Page 58 - Winter2010

ZAPPING CRAVINGS: SIX PRACTICAL STEPS
1. Find your best diet: The diet that best suits your biological needs and satisfies cravings may be a smidge different
from that of other family members. Stick with the core traditional food principles (see Modernizing your Diet with
Traditional Foods on www.westonaprice.org), but experiment with different food combinations, portions, protein
levels, grain intake, and amount and type of fat. Then take the time to evaluate how you feel. There should naturally
be a sense of ease, vitality, clarity and satisfaction that will not be felt if a diet is off kilter.
2. Focus on fermented food: Many people find that once they begin to consume more fermented foods and beverages
their yearning for sweets naturally disappears. your choices are myriad; see Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon Morell
or Eat Fat Lose Fat by Mary Enig for ideas and recipes. Donna Gates, author of The Body Ecology Diet, says “If you do
give in to the temptation of sugar, consider having fermented foods and drinks along with them. The healthy micro-
flora in fermented foods and beverages will use the sugar as its food, reducing the negative effects on your body.”
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Try a tall glass of fermented ginger ale along with a popsicle during a warm summer afternoon, or accompany a rich
homemade carob coconut oil-based truffle with a fruity fermented chutney. If your child is attending the occasional
sugar-laden birthday party, send her off with a can of coconut water to enjoy during the festivities.
3. Win the mental game: For many, eating something sweet to “top off the tank” following one or even all meals is
simply habit or a lackadaisical presumption about sugar. Don’t forget, eating sweets begets more sweets. Remind
yourself regularly that for a healthy body and mind, desserts (even when made with natural sweeteners) are ideally
reserved for occasional consumption and special celebrations, not everyday meals. Additionally, while dealing with
more negative thought patterns and emotions—distress, anger, sadness—the consumption of sugary and starchy foods
can quickly morph into a coping mechanism. Stay aware and seek help for emotion-driven eating when necessary.
4. Take the Three-Week Challenge: Slowly remove added sugar from your diet. If you have a competitive edge, find a
friend to help spur you on. For the more sugar-addicted folks, commit to a three-week challenge. Week one involves
becoming aware of your added sugar consumption and removing, replacing, or reducing the most obvious insults.
Replace soda drinks with spring water, cookies with trail mix, store-bought dressings with homemade vinaigrettes.
Week two, cut your sweet treats in half; for example, if you often follow dinner with a dessert, cut that down to
three or four times a week. During week three, cut dessert intake in half again and continue this pattern until you
are down to once a week at most. On dessert days, plan it and relish your indulgence. Sally Fallon Morell suggests
on evenings when a meal is less appealing to some in the family, such as a liver dish, dessert can be the prize for
cleaning plates.
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At the conclusion of this gradual decline, you will notice your desire for sweets has lessened dramatically and as time
goes on the effort needed to refrain will be much less. Don’t forget to give yourself a well-deserved reward for your
accomplishment: a luxurious massage or that new book you have been waiting to buy.
5. Remove the temptation and have a plan: Sounds too simple to mention, but I find most people need reminding now
and again: play hard-to-get with sugary snacks. Invariably, if a sweet food is ready and waiting in the cupboard or
fridge when hunger strikes, it will be consumed, even for those with the most powerful of wills. Always have a clever
plan for the moment when cravings creep up, such as stash of sugar-free CinnamoNuts or a pitcher full of Pucker-up
Red Tea (see recipes on page 59). A nut butter-stuffed date is always a quick and easy delight as “au naturel” berries
or fruit. Also try topping fruit with whipped cream and nuts or bake a cored apple or pear with butter and spices
(stuffed in the opening) to jazz it up. Finally, when you do allow your family the occasional indulgence, make sure it
is bursting with nourishing fats—coconut, avocados, cream, butter, nuts, egg yolks—to slow the absorption of sugar,
and dish up fat soluble nutrients essential for regulating the effects of sugar in the body.
6. Prepare meals with all six tastes: Ayurveda is a six-thousand-year-old philosophy on life, health and food preparation.
Practitioners of this system believe that when each taste is present in a meal— sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and
astringent—the body becomes more balanced, ultimately minimizing cravings, stabilizing appetite and perfecting
digestion. Ayurvedic teachings go much deeper into the properties of each food and their effects on an individual’s
dosha or constitution, yet the practice of the six tastes is fairly easy. For example, chutney made with fruit and
spices can incorporate all six tastes and makes a lovely condiment to many meals (see the Fruit Chutney recipe in
Nourishing Traditions). All tastes are easily incorporated into a meat stew with butternut squash, greens, tomatoes,
onions, legumes and spices. Or chicken tacos (chicken slow cooked with salt and a touch of turmeric under the skin)
topped with sour cream, tomatoes, cilantro, avocados, red pepper spears, leafy greens, and cortido (Latin American
sauerkraut, recipe found in Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon Morell). Basically, strive to include a wide variety of
ingredients in your family’s meals, complement each with a fermented condiment, and there is a good chance of
dishing up six tastes.

58 Wise Traditions WINTER 2010

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