Have you ever had a food craving? An intense desire, and almost fixation on a particular food or combination of foods? Like ice cream, or chocolate, a particular Thai dish, or something fatty, crunchy and salty?

I’ve been known to fixate on a particular salted caramel dark chocolate bar that I like to break into small pieces, pop one in my mouth, and let it melt. I’ve had intense cravings for kettle cooked salt and vinegar potato chips, and even watermelon. When I was pregnant I ate watermelon almost every day.

To better understand food cravings, I turn to one of my teachers, Marc David – the founder of the Institute for the Psychology of Eating where I earned one of my many coaching certifications over 10 years ago.

Marc has identified 3 types of cravings, which I’ll share with you here today.

Supportive Cravings occur when the body yearns for a food that fulfills a nutritional need, remedies an imbalance in the body, and/or enhances the healing process.

When I think of a supportive craving I think about when I’d take my dog out for a walk, and she’d eat mouthful after mouthful of grass. This didn’t happen often – maybe less than once a year. I now know that this is an instinctive thing dogs and cats do to neutralize acidic poisons in their system.

This same kind of process happens in humans, too. Sometimes people crave citrus foods or strawberries when they have a cold. Chocolate cravings can be a sign of a magnesium deficiency (tho I’ve always believed it’s also to fill a chocolate deficiency… 😍).

These are often cravings that are unique to the person who is experiencing it. They might even prove useless to someone else. But the point here is that there are times when the body craves because the body knows it needs something to create internal harmony and balance.

Dispersive Cravings are when we have a strong desire for a food that detracts from our health and diminishes our energy. The intensity of dispersive cravings can be just as strong as the intensity of a supportive one, but the net result is far different. Rather than feeling balanced we might feel heavy, lethargic, and full of guilt.

Many of us yearn for foods we know will bring us “down” – Marc calls these “distorted cravings”. Because just as our hearts can look for love in all the wrong places, the body can look for satisfaction and fulfillment in all the wrong places, too.

The body can be easily seduced by powerful substances (like sugar, alcohol, etc.) and think that consuming those things – often in excess – will be helpful. But in the end, dispersive cravings are a distorted yearning in action.

They take us further away from what we truly want – more life, depth of experience, and love.

Associative Cravings are sort of a mix of the other two. These types of cravings can arise when we yearn for a food that has a deep, rich, and meaningful association with our past.

For some, associative cravings arise when they visit parents or grandparents, or during the holidays when traditional foods and recipes, sometimes passed down through generations, are offered. But they aren’t things you would necessarily crave at any other time, or any other place.

These types of cravings can be confusing because we can’t always determine if they’re a healthy and welcome craving, or not. These kinds of foods might be low in nutritional value, but they remind us of our childhood and feel nourishing in other ways.

Associative cravings give us an opportunity to revisit our past, and re-live feelings that might feel healing to us – even if they are the nutritional equivalent of a cardboard box. Regardless, there can be something magical that happens when we allow our biology and nostalgia to meet.

It’s up to us to determine if we want to pursue an associative craving, or not. To assess the consequences of doing so, and whether or not it is going to be a life-giving choice. Sometimes the answer will be yes, and sometimes it will be a clear no.

I share all of this with you here today because cravings of all kinds are fascinating when we look at them closely. If we can pause and recognize when we’re dancing with a craving of some kind, we can bring more awareness, attention, and compassion to it.

We can choose to give in to the craving, or we can choose to sit with a craving, and really feel it. Be present with some discomfort, rage, pain, or even tears. We can see what there is to be found on the other side of the cravings we feel, but do not feed.

So very often there is a peace – beyond the yearning and desire – that is waiting for us. It’s a peace that cannot be found if we are constantly avoiding discomfort and seeking to fill a space that feels empty.

Take this info with you as you navigate the holidays this year. May it support you in making choices that honor and support all of who you can be.