“Comfort Food” To Redirect Temptations

When we switch to a more conscious diet, initially there are dishes that we miss. They are usually traditional dishes that fill an emotional or nostalgic void, easy to prepare, high in carbohydrates and processed, such as bread, flour, dairy, exciting, sugar and refined, classic pastries, fried, sweet and salty snacks … It is what In English it is known as comfort food, since they require the minimum preparation effort and when we consume them they comfort us.

Why do you want to treat yourself so much?

These “comforting” dishes are often consumed in response to emotional stress. They are small outlets that calm and become a difficult habit to change.

That is why they end up being abused, although they do not satisfy or nourish us and the habit of consuming them ends up generating undesirable health conditions, such as excess abdominal fat, diabetes, cholesterol, high blood pressure, intestinal problems or an overfed but lacking body nutritional.

Redirect desire and choose healthy temptations

The best thing in these cases, rather than listening to the body, as they say, would be to try to re- tune with your sensations to understand what the body wants to tell us. In this way we can offer you food that nourishes and calms us at the same time.

It is, therefore, about redirecting the desire : the body can ask us for French fries and pizza with sugary carbonated drinks, but that does not mean that we should give it to it. We can reflect on what other healthy options meet these desires and turn to them.

For example, if the body asks for fried or dairy products, we can offer it foods rich in healthy fats such as avocado, seeds and nuts or virgin oils from the first cold pressure. In this way, we replace bad fats with good fats.

Why does the body ask for what it asks for?

In any case, it is convenient to take into account what those desires to “eat badly” can really mean or, in other words, what your cravings mean:

• If you fancy a lot of salty: it could be that the body is saying that it needs minerals, especially calcium. Think of foods rich in these nutrients: dark young leaves, seaweed, almonds, chia, sesame.
• If you want sweet or starches. We may need glucose, sodium, chromium, or increase serotonin or dopamine. In that case, sweet or dehydrated fruits are ideal, such as bananas, dates, goji berries or vegetables such as broccoli and dulse seaweed.
• If you crave something creamy and sweet. The body may require magnesium, chromium, protein, phosphorus, sulfur, and increase serotonin and dopamine levels. We can think of including nuts and seeds, avocado, cocoa, hemp seeds, seaweed or tender dark green leaves.
• If you have a fixation with coffee. Iron and foods that increase serotonin will help, such as goji berries, white berries, physalis, hemp seeds, cocoa and pumpkin, wheatgrass, or nori seaweed.
• If there is a desire for chocolate. We may need magnesium, vitamin B6, antioxidants, and increased serotonin production. Instead of refined chocolate, pure cocoa would be ideal, but also nuts, pumpkin, chia and hemp seeds, seaweed, açai and cranberry, spirulina or chlorella.