In the summer one of our favorite things to do in the Rawganic family is to buy tons of extra melon of all kinds, watermelon, cantaloupe, canary melon, honeydew etc… and freeze it to make smoothies and slushies. Melons are the perfect breakfast food because they have an incredibly fast transit time through the digestive tract, especially on an empty stomach after a night of “fasting”. I don’t recommend consuming melon right after a big dense meal or immediately after cooked food, since it digests so quickly. It can ferment in the stomach waiting for the heavier food to pass through. This often leads to gas and bloating. But melon is the near perfect food to help anyone struggling with cravings for sugar and sweets.
Did you know that on the human tongue there are more receptors for sweet flavors than for any other including salty, sour and spicy? The human body has built in receptors for sweet, which is why fruit is the perfectly designed natural food food for us. Yet how many people do you know on “diets” who have been told fruit will make them fat, and fruit will cause diabetes? It is so disheartening to see people who are diabetic avoiding fruit while continuing to eat high amounts of fat.
What is truly frightening is the fact that many people are told by diet gurus to make “fake desserts” with high fats and non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) like Splenda as a healthy “sugar free” option. We don’t need sugar free options. WE NEED FRUIT! What is so dangerous about trying to meet our need for sweet tastes with fake chemicals is that we have sweet receptors in the gut and pancreas, not just on the tongue. Research has found that exposure to NNS such as Splenda, promotes insulin secretion by the pancreas. We know that the body does not actually absorb NNS, so these toxic sweeteners stimulate constant insulin secretion, followed by rapid depletion of glucose from the blood, causing the development of obesity.
Many people who try to go sugar free for a long period of time end up cracking, and running for a candy, a cake, a cookie or some ice cream as a sweet treat. If you consume enough fruits throughout the day you will be able to avoid those types of intense cravings because you will be satiating your body’s need for sweet tastes in a natural health way.
Try a nutrition experiment. Eat a melon slushie for breakfast for the next three days. Try to eat at least 3 or 4 other servings of sweet juicy fruit during the day and monitor your cravings to see if they begin to disappear by the second or third day. When we feed our body what it is designed to consume we lose the cravings for unhealthy foods. We are also energized and nourished without the need to overeat. Overeating is often the result of inadequate intake of nutrients. Eating nutrient dense, plant based foods is the best way to insure you won’t succumb to the midnight snack run!
WATERMELON REFRESHER
- 1/2 watermelon, cut into chunks and frozen
- 1 tsp fresh basil
- 1/2 cup coconut water
CANTALOUPE CINNAMON
- 1 small cantaloupe
- 1/2 cup coconut water
- 1 tsp Ceylon cinnamon
HONEYDEW LIME
- 1 small honeydew melon, cut into chunks and frozen
- 1/2 lime, peeled
- 1/2 cup coconut water
Blend ingredients together for any of the above smoothies and ENJOY!
