FOOD TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE

DO SUGAR CRAVINGS SABOTAGE YOUR DIETING?

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You may already know that eating too little protein can trigger cravings for sugar. This is because your body is designed to tell you when it needs something, but it doesn't always know how to tell you what exactly it needs. What you may not know is that a deficiency of any kind can trigger cravings for sugar and "comfort foods." If your body is lacking in the vitamins that make it feel well, it may just tell you that you need something to make you feel good...which you interpret as something sweet. 

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The other thing you may be surprised to know is that up to 90 percent of Americans don't get enough fruits and vegetables and other nutritious food to meet their essential vitamin and mineral needs (McCafferty, 2022). While a slice of bread made from freshly-milled flour contains 40 of the 44 essential nutrients, 85-90% of these nutrients are lost after 3 days (Kimball, 2011). Some regular supermarket bread actually contains almost no nutrients! Additionally, conventionally grown produce does not contain the same concentration of nutrients as produce that is grown organically. Thus, even when we think we are "eating healthy," our bodies crave comfort foods because we are missing important nutrients.  

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While we seek to make up for the deficiencies in our diet by taking a daily multivitamin, many of these vitamins in pill form are not used very effectively by the body. Research has shown that taking 1000mg of calcium tablets may not improve symptoms of low calcium, but drinking 3 glasses of milk per day (which contains about 900 mg of calcium) can significantly improve symptoms. Why? Our bodies are designed to get their vitamins from foods - not pills. 

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DOES HUNGER MAKE IT HARD TO LOSE WEIGHT? 

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In a study published by the National Institute of Health, researchers showed that individuals gained an average of 2 pounds per week when fed the typical diet of ultra-processed foods (including bagels for breakfast, and a turkey sandwich with chips for lunch). When fed the same number of calories and macronutrients from whole foods, however, these same individuals lost an average of 2 pounds per week (Hoffman, 2019). Ultra-processed foods are defined in simple terms as foods that have ingredients that you wouldn't find in your kitchen (Morea, 2021). If you look at the ingredient labels, that would mean that about 75% of the average American's diet is ultra-processed (Morea, 2021). These foods behave differently in your gut and trigger hunger rather than satiating it (Hoffman, 2019). They also can cause disease. Another study shows that about 60% of Americans suffer from symptoms of illness related to the food they eat (McCafferty, 2022). 

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ARE YOU TOO BUSY TO PLAN AND PREPARE HEALTHY MEALS?

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The problem with clean eating is that it takes time both to plan a menu and to prepare foods from scratch. What if someone did the planning for you, and provided everything you needed to prepare it in a weekly basket? ​​