I Was A Chocoholic – How I Cured My Craving For Chocolate

By Anna Wilde

People crave chocolate more than any other food. More women find themselves craving chocolate than men. Eating chocolate doesn’t always make you feel good, with those guilty after pangs and the physical side effects: weight gain, blood sugar imbalance and coming down after the high. Satisfaction can be very short lived. How can we cure our craving for chocolate?

My sister Monica’s success story, which she wants me to share.

“I was a Chocoholic. Everyday I ate at least a bite of that sweet brown heaven. But I didn’t feel that great. I was tired, irritable, and had lots of bowel issues; bloating, constipation and so on. Sweet cravings were a big problem.

Finally I went to a local chiropractor/ kinesiologist regarding a completely separate ailment, a locked jaw. Through allergy testing we discovered a ‘fight and flight’ response was being triggered in my body resulting in emotional and physical anxiety.

This was all caused by… a food allergy! Apparently I was allergic to wheat flour, cows milk, food colourings and (shock-horror!)… chocolate.

I would have imagined being stunned by this news, yet I already felt intuitively that some of these things didn’t agree with me. I cut it all out that day. Within 3 days the anxiety lifted and the ‘bloating’ that had gone. I felt improved mental and emotional clarity, and set up new food habits over the next 2 weeks. What amazed me most was how easy it was to let it all go. I have tried again and again to stick with a healthier whole food eating plan and found it a struggle. I was now eating nourishing food AND healthy treats, while avoiding the foods unsuited to my body. I think it was easier to stick to my new nutritional plan because I was seeing results in my emotional and physical health.

My husband arrived home today from 16 days away. Since he has been gone I have lost around 3 kilos; the weight is just dropping off like magic, now that my hormones are naturally balancing. My husband said my eyes and skin were clearer. I am making amazing life changes with a new sense of freedom. I know that as much as I adored chocolate, giving up this and the other foods has changed my life.”

So what is the cause of chocolate craving?

* Recent research shows that craving for chocolate can indicate a nutritional deficiency. Chocolate cravings may be caused by a deficiency in magnesium. Many women crave chocolate with PMS; when magnesium levels are usually lower.

* Chocolate contains not only caffeine (obviously addictive) but also alkaloids; the same addictive compounds found in alcohol and cocaine.

* Chocolate can give a high similar to orgasm. Why? It contains mood enhancing substances which precipitate the release of super feel-good neurotransmitters. As the chemicals stream though your body you experience great pleasure: for some it’s better than sex.

* People may self-medicate with chocolate, when they do not have other effective of reducing anxiety. This is because tryptophan, an amino acid, is essential in the production of the calming hormone serotonin.

* The power of your chocolate craving may be increased by ‘psychological reversal’. You know theoretically that too much is not good for you, but feel helpless to resist.A complicated network of neural pathways, (habitual thought patterns), reinforce the action of getting chocolate, over resisting.

How to cure chocolate craving

Eating chocolate is only a problem if you are trapped in a cycle of binge eating. You know there’s a problem if you can’t resist, even if you want to, and if you feel guilty afterwards. What can you do about it?

1) Look at the emotional states and thoughts which accompany the craving; are you feeling anxious, frustrated, sad? How do you feel afterwards? Use an emotional healing technique like EFT to release these emotions which trigger cravings.

2) Visit a naturopath, kinesiologist, or specialist doctor who can test for allergies and nutritional deficiencies like magnesium.

Anna Wilde works with people who want to improve their health naturally. Get the recipes and straight forward advice to stay motivated, eat well and be healthy.

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