require. This is mostly due to the types of processed varieties of pasta, pastries and breads we tend to consume. White and even most “whole wheat” foods have little nutritional value due to over processing in manufacturing, which strips nutritional value, and due to the poor quality sources in our food system from which they come. Biochemically, the cravings we experience therefore, are actually due to two main factors that work hand in hand to create addictive cravings. The first of these being that consuming these foods produces the “feel-good” or “happy” hormone, serotonin. The body will always be craving the next “hit” of serotonin-especially when we consume these foods to distract from or self-soothe other issues in our lives. Secondly, these foods produce a rapid rise in blood sugar and insulin response which causes a short-lived feeling of fullness, fatigue, and crash-only to find that we’re hungry again very soon after. Given Metabolic Programming is the idea that “What we eat is what we crave”, leaves us over-consuming these foods for very little reward, and then going back for more–an addictive cycle that is hard to break.

Sodium intake has a bad reputation. We’re told that diets high in sodium CAUSE high blood pressure and other related issues. However this claim is misleading, due to oversimplification. The TYPE of sodium consumed is the dependent factor as to whether our intake is hurting us or helping us. Sodium is an ESSENTIAL nutrient–our bodies cannot make it so it must be consumed and levels maintained by the body for basic function. Not enough sodium intake of the right type can cause other serious issues, but in most cases changing the type of sodium you’re consuming  can actually HELP REGULATE BLOOD PRESSURE in healthy adults.