Ten Tips For Handling Sugar and Food Cravings

Ever had that feeling? You just can’t get a certain food out of your mind, and you want some now. Or you just have to have something sweet-or salty-or creamy-or crunchy. The appetite can seem almost insatiable appetites at times. When bored, when hormones shift, when afternoon fatigue or late nights hit, the urge to eat may be overwhelming.

The definition of crave is “to long for, want greatly, desire eagerly”.  I rarely hear people describe a craving for steamed vegetables. Craving is most often associated with sugar and “snacks” that are usually processed or salty.

Oddly, a small amount of the desired food may not satisfy, but instead turn on a binge. The next thing you know all the chocolate, half the ice-cream, or half the bag of chips is gone and you don’t know how exactly that happened. Bingeing becomes almost an unconscious act. Even if you think before hand that you will only eat a little, because you will gain weight, or get bloated or feel lousy afterwards, you just can’t stop.

Here are ten tips you can use to help avoid the remorse, extra pounds and health hazards of food cravings:

1)   Identify the kind of food that you crave and find a healthier, lower-calorie, substitute. Is it crunchy-salty like chips? Try celery with a little salted organic nut butter. Sweet and creamy? Try fresh dates spread with some nut-butter. Ice-cream? Look for zero calorie coconut cream ice-cream sweetened with stevia. Crunchy crackers? Look for crackers made with almond flour from Blue Diamond Almonds.

2)   Get more sleep. Over-eating and cravings can be turned on by insufficient sleep, especially if you are sleep-deprived long term. http://www.naturalnews.com/046754_sleep_quality_junk_food_cravings_obesity.html

3)   Identify the time of day you have cravings. Many people eat the minute they walk in the door after work because they arrive tired and hungry. Eating a healthy mini-meal late in the afternoon, or on the way home, can make a difference. Try saving part of your lunch for the end of the day. Plan ahead to have a quick dinner to prepare and have healthy snacks ready if you need to eat while cooking. Try a protein shake with cocoa powder and low-glycemic sweetener like stevia or xylitol for an after dinner dessert.

4)   Drink 2 glasses of water when a craving hits you. Don’t gulp the water, but drink slowly. Sometimes a need for food is actually a sign you are thirsty.

5)   Add more greens to your diet. Buy bags of organic pre-washed greens like baby spinach, baby kale or other tender greens and sprinkle them on fish or chicken or meat for extra vegetables. The potassium may help your sugar cravings.

6)   Take extra minerals as a supplement. Your body may seem to be asking for food, but may really need some nutrients like minerals, which are the building blocks of the cells. Extra magnesium may help chocolate cravings. Calcium, iron, iodine, and other essential minerals are missing from our food supply, and may require supplementation.

7)   Eat more protein and fat. Eat protein and fat at every meal. Eat a fatty snack instead of a sugary snack. Nuts can be addictive, especially if they are roasted and you may over-eat them. Butter, eggs, avocado, smoked salmon, Greek yogurt are fats that can help you to feel satisfied so that you can resist temptation if not avoid it all together. Dividing your meals in half and eating the second half two hours later may help. If you are still hungry, eat more fat and vegetables.

8)   Get moving when cravings hit. Get outside, walk around the block, run up and down stairs, jump on a rebounder, go for a short jog. Getting your circulation going will get more nutrients to your cells, and deep breathing will get more oxygen into your blood. This may turn off the cravings. And getting out of the house may help-as long as you don’t head for a food store.

9)   Take a whiff of an essential oil. Peppermint, orange, or grapefruit oil may stimulate your senses, and calm cravings. Chewing gum sweetened with xylitol may help. Xylitol protects against tooth decay and won’t spike your blood sugar. Flavors include peppermint, cinnamon, spearmint and even licorice.

10)   Have a back up plan. Call a friend, walk the dog, write in your journal, find other ways to help yourself feel happy, loved and balanced. If reaching for food is self-medication for emotional states, create other outlets. Maybe it is better to throw a few plates than piling them with food and over-eating junk! And if you find yourself frequently needing comfort foods in response to life situations, it might be time to move on to something better. 

Is There Any Corn in Corned Beef and Cabbage?

