We all crave. We all eat. Put those two things together and it’s no surprise that every one of us can relate to having a craving for a particular food at one time or another.
The problem arises when those cravings become overpowering and have negative impacts on your health and wellbeing. To help you become master or mistress of your cravings, here is a look at what causes them and 20 tips to give your cravings the flick.
Common cravings
“I eat chocolate every day, drink three cups of coffee and sometimes only have chips for dinner," came my client’s guilty confession during a consultation. When I suggested that dreaded word “cleanse”, my client’s eyes widened with fear. Like a child having their toy taken away, many people fi nd it torturous to abstain from their habitual treats. Though we don’t think of things like caffeine, fat and sugar as drugs, withdrawing from them can trigger intense psychological and physical symptoms. I’ve had patients suffer blinding headaches they couldn’t cope with after cutting back on caffeine. Other patients sidestepping sugar experienced extreme fatigue. Carb-o-holics have a really hard time resisting the temptation to fill up on bread and pasta.
What do you yearn for? Sweet, salty, caffeinated, cheese, deep fried foods? We all have our guilty pleasures, but when they become addictions we can suffer serious side-effects. Here are some likely culprits of habitual food or beverage abuse.
Bread
Bread abuse is a secret world-wide epidemic. This satisfying stomach stuffer can cause candida, constipation, weight gain and unstable blood-sugar levels. Some people get “grain brain”, with bread making them fatigued and foggy. The phytates in bread can also decrease the absorption of calcium, iron, magnesium and zinc.
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ARE YOU TO FU enough?
Love it or hate it, everyone has an opinion about tofu. Tofu is a very popular plant-based protein for vegans and vegetarians, but now this humble bean curd is starting to shine for meat lovers too as an alternative source of protein.
Sweet TRAYBAKES
Whether you want to feed a group of people or make a batch of treats for the week, traybaking is a no-fuss way to cook up something sweet and easy that will please everyone. Your family and friends will love you when you offer them some of our: cinnamon scrolls; fruity chocolate; espresso brownies; lemon & coconut slice; or ginger cake with brown butter frosting.
ROLL UP
When you roll food, whether in Lebanese bread, a thin pancake or whatever you choose, you can create a parcel of nutrition that is perfectly suited to your own tastes and needs. Here are some roll-up recipes that will suit every occasion including: mango, snow pea, & sprout rice paper rolls; oat crepes with coconut yoghurt & mixed berries; or beef meatball & tzatziki flatbreads.
RICE BOWL Lunches
If you are working from home, or even enjoying your weekend, and lunchtime rolls around but you have no plans for lunch, then a rice bowl is an ideal saviour.
PLANT-BASED PIES
Pies are a piece of gastronomic brilliance: a filling with a case and lid you can eat is food genius. The first pies date back to Egyptian times and there is a recipe for chicken pie that was carved into stone more than 4000 years ago. For millennia, however, the pie casing was mostly used to cook the filling, but for around 500 years or more we have been eating the pie crust too.
20 FOOD CRAVING HACKS
Decipher the deeper causes of your cravings and discover tricks to curtail them.
Eggplant (Solanum melongena L)
Eggplant is a wonderful option for vegans and vegetarians, extremely nutritious and highly versatile in the kitchen.
5 PANTRY SAVIOURS
Whether you're cooking a simple breakfast or something more exotic, here are five pantry food staples you should have on hand to cook plenty of delicious meals in the comfort of your own home.
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus)
Cucumbers are delicious fresh but they also offer plenty more options in the kitchen.
Our Chefs
Meet the chefs who bring this issue's recipes to you: Lisa Guy, Georgia Harding, Lee Holmes, Sammy Jones, Raquel Neofit, Naomi Sherman and Ames Starr.
