If you are a vegetarian or rarely eat meat and have a craving for carbs and just don’t feel satisfied until you are filled up on breads, pastas or sweets, you may have unstable blood sugar due to a deficiency of protein.

According to Ayurveda, during fall and winter the body starts to store proteins and fats to insulate and rebuild the body during the cold months.

The body stores much of its protein reserves in the synovial fluid around the joints, to be used to rebuild the muscles and joints after exercise. When we are protein deficient, this reserve is the first to go. As a result, the joints stiffen and the muscles tighten. This kind of pain does not typically respond to standard musculoskeletal care.

Another concern that can be a result of lack of protein in the diet is the inability to sleep deeply through the night.

Sleeping through the night requires the body to burn fat – a long-lasting fuel – rather than sugar, for a stretch of at least eight or nine hours.

If the body is unaccustomed to burning fat and only accustomed to burning sugar and carbs, it will wake up every 2-3 hours looking for its next meal.

Without protein, the body tends to crave carbs and sugar in excess.

Even in Ayurveda, meat is prescribed medicinally when any of above signs show.

ating healthy is eating according to our body's changing needs. Ideally most of our diet should be plant based to detox and provide clean nutrients, but not to the point of extreme.

Protein from meat has a different impact on the body - and more grounding - than plant protein.

Addiction is a disorder characterized by lack of sufficient grounding, why a diet that does not support grounding to some degree, will fall short in the long run. This doesn't, however, translate into a high-protein or paleo like diet, though.

Red meat is the most acidic of all protein sources. The more acidic, the deeper it can go into the tissues and the better it stores.

With the least acidic protein foods being stuff like legumes, beans, seeds and eggs, and the more acidic protein sources being chicken, fish and red meat. Now alkaline foods are the best cleaners as they activate the lymph and detox. In comparison acidic foods are not as easy to remove or detoxify. Yet many acidic foods are very healthy and also essential for our wellbeing.

This is nature's way of balancing.