The other night I became Cruella Deville. The final minutes of my Clarke Kent job began to tick away and the pangs of hunger hit. So, I went into my faithful “monster bag” for relief. For the first time in forever there was NOTHING. No nuts. No soy milk. No fruit. No chips. Not even any candy that the loving guy at security gives me each morning. NOTHING. Minutes to go, and I think “eh, no worries. It’s only 20 minutes until I get home”. I run downstairs and my train is right there! I’m thinking “Kimet”. We are rolling along just fine and then lurch! The train stops on the bridge for like 25 minutes. And then came Cruella!
I am not a nice person when I am hungry. I mean, if the guy next to me would have had a sandwich, I might have punched him in the face for it. Then suddenly I started craving things. ANYTHING! Chips. Nachos. Candy. Popcorn! I saw a little girl at the other end of the car eating a hot dog and I almost LOST IT! My body was screaming FEED ME SEYMOUR! Anything! Quick! Suddenly I thought of prying those subway doors open and walking home. And then the train began to move again. Breathe in! Breathe out! ?
I literally RAN home. I almost didn’t even notice the fallen tree (evidently there was a tornado in Brooklyn. Seriously!) I leapt up the stairs ran into the kitchen and made my mother’s favorite in a pinch meal of eggs and brown rice with garlic and onions. The blood sugar began to rise. Cruella started to fade away and it got me thinking of a conversation I had with a nutritionist early on. She believed in Murphy’s Law and that people should NEVER leave home without a snack. Hello Cruella!

I was also thinking about why it was that in those moments of desperate hunger, stress, fatigue, anger I want to reach for food…and usually ones that I KNOW I shouldn’t be eating. My usual go to foods are salty, cheesy, vinegar filled, carb loaded, belt busting deliciousness. My previous nutritionist use to put it like this “ when you’re hungry the body goes stupid! It just needs something…you may not know what that SOMETHING really is… and grab the wrong thing”

My friend JJ and I had loads of conversations about this when we lived together in LA. We were the Bobbsey twins of health problems. She was allergic to everything and I turned pale and sweaty at the drop of the hat if I hadn’t eaten in more then 30 minutes. Some where in our second year of living together my body went completely wacko and I was having insane food cravings. Not like the fly by night kind. Oh, no the “let’s eat the same thing over and over and over again for a month” kind. She was fine when I was eating vats of hummus. Annoyed when I had a five week rosemary chicken phase. And utterly mortified when a month long steak craze turned into me eating globs of meat as soon as they browned straight out of the pan because it wasn’t cooking fast enough. My body was feening for specific foods and wouldn’t let go until I ate them.

What I learned in that insane time is that our bodies can sometimes get confused. It needs something. It does! But, it isn’t always sure what that something is. It will send out false signals. It will send out SOSs. It will throw up smoke signals in the sky hoping that you will find the right recipe to quench it’s need. It is no surprise that when we are stressed we crave “comfort foods”. That when we are super hungry that chocolate, popcorn, and all other versions of junk food appeal to us. But, have you ever wondered why? Why, chocolate? Why Salty foods?

I read an article once that said apples and chocolate both give you the same “happy” feeling. Why? Because both Chocolate and Apples raise serotonin levels in our bodies. Serotonin is our bodies natural feel good drug. When levels are low people can be depressed, stressed, angry, etc. Another factor in feeling good and recovery from stress are the adrenal and thyroid hormones. When I am stressed I reach for salty things: popcorn and potato chips. Those two items contain salt and potassium which help feed the Thyroid and Adrenals.

Clearly, we crave what our body needs most in time of weakness. Food cravings is the body’s way of trying to correct a chemical imbalance or point to a lack of certain vitamins or minerals. Craving some foods may indicate a weakness in certain glands, such as the pancreas, adrenals, thyroid or low serotonin levels. The walking chemistry lab that we are, is trying to self correct for deficiencies. Great! Except if we don’t know the best ways to fill the body’s needs we could be looking for comfort in all the wrong places.

Let’s look at Serotonin production for example. There are lots of foods that can help our body produce this “happy” hormone. And not all of them involve sugary carb loaded belt busters. To naturally raise Serotonin levels look for foods high in B vitamins, Calcium, Magnesium, Tryptophan. Also fatty acids like Omega 3 and Omega 6 are also needed for production. So that salty popcorn I am craving is because corn has Thiamin/B1, B6, Niacin/B3, Riboflavin/B2, Folate/B9, And Magnesium. Or that chocolate milk has calcium and magnesium. All Serotonin boosters.

As much as I do like popcorn for my health I had to learn about other ways to feel good. Lucky for me there are LOTS of other options to boost Serotonin. Below is a quick list of a few foods you may not think of when Cruella’s cravings strike but will make you feel much better without all the sugar and salt. (these aren’t the ONLY foods, just a good range of options). Try some and tell me what you think.

B

PS. It is amazing if I think about some of the most comforting recipes I eat when stressed and how many ingredients on this list can go into them. Falafel, Potatoes chips, soups, popcorn….

Vitamin Bs: Brown rice, Chicken, corn, eggs, green leafy vegetables, meat, legumes/lentils, nuts, peas, sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast, mushrooms, Salmon, Halibut, tomatoes, shrimp, cantaloupe, yogurt, strawberries, swiss chard, collard greens, asparagus, pineapple, oranges, Cayenne Pepper, Turmeric Powder, Onions, Avocado

Calcium: almonds, brewers yeast, green leaf vegetable, cruciferous vegetables: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Fish with bones, sesame seeds, shrimp, tofu, low fat dairy, yogurt, collard and turnip greens, blackstrap molasses, spinach, cinnamon, oregano, basil, garlic, mushrooms, sesame seeds, kelp

Magnesium: green leafy vegetables (collard greens, romaine lettuce), brown rice, sesame seeds, shrimp, salmon, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, soy beans, spinach, coriander/cilantro, cucumber, flaxseeds, Quinoa, kiwi, tomatoes, yellowfin tuna, kelp, basil, eggplant, mushrooms, oats, cabbage, carrots, watermelon

Tryptophan: Turkey, soy, peanuts, almonds, yellow fin tuna, halibut, shrimp, salmon, crimini mushrooms, mustard greens, eggs, mozzarella, beans, dark leafy greens, oats, apricots, garbanzo beans, buckwheat, onions, garlic, walnuts, yogurt, Quinoa, brown rice, tomatoes, sardines, asparagus

Omega 3s: oily fish and seafood (mackerel, salmon, tuna, sardines, shrimp, scallops), walnut oil, flaxseeds, soybeans, cabbage, romaine lettuce, strawberries, raspberries, dark leafy greens, tofu

Omega 6: chicken, eggs, flaxseeds, grape seed oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, wheat germ, avocado, grape seed oil, sunflower oil, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, pistachio, wheat germ, olives,

Potassium: swiss chard, lima beans, yam, winter squash, soy beans (tofu, miso), avocado, spinach, pinto beans, papaya, lentils (hummus, falafel), crimini mushrooms, romaine lettuce, celery, basil, dark leafy greens (collards, kale, mustard),cucumber, tomato, Cantaloupe, turmeric, carrots, asparagus, red bell pepper, strawberries, kiwi, cod, tuna, snapper, onions, yogurt, oranges, potatoes, banana, watermelon