Craving Secrets
November 12, 2007
The following is a transcript of this week’s show. Enjoy!
Carrie: We’re going to talk about your ebook Cravings Secrets. What you do, helping women identify their cravings and what might be behind those, and how to deal with them nutritionally. Share with us the basic premise of your book.
Diana: How it started was that I’ve had cravings over the years for everything out there: sugar, salt, coffee, fast food, fried food, carbs, everything that everyone else deals with.
I’ve been very health minded for about 30 years but then would always be sabotaging myself with lots of high carb foods. That was my main downfall. What I mean by high carb is white bread. But even whole wheat bread; the carbs are hard on our bodies. I found that there was a need out there to help others once I was able to have my diet feel easy and free from cravings.
The basis of my book is that there are 5 things that make a difference with the cravings. It really is a complex subject, but if I can give you those 5 things that I base my book around.
Number one is low blood sugar, and that’s the main trigger for food cravings. That can be caused when we are really really hungry, or if we have gone on a very restricted diet. The second one is blood sugar imbalance. If we’re having cravings and then we have something sugary; a chocolate bar or donut, then our body is flooded with sugar and we feel “high” and have energy for a little while, and then it goes down. And then we need something else again. So this can lead to a lot of mood swings too.
Then there’s emotional, number three. Emotional and psychological triggers. Of course, food is very emotionally charged for most of us. Number four would be hormones, and this is especially for women and a lot of strong food cravings happen just the week before we start our periods. So that can be the big hormonal swing, and that causes a lot of cravings. And it’s not all in your head, it’s a real hormonal thing.
And number five, sometimes we can become allergic or sensitive to foods like wheat, gluten and sugar, and our bodies just finally give up. It craves those things but we develop allergy or sensitivity to them.
I have my book laid out in those 5 main areas, and then how all our cravings tie in to that. And I give you solutions too.
Carrie: And do you think that sometimes several of those things can be going on at once? Because I know for me, I’ve had low blood sugar my whole life, and my sister and my mom have it. But at the same time it seems that kind of makes it worse… I don’t know what caused what. It’s the chicken and egg thing. Does the intolerance contribute to the low blood sugar o does the low blood sugar come up as a result of the food intolerance? What do you think?
Diana: I think that for most people it started with the low blood sugar. A lot of us have dieted a lot, right? We go without food or maybe we’ve been busy… busy moms don’t look after themselves.
Carrie: A lot of times I put the kids to bed and then I get up at about 10:30 and I just feel like I could eat a cow! I’m just ravenous and I go and eat another dinner because I just haven’t had enough calories all day.
Diana: Exactly! I think that probably started years ago and then that is something, from my point of view what has worked for me and many people, is some protein. That often is a big key to it. I’ve found that when I was strict vegetarian, I was not getting enough protein. And my cravings would be just unbelievable for sugars and carbs, or very hungry late at night. So I personally know that I have to have fish in my diet. Salmon/
Carrie: I had salmon for lunch.
Diana: Did you? Good girl!
Carrie: … and I took a picture of the children because I made a Japanese style meal. I had rice, and salmon cooked with teriyaki sauce, and carrots and broccoli cooked with garlic, and a little dash of teriyaki sauce, and they just licked the plates clean. And my 6 year old especially, he can eat as much salmon as a grown man. He just loves it!
You talk about the importance of Omega 3’s a lot. Especially for women childbearing age.
Diana: Absolutely. This is really something that unfortunately, most of us are very deficient in Omega 3’s. Not so much the Omega 6’s, so I’ll just talk about the Omega 3’s. And they’re found in salmon and tuna and sardines and also in flaxseed and hemp seeds. So there are vegetarian ways to get them. But, they really affect your mood if you are deficient in them. And it helps your – you get rid of chemicals and toxins that are in your body. So they help with cleansing your body. And you have to have them for repairing cells, and they affect your heart, your reproductive system, and nervous system. So how important is that?
