The body never fails us; it is we who fail to listen to its wisdom and trust its guidance. Our food cravings are a source of valuable education. Individuals are drawn to certain textures, fat content, flavours and smells of various foods for a reason. Below are different kinds of food cravings and what they are trying to tell us.

Crunchy food cravings are outwardly directed and occur when we want to scream or get back at others that have hurt us.  When we crave crunchy food, we are feeling hard emotions, such as anger, bitterness, frustration, resentment, stress and/or tension.

Soft or creamy food cravings are inwardly directed and occur when we are angry at ourselves or have a deep longing for comfort and reassurance. When we crave these foods, we are feeling soft emotions, such as anxiety, betrayal, depression, embarrassment, fear, grief, insecurity, regret, sadness, self doubt and/or shame.

Chewy food cravings occur when we have mixed emotions i.e. a combination of hard and soft emotions.  We might feel fear or shame mixed with anger or tension.

High-fat cravings for foods such as cheeseburgers, French fries, milk shakes represent fear. When we crave these foods, we are generally in fear of facing something in our lives. We might need to change something we don’t like in our life or stand up to someone in our life. The fear feels like emptiness and the fat fills the stomach like nothing else.

Salty snack foods are craved when we feel stress, anger and anxiety.

Different flavours of foods generate different feelings. Peppermint boosts energy. Chocolate makes us feel loved. And hot and spicy food creates feelings of excitement and energy.

Different smelling foods generate different feelings as well. The smell of vanilla makes us feel happier and more relaxed. Citrus aromas are stimulating. The smell of green apple, peppermint and banana leads to reduced appetite and weight loss. Strawberry odors motivate people to exercise. And men are very aroused by the smell of baked cinnamon buns (ladies, feel free to use this information to your advantage).

Let’s look at some drinks that we crave. When we regularly crave coffee, we are loaded down with unwanted responsibilities. We try to conjure up enthusiasm for projects that we really don’t believe in.  We usually awake in the morning dreading the hours ahead. We often hold jobs that don’t correspond to our natural interests and desires. The coffee consumption helps us get through the day when our fears and self-doubt stand in the way.

When we drink beer and wine, we are often looking for a stimulant effect even though we crave stress management. Cravings for love can also trigger binge-drinking of alcohol as well as diet pop.

When we crave nuts or nut butters, we are looking for fun. Nuts are also crunchy so are perfect for the highly stressed individual. Breads, rice and pasta are the comforting and calming foods and are also ideally suited for the highly stressed individual. Cookies, cakes and pies are craved by those of us craving hugs, pleasure and reassurance. Candy is craved when we need an energy boost, reward and entertainment.

“Here is the important bottom line: we crave foods and overeat in an attempt to regain equilibrium and peace of mind. Our cravings are always for foods that correspond to our ignored gut feeling. If your gut is telling you to have more fun, but you ignore your gut, you will crave a food that contains pyrozine, such as peanut better, cashews or walnuts. This is because pyrozine triggers the pleasure centre of your brain. The body always attempts to achieve homeostasis, and if you ignore your gut feelings, your appetite will seek to fulfill the body’s needs through food cravings.” Doreen Virtue.

A fascinating book called “Constant Craving” by Doreen Virtue is where I drew my information from in order to write this blog post. The book contains pages listing the actual drinks or foods that we crave, with an explanation of why we crave that food and what affirmation we can adopt to overcome the craving:

Beer – Desire to shut out anxiety. Wanting more love, fun and appreciation. Affirmation: I trust my inner source of strength to see through the highs and lows. I allow myself a quiet time-out for renewal.

Chocolate covered nuts – Frustrated because your love life is boring or nonexistent. Losing patience.  Affirmation: I have the right to plan my life and take charge of fulfilling my needs.

Cheese – Braced for the worst, and feeling exhausted and drained. A desire for comfort and renewal.  Thoughts centered on fear or worst-case scenarios. Affirmation: My source of energy shines brightly within me. I replace thoughts of fear with feelings of love.

Each kind of ice cream, donut, pie, cake, cookie and candy is described as above. Certain oriental, italian and mexican foods are also described. The book also discusses how to overcome each type of craving.  Doreen’s first suggestion upon experiencing a craving is to wait 15 minutes to see if it passes.

My purpose in writing all of this is to get you thinking the next time you have a craving…what aspect of your life do you need to improve? I like the affirmation “I allow my true self to shine through.” This is an affirmation that each one of us can say to ourselves, day in and day out. If we each adopted that affirmation for the remainder of 2012, how different would we feel? How different would our lives be? How different would our world be?

Share your thoughts with me. I love receiving feedback. And don’t forget to leave a link back to your own blog as well via the commentluv feature here on my site.

Until next time,

Meredith