Cravings

Cravings: we all get them. A thousand years ago, before the days of pesticides, GMOs, and Red 40 a craving was our body's way of telling us what we were lacking in our diet. This is still a function of our cravings, but I strongly believe that the "junk" in packaged, unnatural foods are addictive and cause us to have unnatural cravings. If you're craving strawberries, by all means, grab some strawberries. Don't grab a strawberry slushy. If you find yourself craving Cheez Its, perhaps it's some deep internal addiction calling out to you. When I find myself craving sweets or anything sugary, I choose to curb that craving with natural fruit. Our bodies process the sugar in fruit better than refined sugar or sugar substitutes like Splenda and Aspartame. 

If you're just starting out on a vegan journey, you might find yourself craving the foods you've chosen to give up like meat, cheese, or eggs. This is normal. Our bodies were originally desinged to hold onto the precious nutrient substances: sodium, sugar, and fats because they weren't so easy to come by thousands of years ago. Now that they are so abundant in our diets, we don't need to give into those cravings so easily. Most likely, our bodies have perfectly good stores of those nutrients and our cravings for meat, cheese and eggs are just stemming from a life-long addiction.

Cravings do serve a purpose, however. Listen to your body and if you crave something everyday for several consecutive days and those cravings aren't being curbed by something healthier, go ahead and eat what your body really wants. Don't compromise your morals, but listen to what you need. Our bodies are smarter than we think.