The Irish staple refers to a beef roast that has been “brined” and then flavored with spices. The brining, or soaking in salt water, makes a tougher cut of meat more tender. Then the corned beef is slow cooked with moist heat and served with healthy cabbage for an easy and delicious change from other protein/vegetable dinners. Here is a recipe. http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/beefporkothermeats/r/Corned-Beef-And-Cabbage.htm

Of course, I don’t recommend green beer or an excess of Irish whiskey to wash it down! The tradition of green tinted beer dates back to 1914, and blueing, used to whiten laundry, was the source dye. Chicago and New York City are awash in green beer on March 17. Dogfish Head Brewery makes a green beer naturally tinted with algae, so there is an alternative. http://www.kegerators.com/blog/2009/01/06/green-beer/

If green beer is not your cup of tea, here are some good choices to celebrate the day when everyone is a bit Irish. http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/03/14/5-healthy-green-treats-for-st-patricks-day/

And how about the food we most associate with Ireland, the potato? Although high in carbs, potatoes do have nutritional value. They contain more potassium than  bananas, Vitamin C, iron and other trace minerals, as well as fiber. Potatoes originated in South America, and were brought back to Europe by Spanish Conquistadores. Potatoes grew well in the rocky soil of Ireland. For Irish peasant farmers of the 1800’s, potatoes provided 80% of their daily calories. The Great Famine that occurred when the potato crops failed caused one million deaths among the Irish and is largely responsible for the great Irish immigration to the U.S. Caused by a fungus, the blight started in Mexico and spread to Europe. http://www.history.com/news/after-168-years-potato-famine-mystery-solved

Who can resist the comfort of mashed potatoes or one of the hundreds of other delicious ways to prepare potatoes, from scalloped to baked.  The problem with French Fries is really the trans-fat and rancid oil more than the potato. If you are trying to lose weight, go easy on the potatoes. Yams and Sweet Potatoes are better choices.

One of my favorite Irish foods is soda bread. During a wonderful road trip in Ireland, we stopped in villages we passed to sample the local Irish bread, cheese, and butter. We hardly ate in restaurants because the bread and cheese was better! Not exactly a low-carb holiday, but delicious. You can buy Irish Kerrygold butter in most grocery stores. They say that Irish cows are the most contented in the world, and when you see the color of the Irish grass they graze on, you can understand why. There are shades of green that only exist in Ireland. And check out a gluten-free Irish soda bread recipe here. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2015/03/13/gluten-free-irish-soda-bread-muffins/

If I sound fond of the Irish, blame it on my parents. My mother was a Lehan and her grandparents met on the boat from Ireland and married in New York. My dad’s family was Irish/English. I have kissed the Blarney Stone!

So, for St. Patrick’s Day I wish you all Sláinte mhaith which means “good health”  (pronounced Slawn-cha Wa.) Don’t forget to wear green, or you just might get pinched!

Is Eating Organic Food a Mental Disorder?

“Orthoexic” is the newly coined term for people who are picky about what they eat and insist, for health reasons, on eliminating certain foods, or consuming a certain quality of food, such as food free of gluten, dairy, genetic modification, pesticides and chemicals. http://www.naturalnews.com/048886_orthorexia_nervosa_healthy_food_brain_disorder.html

So, following this reasoning, people with Celiac Disease-extreme allergy to gluten- and people who are lactose intolerant, actually have a mental disorder. Adele Davis, Dr. Oz, Gwyneth Paltrow, and just about everyone who shops at Whole Foods can all be diagnosed as mentally ill.

This is pretty hard to swallow, if you will pardon the pun. Makes me wonder if Big Agribusiness is pushing this agenda. Who else stands to benefit if people are like sheep and eat the Standard American Diet (SAD)- full of toxins and deficient in nutrients? Big Medicine and Big Pharma also benefit, because the American diet produces more sick people. This is not just theory. In the U.S. we spend more money on health care, but have the worst outcomes in the developed world. http://time.com/2888403/u-s-health-care-ranked-worst-in-the-developed-world/

Does focusing on eating “clean” ever get out of hand? Sure. Very occasionally I see patients who are afraid to eat anything because nothing is healthy or pure enough. Fear is probably more detrimental to your health than anything that could lurk in your food.

However, when you insist on a high quality diet, you are asserting your right to live as you dictate, not as big money interests want to sell to you for their profit. And you may be asserting your right to live at all, given the rate of obesity, heart disease and cancer which plagues as at epidemic proportions. In fact, it may be more American to insist on healthy food. "Was the government to prescribe to us our medicine and diet, our bodies would be in such keeping as our souls are now."
--Thomas Jefferson: Notes on the State of Virginia: Query XVII: Religion, 1781 

Thomas Jefferson grew 18-24 varieties of apples at his estate in Virginia, and by his own accounts, he was a man who enjoyed the fruits of the land. http://www.monticello.org/site/house-and-gardens/royal-family-our-democratic-fruit-thomas-jeffersons-favorite-apples

You are also asserting your right to eat food that has more flavor and enjoyment. Commercial foods often seems flavorless, despite the size and color of produce in the grocery stores. If you choose substance over style, that makes you a wise consumer.

