Food for Thought

I remember hearing a shiur many years ago, one of the first shiurim I attended, given by Rabbi Mordechai Berger .... about the fact that when we are hungry, it is not that we desperately need the food we crave, but rather that our soul is craving to connect to Hashem, and through eating [and making the appropriate blessing on the food], we are enabling our soul to connect.   And that is why we feel hungry or thirsty several times a day, even though our body doesn't necessarily need all that food to survive.

It doesn't really matter what you eat [or drink] - your need to connect to Hashem will be achieved whether you eat a stick of celery or a giant piece of chocolate..... you will feel satisfied by either, because the goal has been achieved: your soul has re-connected to Hashem through the act of eating.

This has been explained much better than I can in Rabbi Oliver's latest post The True Purpose of Thirst and Hunger