Have you ever eaten a piece of cake only to want another piece? Or a piece of candy and only wanted more sugar? How about on the flip side? Have you ever had a whole milk latte in Italy or Spain and thought you’d never have another that could top that one? Or an incredible salad full of fresh, organic ingredients? If so, then you’ve experienced the effects of giving your body whole foods.
When we put fragmented foods in our bodies, we are setting ourselves up for cravings and malnourishment. A fragmented food is anything that has been significantly altered from the way it came off the animal or out of the ground. Have you ever seen a Dorito tree? Or a cow that only produces skim milk? No! Of course not.
When we eat white rice, which is brown rice with all the phytonutrients and fiber stripped of it, our bodies know the difference. It will say to you, “Okay thank you for the calories-but where’s the rest of it?” and the only way it knows how to tell you it needs more is to crave things. White rice is a fragmented food, as are skim or two percent milk, or refined flours and breads. Cravings are your body’s way of communicating with you.
So, when we eat natural food that hasn’t been altered and has less that five ingredients in it, or better yet- no ingredient list, our bodies know! Our bodies know the difference between the sugars from a pear and the sugars from a scone or piece of cake. They know the difference at the cellular level between quinoa and a piece of bread or vitamins from supplements and vitamins from kale.
Our bodies have the ability to heal themselves if only we give them enough of a chance. Also, our bodies don’t make mistakes-listen to your cravings, they’re an email from your entire being about something going wrong. Our bodies are so intuitively and innately intelligent all the way from the smallest mitochondria to the entire digestive tract.
There are many other causes of cravings but this is a good start in terms of understanding our bodies better.
If you’re struggling to decode your cravings, let’s chat. I can help you understand your cravings and get rid of them – for life!
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Jenna Pacelli is a Holistic Health Coach and yoga teacher at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She coaches yoga practitioners and busy professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area and all over the world struggling with energy levels, stress reduction and weight management. With a focus on aligning their lives with their values, her clients create lasting change and fully embodied health and wellbeing.
Jenna believes that by creating health and wellness at the physical, emotional and mental levels, it is inevitable that joy and a deep understanding of one’s purpose follow.