Advocating for your own well-being, and that of your family, would indicate positive mental health to me. Making responsible choices in a sea of confusing marketing  and philosophical messages also indicates positive mental health.

There is always a point where extremism becomes mainstream, when enough people start standing up and demanding a change. It may be that enough people are now demanding organic and unmodified foods that the big money interests are becoming concerned.

Let’s push them harder so that every single family can have the choice of real food instead of chemicals, and experience the benefits of a healthy body, supported by actual Nature-made nutrition.

If you have any confusion about what food is real and beneficial for your body, let us know. Part of our mission is to inform you, so you can be you own health advocate. The term “Doctor” originally meant “Teacher” in Greek.  If you have missed any of my other blogs about optimum health and nutrition, they are all posted in the archives of my website at www.annedunev.com

Should Knees and Hips Last a Lifetime?

A few years ago I attended my ex-husband’s reunion party for Vietnam Veterans and their wives. Out of all the couples there, my ex and I were the only ones who had not had a knee or hip replacement. We were also the only people with weight in normal range.

Many of my patients have had hip or knee replacements or are now having difficulty severe enough so that their medical doctors are talking about it. How did we reach this point where our own hips and knees don’t last a lifetime?

Cartilage does not just “wear out”. Like everything else in the body, new stuff is made on a regular basis. So, the question becomes what are some people lacking to make new cartilage and why do some people have too much wear and tear?

For a pro athlete, it may be understandable that such a high demand on their joints, plus traumatic injury, might cause some long-term problems. But most of us are not working out that hard! In fact, lack of exercise may be one of the problems, or at least lack of the proper type of exercise.

Here are some things you can do to protect your joints so that you can keep them working for your entire lifetime.

1)   Move around.  The new data on exercise is indicating that is more important to exercise a few times a day instead of going to the gym and then sitting all day at a desk, in a car, or on a couch. Maybe every office should have a jogging track, mini trampolines, or workout stations. At least try to take a walk at lunchtime. One of my patients told me that she tries to change straight into walking shoes after work and head out for a walk. Of course, you may have to organize dinner around this, but putting off exercise for last often means skipping it.  Your joints need the lubrication of movement.

2)   Don’t go over your ideal weight and lose weight if you are more than ten pounds over your ideal weight. Hip to waist ratio is the big key. Your waist should be smaller than your hips-at any age. It is not hard to understand that carrying around extra pounds puts a burden on joints.

3)   Get your adrenals checked. Adrenal glands make hormones that hold the structural integrity of the body, and help muscles to be strong. Low back pain is a sign of adrenal fatigue.

4)   Wear correct footwear. Knees are very dependent on the foot, which has 27 small bones. If the foot bones are out of place, that can put a lot of pressure on the knee, just as a building will not be structurally sound if the foundation is not stable. Self-treatment with orthotics is not a good idea. Get your feet checked out by a professional like myself, or your chiropractor who understands how to assess structure. I use wonderful orthotics that are not at all expensive, and are very thin, soft and flexible.

5)   Check out “Pain Free” by Peter Egoscue for special exercises for joints. There are two Egoscue Centers where you can get personalized programs for joint pain relief. Or see a Physical Therapist or Chiropractor. Take Yoga or Pilates or Tai Chi or dance classes. Starting a lifetime of proper movement may give you back the great pleasure of flexible and pain-free movement later in life.

6)   Curcumin or Tumeric has been shown to inhibit cartilage degeneration. http://science.naturalnews.com/C/Curcumin_and_cartilage.html There are dietary sources. http://www.livestrong.com/article/142078-foods-with-curcumin/ You can also supplement. We have a Boswelia complex and another herbal complex called Vitanox that both include Curcumin. Ginger is anti-inflammatory for joint health, also. And good fish oil will help to protect against or reduce inflammation.

Have you noticed all the commercials that direct our attention to having enough money in retirement? Perhaps the only thing worse than running out of money is running out of health. All the money in the world will not make up for chronic pain or debilitating illness.  The human body was designed to move. Look how flexible our skeleton is and how beautifully it can move. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kuYGKVa4t4

Think of all the joy of movement in your life. Dancing, running, skipping, walking. When a baby takes its first step, the whole world opens up. I want to be able to dance until my last breath in this body. All it takes is to keep on dancing, with a few stretches in between. I believe our hips and  knees were made for a lifetime of moving to the beat.