Women need at least 1100 milligrams per day. I don’t take mine separately, I just eat fish. But you may want to do that, and here’s how it affects us as women in childbearing years. If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding you should increase to 1500 milligrams.
Carrie: We had an expert on the topic of breastfeeding and depression several weeks ago who talked about some pretty amazing research that has been done around depression and Omega 3 fatty acids. Because a lot of women don’t want to take antidepressants, they don’t want to go that route, and they may not be able to depending on whether they’re pregnant or nursing. And that’s really encouraging to know that.
Diana: Exactly. I’m definitely on the same wavelength with her because I think that could make such a difference. And it makes a difference with cravings too. Cravings aren’t a separate thing that suddenly happens to us, it’s mostly through nutrition or lack of nutrition. Most of us are malnourished from infancy.
It seems so odd to talk about being malnourished when we’re all eating so much, but for one thing, the fruits and vegetables that are grown have up to 80% less nutritional value. So even if you’re eating healthy, sometimes you could have cravings because your body is still looking and looking and looking for the right building materials to make your cells. So sometimes that can be the craving that you’re having – your body is actually malnourished. So it’s looking and looking and never satisfied. And if you’re craving salt for instance it can often be a mineral, lack of the right minerals in your body. So each one of your cravings – there can be different things.
Hormonally of course, around PMS time, most of us are familiar with that right? It can be that the less estrogen you have, your serotonin levels in the brain are decreased. So that explains why so many of us have a lot of cravings during that period of time.
Carrie: Ok I’m confused now! The lower estrogen levels, the lower the serotonin levels?
Diana: Yes.
Carrie: Ok. I don’t understand that because it seems pre-menstrually we have higher estrogen levels, but we don’t?
Diana: No.
Carrie: Ok that’s new to me!
Diana: Yeah, estrogen is down. And it does make the serotonin levels go down.
Carrie: Ok. And it seems to me that a lot of pre-menopausal women crave sweets more, but after menopause I’ve noticed a lot of women crave salty foods, and salty foods seem to be a more dominant craving among men. Is there any connection there between what’s going on hormonally and that craving?
Diana: You know I haven’t researched that. I don’t know. That would be interesting to research. Now, most of my research has centered around (in terms of salt cravings), the mineral deficiency that would be there. I’ll have to keep track. You’ve put me on the spot here Carrie!
Carrie: I’m sorry! Maybe it’s just something I’ve noticed among my small, very unscientific data that I’ve collected!
Diana: With perimenopause, you’re right – the sugar sugar sugar just seems to increase. That’s why I like to guide people – if they’re in their 20s and 30s to cut back on the sugars and become more knowledgeable. Find alternatives, exercise more, get more sunshine, all these things because if you don’t start doing that in your 2-s and 30s it’s going to be a lot worse in your 40s and 50s, because it’s cumulative.
Carrie: And it’s harder, too I think to stay the weight that you want to be, once you hit a certain age. I’ve just heard so many women say that they had no trouble staying thin until they hit about 50 and then it seems like just walking past the refrigerator they gain weight.
Diana: Exactly!
Carrie: So if you have those good habits in place then you don’t feel so deprived.
Diana: That’s right. And it’s really important to have support. And love comes into it, and all of our emotions. There’s really so many aspects to cravings. And I’ve been delving into it for a long time.
Carrie: yes I think the emotion thing is definitely the case for a lot of women. I think if we’re craving carbs or chocolate, a lot of times what we really need is to take a break and nurture ourselves somehow. But it’s somehow more acceptable to say, “Oh I need a brownie!” than to say: “I need two hours to be alone. And don’t talk to me, and don’t touch me, and don’t ask me for anything.”
Diana: Exactly!
Carrie: We have a hard time saying that, but it’s socially acceptable to get a brownie.
Diana: Yeah, that’s true isn’t it? Very true. So there are really a lot of emotional roller coasters that people can go through and then it becomes worse and worse. Because if that’s what we put into our bodies, then we start craving it more.
