The Best Ways to Beat Cravings

Cravings are normal, but you can beat them with Booseblend.

In the previous article in this series, we saw how cravings are something that everyone goes through. Having cravings is totally normal and it’s just one of those facts of life that we all have to deal with.

Dopamine is the chemical in our brains that sends little pleasure signals to the rest of your body after you do something you like. For me, that particularly occurs when I smash a bar of chocolate, or a tray of brownies, or a massive burger.

But that’s not healthy, and it definitely doesn’t coincide with those healthy eating goals we’re all trying to hit.

Thankfully, there’s plenty of light at the end of the tunnel. Smoothies are an excellent way to manage cravings because they can provide you with what you want without being loaded with sugars and all that nasty business. 

There’s a number of sneaky items that you can throw in your portable blender to produce the types of results that’ll knock you sideways. Dates, peanut butter, frozen banana, oats, figs. These are all weapons you can use to make life a little easier to get through without eating bad things.

From pancakes to smoothies to milkshakes, you can use your smoothie for a whole different array of foods that can be tailored to meet whatever crave you’re feeling at the moment. You can go on a healthy binge, add something sweet or give your mouth a little bit of crunch.

The world is your oyster, so let’s dive in.

Because you’re having a smoothie, one of the key base ingredients is going to be a bit of fruit. Bang some frozen fruits of the forest in with anything and it’s instantly going to provide you with something of a little sugary hit.

But you also want to be nice and satiated with whatever your eating. It’s like going to do the shopping when you’re hungry - you’ll pile in loads of different things with the only thought running through your head being ‘must get food now’. 

Every single time that happens, I end up spending way more than I need to and smashing a bunch of snacks on the way home.

Staying full, therefore, is like the version of shopping while hungry but for cravings. You need to eat the right sort of diet to help you stay fuller for longer, which in turn will keep your desire for the bad thing away.

We know that fruit and veg can have a bunch of other helpful properties, and a berry smoothie is just one of those. Strawberries and things like that come full of antioxidants, which are really useful in the fight against free radicals that can harm your body.

While throwing something like cacao powder into the mix is always a bit of a curveball. This has been seen as a natural mood lifter, which is great news if you’re feeling a little grumpy about life, and it comes with a heap of other nutrients to satisfy your body.

Antioxidants, yup it’s that buzzword again, are prevalent in cacao powder, as is iron and magnesium.

Something little can go a long way, too, and although they might not seem mighty the chia seed packs a hell of a punch. The way they interact with the blending process also makes your smoothie nice and delicious too, as it leaves it with a thicker and more creamy consistency. They’re also full of omega-3, so you can get that without having to scran a fish fillet or two.

Being concerned about sugar consumption is a good worry to have, but don’t let it put you off smoothies. Their sugar content can be high, but that’s if you take the values at first reading.

With natural products like fruit and veggies, you should always dig a little deeper. While processed sugar is bad for you and should be avoided if you can, natural sugars are different. Processed sugars contain little of the fibre required for a slow release into the body, which then prevents the crash.

This is also the same with juice, wrote an article on the Harvard University website, since when a fruit is juiced it loses that fibre that forces the body to take its time in breaking down the sugars.

Essentially, you don’t want to cause your insulin levels to go through the roof and then let your blood sugar levels return to lower than what they were before you consumed the sugar. That’s bad, and it’ll send you straight back to square one.

So make sure you have some fiber in your recipe, or stick to items like bananas or berries, which don’t seem to interact in that way with the processing.

If you’re after something to beat your sugar cravings, some fresh pineapple will really hit the right spot. Pineapple is one of the best fruits out there. It’s sweet, it’s got a nice consistency and it's really tasty in nearly any smoothie that you wanna put it in.

 

As well as being excellent in terms of the amount of antioxidants, they are also low in calories but have a good amount of nutrients. With heaps of vitamin C and manganese, pineapples can provide a vital boost to your immune system.

Pineapples also have digestive enzymes that can help your digestive system. These can aid in breaking down protein into amino acids and small peptides.

It can also help boost your immune system and help fight inflammation throughout your body. If you’re working out and trying to be healthy and fit, you might also find your recovery process quickened by the humble pineapple, which is a nice bonus as well.

But that’s not really about cravings, but it’s a nice little bit of supplementary knowledge for everyone else.

So, back to the recipes that can be used to help fight it.

This is a really nice, simple recipe you can use at home and it just requires some banana and pineapple and you’re good to go. If you want, you can add some apple juice or pineapple juice to give yourself that extra hit of sweetness throughout the smoothie.

Simply pop them all together and you’ve got your smoothie! It comes with 313 calories and a nice little icey hit.

That’s a nice, easy start to the world of smoothies to beat cravings, but this next one might blow your mind.

You don’t have to be limited to just fruits and things like that. You can use this smoothie to help beat the cravings for sweet, tasty breakfast food. We all love something fresh and hot out of the pan, the syrup drizzled down the sides, the delicious sweetness of the treat.

But you can get some of that from a smoothie!

So this recipe will help to replicate the delicious, crispy, creamy, buttermilk taste of pancakes or crispy waffles but without all the bad things.

Take one cup of frozen berries, whatever flavour takes your pick, and throw in some quick oats to go alongside it. If you want a non-dairy option or something with some lower calories, put in some almond milk. If not, go for the cow’s variety.

½ teaspoon of cinnamon gives it that naughty vibe without much of the actual naughtiness. 

Cinnamon is made from trees but you’d be barking mad to go without it. It’s got loads of antioxidants as well as being high in anti-inflammatory nutrients.This can help you to lower your risk of disease, as well as being an important tool in the fight against heart disease.

So, finish off the recipe with a touch of maple syrup and blend it all up in your Booseblend and eat straight away. You can also use a little bit of vanilla protein powder if you’re hitting the gym or want a little bit of additional flavour.

This recipe has some low fat Greek yoghurt included to give it a little bit of body and a creamier texture, and with bananas, blueberries and strawberries included this is one smoothie that’ll pack a delicious punch.

If you want to create healthy smoothies to help you beat those cravings, there are a few things you’ll have to juggle along the way. As we’ve seen it’s important not to overdo it on the sugar. That initial rush and crash can actually leave you feeling worse at the end and will give you an unwanted second round of cravings.

Throw something in there that has some fibre, throw something in there that’ll fit you up nicely and keep you satiated for longer.

Just because you’re trying to keep things healthy doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice on flavour, and just because you’re trying to substitute unhealthy for healthy doesn’t mean you’ve got to hold your nose and get something gross down your neck.

We’ve seen some really delicious ingredients added together to give you a healthy and tasty treat, while they’ll be sure to pack a really nice punch along the way as well.