Is Your Bacteria Making You Crave Bad Food?
As you will know if you have read The Dream Retirement (download your free copy here) or read my 2-week detox challenge here I live by a ‘Skinny Weeks and Weekend Treats’ principal. Eat avoid dairy, gluten, sugar, caffeine, alcohol and meat during the week, but at the weekend allow myself to delve back into these in moderation. What I love about this approach is that I now crave the good food more on a Monday than I do the bad on a Friday, but could it be my bacteria talking to me instead of my conscience?
Humans’ gastrointestinal tracts are home to 10,000 species of bacteria, which get energy from our half-digested lunches. In exchange, they help us break down food and keep harmful bacteria out, and have also been shown to help regulate fat storage and provide vitamins[1]. However, interesting recent research has shown that it can actually be our bacteria that influences our cravings.
You may remember the docufilm ‘Supersize me’ where Morgan Spurlock tried to live for 30 days on nothing but McDonalds meals. After a few days he was being violently sick, and medical advice actually recommended he stop for fear of him not making the full 30 days. Initially repulsed by the excess stomach wrenching fast food, as the time went on he actually started to crave it. How can that be?
Research shows now that this is because the bacteria is his gut was changing, and the Ronald McDonald of the bacteria world had flourished in these toxic conditions. Less extreme situations have led to the same, for example in people that crave chocolate and people that don’t.
Having lived by this principal for over 4 years, this now explains a lot, that I knew subconsciously was happening. By detoxing, particularly for 2 weeks at a time, you can rebalance your gut, and massively reduce the cravings of those things you want to each less of. You can engineer your cravings so that you crave the right things, not the wrong things, and you can do it relatively quickly.
Don’t believe me? There is only one way you will find out. Try my 2-week detox challenge, and see how you feel after 2 weeks, or even better a month! I guarantee you will crave all those bad things less. You might only want to cut out one thing, and you can achieve the same by doing this. Eating lean and green has never been easier, with more supermarkets stocking good alternatives. I have just come back from a business conference where 5 of the 20 attendees were vegan. This is a growing trend, and for good reason; people want to take care of their bodies to they can live a long and healthy Life 2.0, the new version of their life. So, join the revolution and try our 2-week detox challenge here.