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True
Hunger and False Cravings
By Jennifer Rabin
Food’s effect on our
consciousness is like a drug. Whether we realize it
or not, we crave specific foods for their ability to
change the way we feel, not their ability to satiate
our hunger, according to Kevin Spelman, A.H.G., an
herbalist in Baltimore.
Our minds’ ties to
food began in infancy when our mothers gave us milk
to assuage our hunger cries. This response relieved
our hunger but, more importantly, it soothed us, and
from the very beginning we learned to associate food
with love.
As we grew, we realized
that food could alter our state of mind and body: A
chocolate bar lifts us up when we’re tired, a
glass of warm milk ushers in dreams when rest seems
far away, a chicken sandwich anchors us during a
stressful day at work, and a box of cookies keeps us
company when we’re lonely. Because of food’s
ability to alter our consciousness, at some point we
stopped eating only when we needed to, and started
eating when we wanted to.
True Hunger
• Appears at regular
times
• Appears at least four hours after previous meal
• All healthy foods sound satisfying
• There has been at least one bowel movement in
the morning
• You crave unrefined, whole foods
• Sweet craving is satisfied by rice, sweet potato
or dates
False Hunger
• Appears at
irregular times
• Appears shortly after eating
• Only specific foods sound satisfying
• There is constipation, diarrhea, gas or bloating
• You crave refined, highly sweetened foods
• Your hunger is due to emotional state and/or
fatigue
The Ayurvedic Approach
Practitioners of
Ayurveda, the ancient system of healing from India,
warn that eating when we want to causes us to forget
what true hunger feels like. We trick ourselves into
thinking that wanting food is the same as being
hungry, which isn’t true: Wanting food is a mental
and emotional need, while being hungry is a
physiological one. A feeling of hunger is our
body’s way of telling us our digestive processes
are in full swing: hydrochloric acid secretion is
ample, peristalsis is strong, and our body is
prepared to fully break down and assimilate any food
we put into it.
If we eat when we’re
not hungry, we ask the body to perform a function
it’s not ready to perform, and we decrease the
chances that our food will be properly digested.
Ayurvedic practitioners believe improperly digested
food turns into toxins (ama), which clog the
channels of the body and lead to imbalance and
disease.
This imbalance and
disease further lead to inappropriate cravings,
according to Ayurveda. Most people believe a strong
craving for something means their body is trying to
tell them what it needs. This is true in a balanced
system where the body is so highly attuned to its
surpluses and deficits that it may crave, say,
oysters when it is low on zinc, collards when it
needs calcium and kelp when it needs iodine.
However, this is not
true when the system is out of balance and craves
macaroni and cheese or the pineapple upside down
cake from your favorite restaurant. These cravings
do not serve us. All things have the biological
desire to perpetuate themselves. Thus, imbalance
begets further imbalance through unhealthy cravings.
Fortunately, health begets health, and once this
state is achieved, cravings can be indulged because
they are the reflection of your body’s innate
intelligence. But how does one get to such a
balanced state, and how can you tell the difference
between a good craving and a bad craving?
Drink/Walk/Sleep Hunger
Test
An easy way to
distinguish between true hunger and false hunger is
to use a cup of tea, a nap or a walk as a diagnostic
tool. False hunger will disappear after a few sips
of ginger tea or hot water with honey, a 15-minute
nap or a quick jaunt around the block. True hunger
will increase with any of these things. If you are
still hungry afterward, it’s a good sign that your
body is ready for food and your digestion will be
strong.
Give Yourself Some
Attention
The first thing to do
is pay attention. Learn about yourself. Tomorrow
when you’re on your lunch break, ask yourself if
you’re truly hungry. We usually eat when our day
planners tell us to, not when our bodies tell us to.
If you’re not hungry, wait until you are. If your
schedule doesn’t permit an alternate time to eat
at work, eat lightly or wait until dinner.
Our culture frowns upon
skipping meals because we believe that we need to
consume food to have energy and to be productive..
In fact, the opposite is true when you eat food
you’re not hungry for: It causes fatigue.
Productivity in office environments often goes way
down after lunch because poor digestion leads to
lethargy and a feeling of heaviness.
Another thing to
monitor is your emotional state when eating. More
often than we care to admit, we eat to combat
sadness, loneliness, anxiety or fear. We associate
food with comfort and love. Consequently, we use it
to replace a lack of these things in our life. To
demonstrate how closely tied food and love are,
think back to the last time you were in a new
relationship. Many people report a loss of appetite
during the initial stages because the emotional
support and physical comfort they receive from a
partner “feeds” them. Vasant Lad, an Ayurvedic
physician in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is fond of
saying, “Food is food for the body, and love is
food for the soul.”
When we are nourished
by our environment, we don’t require as much
nourishment from food. Conversely, when there is a
lack of nurturing in our lives, we try to replicate
the feeling of being nurtured with food. So before
you eat anything, take stock of your emotional
state. If you acknowledge feeling despondent, angry
or upset, chances are good that what you’re
experiencing is not real hunger. Think about other
ways to address your mood: Take a bath, call a
friend or just allow yourself to feel bad without
needing to do anything about it.
Try a Fast
Apart from being
mindful of how you feel, a good way to reconnect
with the feeling of true hunger is to fast. It can
be as simple as skipping a meal or as involved as
going a few days without food. This will put you
back in touch with what physical hunger feels like.
You’ll know it’s the real thing when a bowl of
sprouts sounds like the best meal you’ve ever
eaten in your life — which is another important
concept about cravings: When there is true hunger,
you will be satisfied by any healthy food. When
there is specificity of craving — i.e., you feel
hungry but only for the sweet-and-sour pork at the
corner deli or for your dad’s potato salad — it
is likely not a physical need but, instead, a
craving that should be ignored, says Glen Crowther,
a teacher of Ayurvedic nutrition at Wellpark College
in Auckland, New Zealand.
Once you reacquaint
yourself with physical hunger and learn to ignore
the cravings that arise from imbalance, you will be
giving your body an opportunity to fine-tune itself.
You also will be in a position to extract the most
nourishment possible from your food and to receive
the most nourishment possible from the people in
your life.
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