CRAVINGS: Experiences and Habits

My last post, about what I would miss if I never ate standing up, revealed that I often eat standing up after unsatisfying meals. So today I considered before lunch what foods would taste good and keep me unhungry for awhile. For breakfast I ate peanut butter with fruit on a muffin. The real question was "what will satisfy me as much and as long as my peanut butter breakfast?" I sometimes contemplate eating peanut butter at every meal, but I know I prefer more meal to meal variety. So I prepareed chicken salad (with celery, herbs, chicken and mayo) on an English muffin with a sliced apple for lunch. THAT meal satisfied me as much as my breakfast.

However, after lunch, I briefly craved 'something sweet'. I realized from doing my 'what would I miss ...?' exercise, that I continue eating in order to procrastinate post meal boredom. I need to anticipate a nonfood 'reward' activity after lunch, rather than continue to eat past fullness. So I planned to get the mail after, rather than before, lunch. Getting the mail distracted and then 'rewarded' me well enough to convince me that I didn't need a 'food' dessert. Instead I found an activity which would be easy and more interesting than eating past full. Fortunately I received 2 new magazines and 3 new catalogs in the mail. That was better than any 'food' dessert.

Then I started to consider whether my 'cravings' for foods came from actual experiences with eating physically satisfying foods or from habits of eating certain foods at certain times or both. For example, I know that my breakfast of peanut butter, fruit and a muffin tastes good, feels good in my stomach and keeps me 'unhungry' for at least 4 hours. I've experienced the benefits of that food combination many times. When I'm hungry, I often crave peanut butter, bread and fruit, either individually or together. Likewise I love the feeling of cooked vegies in my stomach, as much as I enjoy the tastes, textures and staying power of high fiber meals which include cooked vegies. When I don't feel well, I crave cooked vegies, because I know how easily I digest them. So I suspect my experiences with specific foods influence my cravings for those foods when I'm hungry.

However I often crave the taste of foods which don't feel good in my stomach or cause unpleasant side effects (like reflux or low blood sugar). For chocolate (especially high cacoa content) can taste good and even 'energize' me with its caffeine. However, I react with reflux almost immediately and caffeine withdrawal symptoms (headaches) the next day. I crave chocolate usually after lunch, because I used to eat a small piece of safe (no allergen ingredients) chocolate as my 'dessert' after lunch. Although I no longer consume caffeine (to avoid reflux and withdrawal headaches), I still occasionally consider eating chocolate after lunch or when I see my favorite chocolate bar in stores. Although I had bad side effects from chocolate, I developed a chocolate 'habit' which still influences occasional cravings.

Before I was diagnosed with allergies to gluten, dairy, soy, cane sugar, vanilla and nutmeg, I regularly ate and enjoyed many foods which contained those ingredients. (I never attributed physical reactions to allergies.) After I realized gluten (in wheat, barley and rye) caused painful reaction symptoms, I switched to gluten free breads, pastries and cereals. However, I could not find safe and satisfying substitutes for all my favorite dairy products. There are no satisfying and safe cheeses available, although I have recipes to make allergen free cheeses. Likewise, there are no satisfying substitutes for fresh egg dishes (like scrambled, fried, poached eggs) or egg white desserts (like meringue on pies and in cookies or divinity candy). I learned to make an allergen free maynonnaise which I love and crave. I learned to make a safe vegan ice cream before I found safe brands at local stores. However, I just stopped eating foods for which I couldn't find safe, satisfying substitute foods.

Before I found (or prepared) substitutes for my previous favorite allergen foods, I still thought about those allergen foods. However, my 'cravings' were modified by myy knowledge that those foods caused painful gastrointestinal reactions. So I felt 'deprived', but didn't crave those specific allergen foods. My experiences with eating those foods and suffering cramping gut pain changed my view of those foods. I completely stopped craving foods which I knew caused painful reactions.

After my allergy diagnoses, I began to explore other cuisines, especially Middle Eastern and Asian. Before my diagnoses 'rice' meant tasteless, dry white rice, which made me gag just thinking about that. While exploring other cuisines, I discovered a variety of brown and wild rices, as well as quinoa, amaranth and other gluten free grains. Before my diagnoses, I only considered potatoes or corn as a starchy part of a meal. Now I often make casseroles with rice or quinoa. I often prepare vegan meals wherein I combine grains with beans or nuts or seeds. Amazingly, I crave casseroles with rice and vegies, because my experiences have convinced me that combination is easy for me to digest and satisfies hunger for a long while.

Leonard Pearson in "the Psychologist's Eat Anything Diet" describes foods as 'hummers' or 'beckoners'. 'Hummers' call to us when we neither see, hear about or smell them. Cravings for 'hummers' come from within our bodies. Hummers satisfy physical needs and keep us satisfied for awhile. "Beckoners' are foods we seldom think about until we see, smell or hear about them. Beckoners often taste good, but don't satisfy hunger very long. I suspect my experiences with 'hummers' make me crave those foods when I'm hungry. However, my habits of consuming 'beckoners' make me crave those foods at habitual times, like after meals, when I want to procrastinate a task, when I see those in a grocery store, when I feel physically tired and want to consume a stimulant, etc.

So the next time I 'crave' a specific food, I will consider whether or not I'm hungry, whether I had satisfying experiences with that food or whether I habitually ate that food and liked the taste, but experienced uncomfortable reactions. Perhaps eating more hummers and less becknoners will help me stop eating when I'm comfortably full, and less often crave more food after I feel satisfied. Recognizing those nonhunger cravings are motivated by habit, rather than satisfying experiences, could also help me choose the hummers instead of beckoners.

(NOTE: I just procrastinated my regular after lunch walk until the weather turned sunny by writing this post, rather than snack.)