I hear this a lot, and if you experience this, know that you are not alone. Many people have become aware that they feel better when they eat a diet that is lower in carbs. This goes against what has been recommended on the food guide pyramid for decades (don’t get me started on that one!).

Briefly, we’ve been told for years to have low fat, high carb diets to maintain our general health or prevent heart disease. Thankfully, many people, physicians included, have found this approach to be not only unhelpful, but harmful, and have started making changes. This is good, you don’t need all the carbs that have been recommended for you. Actually, all those carbs have made us unhealthy as a nation.

The Switch to Low Carb

So what happens when you switch either dramatically or slowly to a low carb diet. You may initially feel better as inflammation reduces in your body. You may have more energy, better mental clarity and moods, improved sleep and libido, less digestive concerns, etc. The list goes on. Many people have experienced this for themselves and that makes me happy. Hooray!

But, what happens as the days, weeks and months continue? For some people, cravings can kick in, and they can be very strong. This doesn’t happen for everyone, but if it has happened to you, you know what I’m talking about. Why is this happening?

Our bodies get used to things, they adapt to behavior, even if it’s not good behavior. If our brains are used to getting the hit of serotonin, etc. or other neurochemicals that are released when we eat simple carbs, they’re not happy when this steady supply suddenly stops. If it slows gradually, we’re more likely to adapt, but for some people this doesn’t always happen.

The cravings are our bodies way of telling us it needs something. It needs more neurochemicals that help support mood and well being, and it wants the building blocks for releasing those neurochemicals. We’re wired this way for survival purposes, and this is a good thing to have a craving, it points us in the right direction; something is needed.

But, what’s needed isn’t really the simple carbs or sugar, that’s just a quick fix. What we need are all the nutritional components that support healthy neurochemicals, and this includes quality protein for one thing, vitamin B6 for another and the list goes on. We also need happy and healthy thoughts and feelings of love and wellbeing to support our brain chemistry, but that’s another post.

So, what if you’re eating enough protein, fat and the other nutrients to support your brain chemistry and you’re still craving? Why does this happen?

Let’s face it, we’re wired for laziness and quick fixes, it’s part of our survival mechanisms, finding the path of least resistance to protect our reserves. I’m not saying we’re lazy as human beings, but our lizard brains WILL take the path of least resistance, it’s just how it is, it saves energy.

Our Brains are Creatures of Habit or Sure Things

So if our diets or our lives don’t supply the precursors to healthy neurochemistry, our brains go back to old memories of how we met those needs from the past. Our brains love a sure thing. Where do we find those memories?

Every person who has been exposed to sugar, sweets, simple carbs, etc. has a store house of memories of eating these foods and feeling good, even if it was temporary. So, our brains, in serving our best interest, connects to those memories (without us even knowing it) and suddenly we’re craving specific foods to get satisfaction. There may be many foods we crave, but each person has their default go to craving food based on their past experiences.

So, the attorney who can’t get anything done until he has a chocolate bar, can’t understand why he “HAS TO HAVE CHOCOLATE” when he’s got a stressful task ahead of him. It’s not rational, it’s based on early memories of childhood, eating chocolate and feeling good with his family in front of the television.

Or, it’s the beauty consultant that craves candy EVERY DAY that remembers her mom giving her candy when she got home from school or her grandmother that would give her candy secretly, and how it made her feel so loved.

These were all good memories attached with powerful chemicals (sugar, and simple carbs). That’s all it takes to develop an unconscious pattern of craving. Powerful chemicals (sugar, simple carbs) affecting neurochemistry get all bundled up with love and good feelings. So, when we have a short supply of feelings of love or neurochemicals, our brains go back to that old memory and our behavior is wired to find that satisfaction in food.

How do you find these memories and change this?

The best way to find these old patterns that are driving your behavior and change them is to use Acupressure. It helps to make the connection and open up other pathways or means of meeting our brain chemistry needs. It’s like the old memory of food and love get untangled so that we don’t need food to feel those feelings of love. We can have it in so many other ways, food is not required. That my friend, will set you free from your carb cravings and so much more …

Enough said.

If you’d like to put an end to the cravings and feel at peace, sign up for one of my free webinars, where I will show you how. You can do that below.

Yours in Health,