The wise among us say that our own bodies can be our best guides to health.

How often do we have a “gut instinct” that something is not quite right, and find our hunches are correct?

When something’s gone awry, we may experience it as a certain kind of mood, and if we look even deeper, we’ll probably also find that there is something going on at the physical level to “match” the mood.

Our bodies and minds are very much in sync, almost like a feedback loop. A mental phenomenon can cue us to something going on at the physical level, and the reverse is true too: even the smallest physical condition can alert us to something going on in our heart and soul.

This is good news, because it’s very much in our power to quiet the mind and see what’s going on inside of us.

In this case, we don’t even have to get that quiet—even better news! Who doesn’t crave foods from time time (okay, most of the time!) Sometimes the cravings are stronger than usual, and not obviously motivated (the way an ice-cream binge can be the direct result of love woes).

If you notice you might be craving one type of food for a prolonged period, this can be a big red flag that you are missing some vital nutrients in your diet. This chart was full of surprises for me—salty foods means a lack of silicon? What does that mean?

The list of healthy, nutrient-rich foods we should be eating instead of the less healthy foods we’re craving is extremely useful. And on top of that, we get the added bonus of increasing our mental and spiritual wellness by keeping our body in balance the fun way—by eating (right)!

I don’t know if I’m going to stop (over)eating chocolate from time to time, but I’ll at least try to throw a few flax seeds into the mix.

Relephant Read: 

4 Ways to Cope with Food Cravings 

Relephant bonus: All in all, don’t think about what you shouldn’t eat, think about what should be eating more of:

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Author: Tammy T. Stone

Editor: Travis May

Photo: PopSugar, Infographic