Are you hungry all the time?

This blog looks at the reasons why you may be hungry all the time, it could be that your body is craving essential nutrients that your diet is not providing.

Are you are nutrient deficient?

On the one hand, you are eating fairly well and yet you still find yourself reaching for tea and biscuit or is a packet of biscuits with the cuppa of tea?  The little question to ask yourself is: “Am I hungry or am I craving?” At first, you may assume that your craving is a signal for hunger, explore it for just a moment. PAUSE and take a mindful GAP

1.  Are you craving comfort and joy?

Maybe you are not hungry at all but just fancy treating yourself, a cuppa and a nice slice of cake or your favourite biscuit or packet. What is the problem with that?

Absolutely nothing, if you are out with friends or family and you fancy some cake have it, enjoy it.  Recognise that it is nourishing and wholesome to be spending time with people you care about, enjoy the company off and if a cake is part of that great, go for it.

Please do not deny yourself, step out of the misery of denial and the emotional rollercoaster of “I can’t have” or “I shouldn’t have”

Enjoy the company of your friends and nourish your body with happiness and love. A little bit of what you fancy, especially if it is homemade, will fill you with happiness and love.

What I would recommend though is that you still eat your lunch or dinner or whichever meal is next. If you skip a meal because you have eaten something you ‘shouldn’t have’ then you are going to send your sugar levels out of whack for the rest of the day. Have your treat AND continue with your day as normal.

2. Autopilot reaction

Or perhaps you are simply reaching for that second and third biscuit in front of the telly because you are bored and it is simply your telly and biscuit habit.  Maybe you are simply acting out your usual habit, you are functioning on autopilot.

“- I always have a biscuit at 11 am or

– dark chocolate after dinner or

– biscuits in front of the telly at night.”

It would be interesting to note what little comfort routines you have created and whether you are eating simply out of habit.  Always a takeout on Friday is that your habit?

I broke the Friday pizza habit in our house many years ago, the kids still talk about it as it if it is some great childhood tragedy.  Oh well, they will get over it, as my son tells me enough times  “tough up buttercup ;-)”

Consider taking your automatic routine habits out of autopilot, do a factory reset.  Pull out what you eating habits you have formed,  be aware of the habits that have around food, write it all down or simply observe yourself this week, put everything on the table and have a look.

The connections you make with food come from childhood, as a baby you are comforted with food, other food behaviours and automatic habits is created and learned from previous experiences. For example, maybe your mum always ate more around her period?  Or think back for a moment on how were you comforted as a child – with a cuddle or a biscuit?    This little exercise in observation is not about blame it is simply about awareness.

Observe your autopilot reaction to food and consider your real reasons.

3. Lack of taste in your food

Perhaps your craving is due to the type of food you are eating.  For instance, lots of low-fat products have had the ‘taste’ removed from them.  The fat is removed, taste is bland and so additives are processed back into the product as is SUGAR.  Which you know about already 😉

Yet your body and your brain need fat to survive.

Don’t miss my blog: Why you shouldn’t worry about how many eggs you eat

Your gorgeous body naturally craves sugar, fat and salt. When these tastes have ‘unnaturally’ been removed from your food, your body WILL not feel satiated.  The highly processed product that is now ‘low fat’ is highly processed and synthesised. Not only is your yoghurt no longer digestible for your body, it doesn’t recognise it as a food source. It has also had sugar added.

The NHS reports that the main causes of obesity and overall poor health are:

1. Lack of satiety and overeating
2. Poor hormone balance
3. Emotional problems
4. Inadequate blood sugar regulation
5. Cravings
6. Overconsumption of starches and sugars

Infact, a low-fat diet leads to:

1. Poor concentration
2. Energy imbalances
3. Poor skin tone
4. Poor cellular elasticity
5. Early aging

4. NO nutrients in what you are eating

Your body is keeping you hungry because you are ‘nutrient deficiency’.  You are consuming food but you are not benefiting from the food.

Don’t miss my blog: Are you worried about what your future holds?

What you really need are nutrient-rich foods, such as vegetables, fats including nuts, or else you’re going to wind up deficient.

10 nutrients that you may be missing include calcium, vitamin D, potassium, and fibre and vitamins A, C, E and K, along with choline and magnesium.Sometimes when you’re nutrient deficient, the body starts craving a specific food as a way of signalling what it needs. For example, if you’re running low on vitamin C, you may suddenly have a strong hankering for delicious, ripe oranges.

Tingling in your hands and feet, maybe due to something called peripheral neuropathy, which could be as easy to fix as a vitamin deficiency may be to blame. “Peripheral neuropathy has several possible causes, among them a lack of vitamin B12, That’s because B vitamins (B6, B9, B12), as well as vitamin E and niacin, are crucial to nerve health.

Fix it by eating foods which include B vitamins: fish, poultry, eggs and enriched soy or rice milk.

Chapped lips could be a sneaky sign of a vitamin deficiency, for instance, you might get cracks in the corners of your mouth if you’re a vegetarian who doesn’t get enough iron, zinc, or B12. But this can also happen if you’ve haven’t been eating enough protein.

Eat lots of poultry, salmon, tuna, eggs, to get these beneficial nutrients. And if you’re vegetarian, look for sun-dried tomatoes, Swiss chard, tahini, peanuts, and lentils. To enhance absorption of iron, take vitamin C  or add in C-rich foods broccoli, red peppers, kale, or cauliflower.

What next?

Eating real food like meat, cheese, eggs and butter are healthier options than ‘processed’ refined carbs.

The gorgeous book will be available soon, clear up these nutritional myths in a friendly down to earth way. Grab your copy here www.get-gorgeous.com/book