Great column! I’m all for geting away from labeling foods “good” or “bad,” and just focusing on enjoyment and cravings instead—both instinctual hungers and seasonal obsessions.

Great article! Taking note of cravings can also help identify deficiencies in our diets, or can be indicators of our bodies being out of whack. Candida overgrowth, for example, can lead to intense sugar cravings, exascerbating the problem. Learning to hear, and then identify what our bodies are craving, and why, is a major key to eating well, as well as taking control of weight issues.

Thanks for your comments Kelly and Lara. Glad you enjoyed the article! It’s amazing how much our diet can tell us about our health or nutrient deficiencies. Happy eating with instinct!

Sounds good, but please don’t forget that there are those of us who have to take into account all that minutiae, being type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetics or having other health problems. it’s true for us too that the calculating can steer us away from considering our instincts, training us to listen to a glucometer’s number more than our own tastebuds and intuition. but in this case eating well means finding a balance between our instincts and external controls.

and it IS exhausting, and it is certainly not fun. but for some of us, it is fundamental to living and living well. and the breezy tone of this article undermines just how important it is not to dismiss either internal or external guidance.

Hi again,
Thanks for all of your comments. Dear “Anonymous” -- your points are certainly well taken. Of course there are certain health conditions that require us to rely not only on our internal cues, but also external barometers like glucometers or medications that require us to eat at certain times of the day, often irrespective of hunger. The article was meant simply to shed a small amount of light around the benefits of listening to our bodies more frequently when it comes to basic hunger and satiety cues and cravings. And certainly, as this is a Health+Food column, it’s important to take health conditions into account as well. Thanks again for your thoughts.

Thanks to anonymous for peeing in everybody’s cheerios. Marissa’s “breezy” tone in no way affects you or your problems. Get over yourself.

Actually, I’m a Type 1 diabetic, and I think the message of this article applies fairly directly to me. I side with Holly. I get so obsessed with eating the same things over and over because I already know their “numbers”, so I never branch out and try new fruits and veggies and things. I eat the same packaged food over and over and hate every bite. But we live in a world where those numbers are now readily available (yay internet!) so I am working very hard to walk through the farmer’s market, talk to people, go with what looks good, and come home and make a feast...of course, I carefully look things up before I eat them, but I am “listening to my gut” and becoming all the healthier for it! (Better blood glucose values, and weight loss!) Thanks for the encouragement, Marissa!

Dear Natalie - I hear you! It’s so easy to get bogged down by the numbers...and feel safe and comfortable with foods that you know “work” for you. I do think however, it’s a great step for you to recognize the need to branch and move away from the packaged stuff to dishes and foods that you truly enjoy! Kudos to you for testing the waters and taking charge at the farmers market. Keep up the great work!