Craving Sweets or Alcohol?

If you crave sweets this may mean you have a vitamin deficiency and that if you ate more of certain foods it would be easier to quell and drastically reduce your craving for sweets.

Naturopathic medical doctor Colleen Huber says that if you crave sweets, what you really need are nutrients such as chromium (so eat more broccoli, grapes, cheese, dried beans and chicken) or carbon (eat more fresh fruit) or phosphorus (eat more chicken, beef, liver, fish, eggs, nuts, legumes) or sulfur (eat more cranberries, horseradish, cruciferous vegetables, kale, cabbage) or lastly tryptophan (eat more cheese, lamb, raisins, sweet potato and spinach}.

If your particular sweet craving is usually about chocolate, you are probably craving magnesium. Curb your desire for chocolate by eating lots of raw nuts and seeds, legumes and fruits.

See a very interesting list about various food and alcohol cravings and how they are related to mineral or vitamin deficiencies.

The art print above is by Jean-Baptiste Simeon Chardin

SuperFoods RX as a Focus

SuperFoods Rx is one of the few weight loss books that gets a five star rating on Amazon. The book has been out for over a year and has helped a lot of people. Essentially it recommends eating much more of the 14 healthiest foods and their substitutes.

Here are the superfoods;

* Beans -- reduce obesity
* Blueberries -- lower risk for cardiovascular disease
* Broccoli -- lowers the incidence of cataracts and fights birth defects
* Oats -- reduce the risk of type II diabetes
* Oranges -- prevent strokes
* Pumpkin -- lowers the risk of various cancers
* Wild salmon -- lowers the risk of heart disease
* Soy -- lowers cholesterol
* Spinach -- decreases chances of cardiovascular disease & age-related macular degeneration
* Tea -- helps prevent osteoporosis
* Tomatoes -- raise the skin's sun protection factor
* Turkey -- helps build a strong immune system
* Walnuts - reduce risk of developing coronary heart disease, diabetes, & cancer
* Yogurt-- promotes strong bones and a healthy heart

Here's one readers comments on Amazon;

I was never much of a cook, but I have always been interested in getting my family to eat healthy foods, and this book has shown me how easy it is to do just that. The 14 foods listed as "Superfoods" are delicious, and the authors include numerous "sidekicks," or foods that offer the same or similar benefits. After just one month of preparing foods using the recommendations in "SuperFoods Rx," everyone in my family has experienced significant health benefits--my husband's cholesterol level plummeted, and lifelong digestive problems have disappeared. Best of all, everyone from ages six to fifty LOVE the meals (one favorite is a stew I invented that contains turkey, carrots, cabbage, canned tomatoes, beans, spinach, onions, cubes of firm tofu and/or whatever else is on hand; I use Goya "cubitos" and seasoning for a delicious broth). Nobody wants sugar cookies anymore, now that we can go to the fridge anytime and enjoy luscious cultured yogurt with blueberries and diced walnuts, fresh watermelon--even some yummy dark chocolate with a pot of green or black tea. The possibilities are endless!!
Diets do not work--they are temporary, often based on absurd principles, and only perpetuate an unhealthy obsession with food. As the authors point out, what is needed is a permanent change for the better in eating habits for the entire family.

See a good interview with the author of SuperFoods RX here.

The accompanying book The Superfoods Rx Diet: Lose Weight with the Power of SuperNutrients was just released last week and is already one of the bestsellers on Amazon.

30 Pounds to Go

Meredith has 30 pounds left to go. She is halfway to her goal weight. Last year her goal was to lose sixty pounds and she succeeded in losing thirty. She did this by cutting out a lot of sugar and exercising regularly. She went from a size 16 to a size 12 (she is 5'10") and was feeling pretty proud and comfortable with her weight as she had not fit into a size 12 since she was a kid.

But over Christmas her father spent a long time in the emergency room in the hospital due to his Type II diabetes. She says;

There are few things that I fear more than developing Type II diabetes. I've seen how it can maim and cripple both mind and body when left unchecked, or when lifelong habits prove insurmountable. Having full and proper use of my limbs, appendages and brain is a better motivator than being able to tug on size-8 jeans, though you'd think otherwise if you read my food journals from the past few years.

Now she is determined to lose thirty more pounds. See her story; 30 Pounds to Go.