Stop Cravings

Like most Women we have had our fair share of cravings especially around the time of the menstruation, when the body is shedding a high amount of nutrients and expending a lot of energy.

We started to look at these cravings through a different lens after studying naturopathic nutrition and the body.

Cravings are the body’s way of signalling to you it is lacking in a vital vitamin, minerals or nutrient. The craving is urging you to refuel your body so you can function optimally and feel balanced.

Ask better questions about your cravings.

Is there an imbalance of certain minerals that the body is crying out for?

Is there an imbalance in a macro nutrient in the diet ie fat, carbs or protein?

Is there an imbalance in one of the 5 flavours?  For example if you crave coffee, perhaps it’s because it is bitter and you aren’t getting the bitter flavour elsewhere in your diet.

We found it interesting to look through the lens of  ‘our body is amazing and holds it’s own wisdom what is the message?’

Is it stress?

Another common reason to reach for these foods and drinks is due to the fact that they are a REALLY good short term fix to manage stress.  Especially if you don’t have enough healthy tools at your finger tips.

Glass of wine anyone, when you feel stressed out with the Kids?  It works a treat doesn’t it but may leave you on a sugar crash reaching for carb rich food that further plays havoc with cravings and energy slumps.

So without getting into complicated testing or trying to abstain with will power alone, which let’s face it is normally short lived.  We like to find easy swaps.  How can you still have the guilty pleasure but upgrade it?

 

Easy swaps.

Let’s take our favourite sweet treat (and likely yours too?), chocolate.

If you are craving this it maybe because you need to replenish a macro nutrient that it’s full of…..fat.

It maybe down to the mineral that it’s full of magnesium (great for PMS and cramps)

It maybe down to the sugar and the dopamine hit it gives you!

Quite a few benefits that are going to be hard to give up on just will power alone.

Ceremonial Grade Cacao

Step in Ceremonial Grade Cacao.  

In short, it’s minimally processed chocolate with nothing added (no sugar) and it still has it’s fat in the product.

Other chocolate products, like cacao powder and even cocoa powder, have had the fat removed (usually sold on to make other products such as skincare.)

Commercial chocolate also has the good essential fats removed and low quality milk added back in for creaminess, along with a ton of sugar.  Turning this naturally healthy superfood, into a unhealthy money making machine that’s highly addictive. 

 

The science bit

So let’s reclaim chocolate for what it really is and what we are really craving.

Good fats…naturally curb cravings because you feel satisfied.  You always knew that butter tasted better than margarine right?!

Magnesium – the mineral that helps us release tension, helps energy levels and sleep better.

Neurochemicals such as theobromine that lifts your mood, PEA that gives you that loved up feeling and anandamide that helps to produce a blissful state.

Ceremonial Cacao will give you a natural, holistic high!

These are just a few of the amazing things about ceremonial grade cacao.

Ceremonial Grade Cacao

It’s called Ceremonial Grade, not just any old cacao, because it’s sourced from original (not hybridised) plants.  Commercial chocolate makers use hybridised plants because they are more disease resistant but lacking in true chocolate flavour, when compared with ceremonial grade chocolate.

It’s processed to an absolute minimum, with nothing added meaning it holds it’s original compounds, health benefits and even spiritual connection.

It’s selected with intention to be used in ceremony meaning only the best.

A daily practice

We have found that a (mostly) daily dosage of cacao has really transformed our cravings.

We aren’t missing out or relying on will power, we simply upgraded to something that is better for our health.

21 day challenge

To help you make a daily practice out of your cacao ritual and reduce or give up caffeine, we recommend drinking cacao for 21 days.

We suggest eliminating tea, coffee and normal chocolate to really feel the benefits of the cacao and to get a better relationship with these other foods and drinks.  So you can really enjoy them rather than rely upon them.

This practice will help you to reduce stress easily as you will have more control over you nervous system (by reducing the above mentioned foods and drinks.)

Cacao Ceremony

If you are ready to take your cacao practice to the next level, we offer seasonal ceremonies inside Cacao Club, a subscription that delivers cacao to your door every month.

The online ceremonies mean every Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter we will get together online and lead you through a beautiful meditation to set intentions for the new season.  This is a really important step in creating a life you want to live, instead of being swept up in busyness.  You can read more about cacao ceremonies here if they are new to you.

Creating time in your diary to honour these important practices and doing that together with cacao is the perfect creation within a community.