Beware of Storms

March 21, 2018
The challenges created by the recent nor’easters triggered unhealthy food cravings. The lack of power, light, heat, running water, and other basic necessities caused anxiety, irritability, restlessness, and sometimes depression. This worsened as the blackout stretched from a couple of days to 6, or 10, or more! Lack of refrigeration spoiled meats and vegetables. Without power, we couldn’t cook, or even reheat food. Preparing nutritious food was extremely difficult. It was much easier to just eat junk food. Our intentions to eat healthy went out the window.

A new client came in a couple of weeks ago, after the storm. She had uncontrollable food cravings. She said that “six days without electricity, heat, running water, and hot food drove me crazy. I knew I had a problem when I chipped away at a frozen pound cake left in the freezer, and a roll of half-frozen chocolate chip cookie dough. The storm destroyed my intentions to follow a healthy diet.”

Her physician had recommended that she see a nutritionist. She had difficult challenges: no energy, high cholesterol, and insatiable cravings for sugar. Her physician thought that this might lead to diabetes. She had tried to stop eating so much sugar, but the cravings defeated her best intentions.

Naturally sweet foods like fruits and vegetables promote health, for the most part, by providing vitamins, valuable minerals, and trace amounts of essential fats. Their rich fiber content slows the release of their sugar into our bloodstream and their mineral content helps the body use sugar more effectively. However, the intake of too much refined sugars is unhealthy. Fresh fruits build up the body, refined sugar in junk food destroys the body.

Sugar should stay in your diet in its natural form, such as whole fruits, carrots, beets, and sweet potatoes. They provide vitamins, minerals, and fiber. It is important to select whole natural foods instead of processed substitutes.

With my client, my first step was to look at her dietary intake. I told her to keep track of all the foods she ate before the onset of craving sugar. Eating one type of food may trigger a craving for foods high in sugar. The specific triggers are different in different people. By identifying a pattern, she could stop the cravings. By stopping the cravings, she could avoid eating foods with refined sugars, like cakes, cookies, and desserts. It is not easy to control your intake of all sugars. They are hidden in many different forms in most processed foods.

When my client came back for a follow-up visit, she smiled and said, “I lost nine pounds and I have never felt better! Giving up sugar was the best thing I have ever done! I have regained my energy, started exercising and have a sense of overall well-being.”

After this nor’easter, many people, complained of feeling tired after they ate sugar. They often ask, “why can’t I eat sugar anymore? I was able to eat it in moderation all the time and I felt fine! Now it makes me feel listless, exhausted, and unmotivated. What’s wrong with me?” It’s rather simple. Nor’easter or not, years of struggling from the over load of sugar combined with the assaults of coffee, stress and a nutrient depleted diet, the glands of the body may give out.

Being able to control your environment helps you control your appetite, especially cravings. Beware of storms!

Once you begin to eat better, you will feel better.

Beware of Storms

Article in the North Salem News