Your food cravings are messages from your body letting you know something needs attention. It may be giving you a clue about an unmet need. You may be using certain foods to avoid or escape pain. Food may be an attempt to manage emotional stress.
There are emotional significances to your cravings. Perhaps you turn to food because…
- you are missing support and connection from others.
- you have a hard time making time for yourself.
- you live a go-go-go, do-do-do lifestyle and feel overly stressed.
Read through the 4 craving archetypes below to further explore why you crave what you crave.
DAIRY: Millie The Mother – Mother’s love is unconditional. She is nurturing, nourishing, and caring. She is the symbol of life-giving. A mother is devoted and protective of her children.
Emotional Significance of Dairy:
- A craving for comfort.
- A yearning for being nurtured.
- Needing soothing.
- Looking for safety and security.
- To ease worry and anxiety.
- Desire for life to be a little easier.
The Mother may crave dairy when they are in need of nurturing, compassion, and comfort. Mothers need nurturing as well.
BREAD/CARBS: Felicity The Friend and Companion – A friend is loyal, supportive, and comforting. They offer encouragement, companionship, and love. They nourish our lives. Friends add richness and a depth to our lives that one cannot achieve on their own.
Emotional Significance of Bread:
- An attempt to soothe tension, stress, and/or anxiety.
- Wanting to fill an inner emptiness.
- Looking for calm and comfort; reassurance.
- A desire to slow down.
- Calming and relaxing.
One will attempt to fulfill a need for friendship and companionship with bread. A craving for bread may emerge when one is missing the encouragement, support, and assurance a friend would provide.
SWEETS: Donna The Dreamer – Dreamers live in a world of imagination, ideas, and concepts that are beyond the ordinary mind. They spend a great deal of time in their heads and imagination. Many dreamers are introverted and very independent.
Emotional Significance of Sweets:
- A craving for sweetness in life.
- A lack of joy in life.
- A lack of self-care and “me” time.
- Wanting a reward, seeking pleasure.
- Unable to process sadness and grief.
- Needing a boost of energy.
- Don’t feel “sweet” enough.
Dreamers crave sweets when they think their dreams may not become a reality. They may have big dreams and wishes for what they want their lives to look like. They reach for sweets when they are missing the joy, pleasure, and sweetness that are only in their imaginations.
CRUNCHY: Charles The Critic – A critic is a person who expresses an unfavorable opinion of something; a person who judges, evaluates, and/or criticizes.
Emotional Significance of Crunchy/Crispy:
- An attempt to relieve anger, irritation, anxiety, and frustration.
- Holding back something we want to express; resentment, anger, regret
- A need to hide and avoid conflict.
- Stress relief.
- Impatience and/or dissatisfaction.
- Criticism – of self, from others, and/or towards others.
The Critic goes for crunchy foods to relieve their frustration, anger, and anxiety.
Which craving archetype do you relate to?
I will cover 4 more in my next blog (chocolate, salty, fatty, spicy). Stay Tuned!