Conquer Your Cravings

Did you know that taking a nap can curb your cravings? Your body produces more serotonin when you sleep more, and as it rises, your cravings drop. That's contrary to what I used to believe that sleeping more makes you fat.

Here's more good news... if your favorite food like chocolate, burger, pizza and other foods keep on calling you, don't worry. According to experts, cravings are not a sign of weakness, they are triggered by correctable deficiencies.

Your lust for chocolate could mean you lack magnesium. An ounce of chocolate contains 50 mg of magnesium and your craving is, sort of, your brain's way of telling you that you need magnesium. Aside from grabbing a bar, you can also munch on nuts or a cup of spinach daily. Nuts and spinach can help curb your cravings and correct the short fall without the guilt.

Women are more likely to lack iron because of monthly periods. Craving for meat is one of the symptoms when you lack iron. You can easily correct this by eating 3 matchbox sizes of red meat every day or you can take iron supplement if you're avoiding meat.

When you crave for pizza and other cheesy food, it's because your brain tells you, you lack essential fatty acids. Replenish these essential fatty acids [EFA] by adding fish to your diet.

You are likely to lack chromium when you lust for sweets and desserts. A decrease in this mineral boosts our sweet tooth. Chromium takes care of glucose control and our love for processed foods destroys the mineral. To replace lost chromium include whole wheat, romaine lettuce and onion in your daily diet.

Now that we know the reasons why we crave for these foods, we can easily curb the cravings by eating the healthy replacements.