Why it's good to give in to cravings...

My tastes tend to the exotic in matters of fruit. Although I enjoy a crisp, tangy apple and love a juicy, soft pear, what really gets my taste buds tingling is mango. And yet, I haven't been eating many of them recently.

My inner police jumps into action as soon as I start entertaining the idea of popping one into my shopping basket and comes up with a million and one different reasons why buying a mango is not a good idea...

"They cost a fortune! You can get a whole bag of apples for the same amount!"

"Do you have any idea of how many air miles that piece of fruit has racked up to be sitting there on that shelf?!"

"Shame on you! They get little children to pick and pack those. You should be supporting local producers, not aiding and abetting child labour!"

"That's just too indulgent."

And on...and on until I give up and get some apples instead.

Except I don't really eat the apples, because I never crave them. So, instead of having some creamy Greek yoghurt with chunks of fresh mango when I'm peckish in the afternoon, I end up nicking a few of my partner's chocolate digestives to dunk in my tea. Sure, chocolate digestives are cheap, produced in the UK and taste OK with a cuppa but they don't fit in with my idea of 'healthy eating', whereas mango does.

It's not that I never want to eat chocolate digestives, that I think they're unhealthy - there is a place for them in my diet. It's just that I'd rather not be eating them when I don't really fancy them and am craving something which is on my "healthy" list.

Yesterday I went to the supermarket and told my inner police to "shut it" in no uncertain terms when it started yapping on about the mango in my basket. I whizzed it up in the blender with some milk and a handful of raspberries this afternoon. Absolutely gorgeous and spot on. Craving appeased and not a chocolate digestive in sight!

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