TEN WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR CRAVINGS

TEN WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR CRAVINGS

Cravings usually occur when your body lacks certain nutrients, including some important vitamins and minerals. This happens when people don't allow themselves the food they need. They will skip their breakfast and eat a tiny salad for lunch and then go home and head for the things like potato chips, burgers, sweets and chocolates. These not only have a lot of calories, but also lack the necessary nutrients; vitamins, minerals and micronutrients that our body needs on a daily basis thus making the person not only put on unnecessary weight but will also make them feel very weak, lethargic and prone to infections.

The following are a few tips as to how to reduce the tendency to develop cravings and thus automatically contribute to reducing weight.The person is asked to  avoid sugar  in all forms, since it tends to triggers unstable blood sugar levels and thus increase the cravings.

1. Suck a sour pickle when you feel a craving for sweet. It will help you to eliminate that craving.
2. Eating enough protein helps to reduce the craving. Small amounts of protein throughout the day are the single best strategy for balancing blood sugar and energy levels and to eliminate the cravings.
3. A really strong craving for sweets can be overcome by eating a peppermint followed by a glass of fruit juice or a few nibbles of a fruit, like an apple or a pear.
4. Use herbs and spices liberally for added flavor plus the blood sugar balancing effects they have. Cinnamon (tuj), cardamom (elaichi) or nutmeg (jaipher), added to yogurt or skimmed milk, will help satisfy a sweet tooth, since these spices add a sweet flavor without the calories.
5. Moderate exercises like brisk walking, swimming and aerobics tend to activate the cells. It helps to decrease the cravings by helping the cells to respond better to insulin and also helps to increase the level of free fatty acids in the blood that can be used for energy.
6. Chocolate is a rich source of magnesium, which most people lack and so develop a craving for it.  So if you crave chocolate take in more of magnesium through either supplements or its sources. Magnesium is found  especially in apples, apricots, avocados, bananas, brewer's yeast, brown rice, dairy products, figs (anjeer), garlic, green leafy vegetables, kelp, meat, nuts, peaches, seafood, sesame seeds, tofu, wheat and whole grains. 
7. Keeping yourself absorbed in hobbies that you like (like stitching, gardening, painting, teaching, etc.) will make you feel good and creative and plus deviate your mind off the cravings. So the next time that you feel like reaching for a chocolate cake or a bag of chips, reach out instead for the newspaper or your knitting set. 
8. Increase the intake of flaxseed, walnut and canola oil, which contains essential fatty acids. This will also help to decrease the cravings.
9. Make sure to get enough of trace minerals like zinc picolinate and chromium  picolinate, which balance the blood sugar by helping the insulin to work more effectively. So they are very useful to reduce the craving plus to reduce the weight.