eating habits

You can get hungry for water!

Swati · October 1, 2018 · 32 Comments

Updated from September 14th, 2015. This is one of the most helpful tricks I have learned over the years which keeps your weight in check. Yes, most of the times when you think you are feeling hungry, it is your body craving for water. You can get hungry for water if you are not drinking enough of it.

We all get hunger pangs at different times of day. What is your immediate reaction? Grab a snack? Or, reach out for that bag of chips lying in front of you? Well, this is one of the major reasons why we tend to overeat. We do not regulate our bodies and we do not even understand our body signals. The first thing to reach out when you have hunger pangs is a glass of water.

Of course, regulating your meal times and looking into what you are putting in your meal is also a good place to start. But, the first thing is your body is hungry for water. Interestingly, I experienced this first hand tonight. I was reading a book when I started feeling hungry. Its late and I usually take my dinner light and I go for a walk later. So, it is quite possible that my body is low on the fuel.

Instead of gorging on anything (I did not have access to anything either which is helpful), I thought of testing this theory and had a glass of water. And, voila, my hunger pangs subsided, did not recur and I went to sleep happily. So, if you ever feel hungry, try drinking water. It may be as simple as that!

How to find out if you are just hungry for water?

The Science Behind Cravings

Swati · April 4, 2018 · Leave a Comment

So, I am not sure what really happened but somehow I have lost an entire version of my draft post which I had written earlier 🙁 Anyways, I did try my best to recreate the post. It is of course not the first version but I hope it helps you!!

“If cravings were an indicator of nutritional deficiency, we’d all crave fruits and vegetables,” says Karen Ansel, MS, RD, CDN. “The fact that we all want high carb, high fat comfort foods, along with the research, is a pretty good indicator that cravings aren’t related to deficiencies. (Source)”

As I said in the title, the post is going to be all about cravings and why exactly do we get them? What is the science behind cravings? Are they the need of our body or our mind?

This entire journey of finding out what exactly are cravings was the result of my own tendency to crave sweets a few months back. I just wanted to eat sweets all the time. I either craved for ice creams at the middle of the night or the cakes and sweetmeats during the day after every meal.

And, curiously, I have never been a lover of sweets. I have a salt tooth not a sweet one. I, in fact, mix my sweets with snacks so as to balance out my palate. And, that made me concerned if I was getting diabetes or any other undesirable condition which was why I was constantly craving sweets.

I had a talk with my doctor as well at the time when I was getting treated for my acute deficiency of folic acid. He completely denied the assertion that cravings have anything to do with diabetes or pre-diabetes for that matter. Yes, there is something called pre-diabetes as well. Even I came to know of it recently.

Anyways, getting back to the topic, turns out that it is quite normal to crave any food which stabilises you emotionally. Hunger and emotions play a huge role in onset of cravings but there is a lot more involved in it. So, let us see what all can be the reason why you might crave various things at various times of the day.

Interestingly, I have to say that Mike also posted on the same topic a few days back! So, please go and have a look at the post on Nutrition Secrets. I do hope there is no plagiarizing comment made on me!!

Are you pregnant?

If yes, it is quite prevalent that pregnant women have the craziest cravings ever! So, moving on.

How to Eat Healthy while Eating Out?

Swati · December 15, 2017 · 14 Comments

I am a huge foodie and a very unhealthy one on top of it. Cheeses and butters and full fat milk and mayo and mustard sauce. Try Fab India, its yum! Though I am not a real big fan of healthy eat outs, I have often noticed that people think they eat healthy while eating out while making their food choices. Not necessarily what we all think is healthy is actually healthy for you.

How to order in restaurants so that you eat healthy while eating out?

Not all these tips may be applicable to you or all the options available. I stay in Hyderabad where you can get all foods and that is what makes life really easy over here. This post is more or less influenced by the variety and food options available here in this city. And, yes, we are talking about vegetarian options only.