Oxygen Helps Curb Cravings: Breathe Deeply

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Taking in a few deep breaths just might help you reduce your food cravings for those foods you should avoid. That may surprise you but getting enough oxygen in your blood stream is actually one of the best things you can do to curb food cravings and burn fat at the same time. Your body’s oxygen levels can have a significant impact on how it processes food and how you respond to hunger.

Most people don’t breathe deeply enough. We are a nation of shallow breathers and as a result of that, our bodies suffer. Oxygen is vital to the proper functioning of many of our body’s systems, including the digestive system. If we don’t provide our body with enough oxygen, we are significantly impairing our body’s ability to function at it’s best.

Increase your intake of oxygen through deep breathing exercises and you can achieve greater states of relaxation, which in return helps to reduce cravings. Cravings often come as a result of an increase of the stress hormone cortisol. When you have increased cortisol levels your body basically goes into flight or fight response. It puts all your necessary systems on hold and puts your body into survival mode so you’ll begin to store more fat, in addition to craving more high fat and high calorie foods.

The more oxygen in your blood stream, the more fat you’ll burn. In return the more fat you burn the less hungry you’ll be and the less you’ll give in to cravings. It’s a domino effect of good things happening within your body. You’ll lose weight and won’t have to eat as much on a daily basis to maintain that weight. This alone can reduce cravings.

It’s quite simple now that you know the benefits of giving your body more oxygen, you just need to get more oxygen into your blood stream on a daily basis. But how do you do it? The easiest way is with deep breathing exercises.

Deep breathing exercises are simple to learn. Start by sitting comfortably in a quiet place and emptying your lungs with an exhalation through your mouth. Then take a deep breath through your nose and fill your lungs to capacity. You might be surprised by how far you can inhale compared to how much you do on a normal basis.

At first, you might notice you get a little bit of a headache from the increased oxygen you’re giving your body. Your body is just adjusting to receiving increased oxygen. After a few days of deep breathing, you’ll feel better after completing the exercises. Your body just needs a little bit of time to adjust as it’s used to shallow breaths and less oxygen. Combine deep breathing with light exercise. Get your body moving and it will help you breathe deeper and reduce your need to eat.

Deep breathing exercises will improve the levels of oxygen in your blood, which will directly effect your hunger. It will be just a matter of time before your body begins to process the food you eat efficiently and your “bad” food cravings will begin to shrink.

Are cravings for sugar, salt, junk food, sodas, and coffee running your life? For over 20 years, Diana Walker, the Cravings Coach, has assisted people like you in using natural, safe options for creating vibrant health. Check out Diana’s newsletter, blog and podcast at http://www.thecravingscoach.com/blog and at http://www.diana2.com