Overcoming Your Craving For Carbohydrates

By Chef Selwyn Richards
Culinary Expert

Each particular food or food type has its own specific cravings-triggers. Knowing what triggers your food craving and how to overcome it, will help you get past the urge. There are healthy alternatives to every craving type as well.

In your body, carbohydrates convert into sugar. You may find that carbohydrates give you a similar craving to that of candy or other sweets.

Here are some tips to assist you in overcoming your carbohydrates craving:
1. Get rid of all white flour products, including white bread, white rice, instant mashed potatoes, crackers, potato chips, processed pasta, and muffins.
2. Empty the freezer of French fries, hash browns and premade breakfast foods, like frozen waffles.
3. Stock up on 100 percent whole grains, like whole-wheat bread and old-fashioned oatmeal.
4. Experiment with new grains, like barley, millet, amaranth, whole-wheat couscous or bulgur.
5. Pack lunches and snacks with healthy foods like cheese.
6. When a carbohydrates craving hits, ask yourself what you really want. Are you just trying to fill an emotional need? Do you want something creamy, sweet, or cold? Do you want something crunchy or chewy?
7. Find alternative activities. Get a manicure, clean your closets, or spend time playing a game with your kids when a craving hits.
8. Eat breakfast every day and don’t skip meals.
9. Take supplements, like HTP-5 and Glutamine. Add vitamins, like Biotin and Riboflavin.
10. Eat more protein to stay satisfied longer.
13. Add flavor with spices and sauces.
14. Get plenty of sleep.
15. Fix your gut by eliminating foods you are intolerant to, such as dairy or gluten.

Alternatives to carbohydrates:
*Lettuce wraps, instead of bread.
*Portobello mushroom “buns”.
*Eggplant or zucchini for pasta.
*Butternut squash, turnips and carrots, instead of French fries.
*Cauliflower in place of macaroni and cheese or mashed potatoes.
*Oatmeal.
*Shirataki noodles.
*Fresh, raw vegetables.
*Eat cooked eggs, like a boiled egg for a snack.
*Sardines and nuts (almonds, peanuts, pecans, walnuts) make great snacks.
*Add more beans, cauliflower, bananas and mushrooms to your dishes.

Selwyn Richards is an award-winning master chef. He is also the President and Executive Chef at The Art of Catering Inc. and is the author of “The Art of Cooking: Soul of The Caribbean”. Chef Selwyn can be reached at: selwyn@theartofcatering.com or by phone — (905) 619-1059.