So each person has to decide what they’re going to deal with first, or just make one small change every week, or even every month. So, have more protein and more small meals or snacks in between. It doesn’t have to be the 5 snacks or the 5 meals a day that’s popular now. I really believe in looking at your own lifestyle. But it is better to eat more, earlier in the day, because I don’t know if this is true but I heard that Sumo wrestlers start eating at 4 o’clock in the afternoon and eat until midnight, because that helps put on the weight.
Carrie: Interesting. I’ve certainly noticed a difference in my mood and energy level when I eat more at lunch and breakfast. And you know I think too with kids – and this is something that I’ve written down before, and sometimes I forget to do it now, but if we just put a little spoonful of peanut butter in their mouth right before we think it’s going to be a meltdown time, sometimes it’s low blood sugar that causes them to misbehave.
Diana: That’s brilliant!
Carrie: And a little bite of cheese or handful of nuts of just a little bit of protein, like at 4 o’clock at that in between time, and it really does wonders for their behavior.
Diana: That’s wonderful, that is really really perfect. You should be teaching this! Thank you so much for having me on today.
Carrie: Thank you for sharing with us, we appreciate it!
P.S. There is also a review of Diana’s book here: Craving Secrets review
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[...] Natural Moms Talk Radio wrote an interesting post today on Craving SecretsHere’s a quick excerpt The following is a transcript of this week’s show. Enjoy! Carrie: We’re going to talk about your ebook Cravings Secrets. What you do, helping women identify their cravings and what might be behind those, and how to deal with them nutritionally. Share with us the basic premise of your book. Diana: How it started was that I’ve had cravings over the years for everything out there: sugar, salt, coffee, fast food, fried food, carbs, everything that everyone else deals with. I’ve been very health [...]
[...] Natural Moms Talk Radio wrote an interesting post today on Craving SecretsHere’s a quick excerpt The following is a transcript of this week’s show. Enjoy! Carrie: We’re going to talk about your ebook Cravings Secrets. What you do, helping women identify their cravings and what might be behind those, and how to deal with them nutritionally. Share with us the basic premise of your book. Diana: How it started was that I’ve had cravings over the years for everything out there: sugar, salt, coffee, fast food, fried food, carbs, everything that everyone else deals with. I’ve been very health [...]
[...] Natural Moms Talk Radio wrote an interesting post today on Craving SecretsHere’s a quick excerpt The following is a transcript of this week’s show. Enjoy! Carrie: We’re going to talk about your ebook Cravings Secrets. What you do, helping women identify their cravings and what might be behind those, and how to deal with them nutritionally. Share with us the basic premise of your book. Diana: How it started was that I’ve had cravings over the years for everything out there: sugar, salt, coffee, fast food, fried food, carbs, everything that everyone else deals with. I’ve been very health [...]
[...] Read the rest of this great post here [...]
[...] Natural Moms Talk Radio wrote an interesting post today on Craving SecretsHere’s a quick excerpt The following is a transcript of this week’s show. Enjoy! Carrie: We’re going to talk about your ebook Cravings Secrets. What you do, helping women identify their cravings and what might be behind those, and how to deal with them nutritionally. Share with us the basic premise of your book. Diana: How it started was that I’ve had cravings over the years for everything out there: sugar, salt, coffee, fast food, fried food, carbs, everything that everyone else deals with. I’ve been very health [...]
[...] carrie added an interesting post on Craving Secrets.Here’s a small excerpt:Cravings aren’ta separate thing that suddenly happens to us, it’s mostly through nutrition or lack of nutrition. Most of us are malnourished from infancy. It seems so odd to talk about being malnourished when we’re all eating so much, … [...]
Hi Carrie!
Thanks for having me on your talk radio. You are always a joy to work with – and I felt very comfortable being interviewed by you.
I’m sending out the information to my subscribers this evening, so I’m sure some of them will be listening in.
Thanks for the transcript, too.
Wishing you Vibrant Health!
Diana
[...] Want to read more? Full post is available at Natural Moms Talk Radio [...]
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