7 replies to this topic

[Tunnelvisionary]

http://www.doctor-na...mans-poison.php

While researching more on the GAPS diet awhile ago, I came across this article written by the creator of the diet Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride.

Basically, the article deals with the complication that arises from trying to choose a diet that is healthy among all the information about healthy diets out there. Of course, no single diet is a one size fits all for everybody, but there ARE common principles among them all. That's important to remember.

Dr. Campbell-McBride writes that (and I might lose some readers here) the you have an innate intelligence about what you need to nourish your body at any moment. She basically describes that the reason you crave or desire some foods is because your body needs something within that food the most at that time.

I'll use my own experience as an example: After reading around these forums, I came across someone elses diet. It entailed a lot of fruit and seafood. Through my entire life, my consumption of seafood has been minimal. My ancestral line also shows that chances are that my relatives didn't consume a whole ton of fish either. But, I figured that the food itself was very nutritious anyway, so it could be a good way to heal my body and have the acne disappear. It worked for a few weeks, but then I noticed I started getting sick of seafood and vegetables really fast. I could no longer eat salmon, and a big salad and feel full. This had been my diet for the majority of 3-4 weeks. I was unsatisfied after every meal.

My parents own a restaurant, so whenever my dad brought food home (It's a traditional Pakistani/Indian restaurant), I would gorge on whatever dish he brought, which was usually beef or chicken. I refrained from eating beef or chicken because I read it was not as easy to digest as seafood, and I guess I just wanted to stick to what I was told would heal me the fastest. However, I noticed that after I gorged myself on these meats I had deprived myself of (the only less than ideal quality is that the cook uses vegetable oil), I would feel much more satisfied, and a little less anxious about things in general. I would break out a little, presumably because of the vegetable oils, but the feeling of being full and satisfied was worth it. I kept up mostly eating fish, but I noticed that I was really craving chicken and beef all the time. My entire life, and my family lived on mostly chicken and beef, so to just keep eating salmon all the time wasn't doing me a whole ton of favors.

I read this article a little while ago, and then decided that I was limiting myself too much just "to be safe", and even though fish is nutritious, I was missing out on the nutrients present in other healthy foods, which ended up holding me back. I started eating the foods I desired the most, I just made sure that it was from as best a source I could find. I didn't crave vegetables all that much, to be honest. I had read from many places that the majority of your food intake should be from vegetables, but I decided to trust my instincts and eat mostly the meat I had been craving. I've been protein deficient my entire life up until I decided to start eating healthy, so that might have contributed to why I was so ravenous for meat.

So I began to trust my body and my instincts. I also incorporated probiotics, bone broths, and organ meats. Bone broths and organ meats were so tasty and delicious, I just kept having them until I stopped wanting them. Some days, I thought the idea of liver was disgusting, which was usually a day when I ate a whole bunch of it. I'm thinking that's just my body's way of saying that I've had enough of certain nutrients.

Since I've been doing this though, eating healthy, but also eating what I WANT TO EAT IN THE AMOUNTS I WANT, I find that I'm actually clearer than I've ever been before. I was most definitely improving beforehand, but as I sit here and type this now, my face is 97-98% clear. Some days, i'll be detoxing and breakout a little as a result, but it's usually shortlived, and I'm back to having clear skin.

I know, it seems esoteric and strange to just forgo what a bunch of scientists are saying about what to eat and just trust in yourself and EAT WHAT YOU WANT, but I've proved to myself that this principle really is the one I should be abiding by. All the information about healthy diets and such still ring true, but the point is that I've modified it in such a way that it works for me. Eating what I want takes the guesswork out of it, I guess you could say.

However, there's a difference between eating what you crave because the manufacturer had a shit ton of chemicals added into the food, and eating whole, real, nutrient dense foods you crave.

So the guidelines that I follow right now are this: Eat nutrient dense, whole foods, with as little additives as possible that don't include what I'm intolerant for. Among those choices, eat what I most desire at the time. If it's fruit and there's a bunch of sugar, I eat it. If it's straight up spoonfuls of almond butter, I eat it (but I make sure I've had a bunch of antioxidants to counter the presence of omega 3's in the butter)...if I'm hungry for liver, I eat it.

It just makes the whole process so much easier, in my opinion. It's also incredibly satisfying, I don't have to force myself to eat well. My diet is customized towards what I need most when I need it.

[Phresh]

I actually wonder about this every day, so it's cool to actually see an official write-up on it. I think once you get past that stage where your body is craving donuts and cheeseburgers constantly because that's what it is used to, you can learn to rely on cravings. It obviously will have it's limitations but I've found it to do well in my life and be an accurate representation of what my body is lacking/needs that day.

[Tunnelvisionary]

Yeah, there's that factor of craving foods that have chemically addictive substances. The article I posted touches on that. I think once you get past craving junk foods, you can learn to rely on just eating the foods you desire. It's been working really well for me. Kind of an interesting, although not very quantitative way of measuring what you might be deficient in, lol.

[vapor1]

If I ate what I craved, it would be cinnamon rolls & grilled cheeses

[alternativista]

^Yeah, it depends on what you crave. Although, even if it is unhealthy, you might still have it in small amounts on occasion. so long as you aren't intolerant to it.

Edited by alternativista, 29 January 2012 - 10:31 AM.

[Peony7]

I'm really glad you posted this, I get cravings for avocados, raspberries and lemon sometimes (not all together) and I've always wondered whether it was my body trying to get a particular nutrient. Esp avocados.

[amy91]

What if my body craves pizza, ice cream, soda, bread and cakes? Lol

[jennifer36]

This is so interesting! I've wondered about this too. Since eating healthy and discovering/avoiding my acne triggers, I crave different things. Like a salad, or chick peas, or fruit rather than junk food. Especially almond butter and apples together, sooo tasty.

Especially this week I've been trying to eat foods I crave whenever I want them. Mainly I started eating this way to prevent myself from losing any more weight from my restricted diet, but I've felt a lot better this week. I just had some no salt added homemade vegetable soup because that's exactly what I craved! Thanks for posting that link, it's such a good approach imo. Definitely something I want to continue doing.