Do you crave foods when you need nutrients?
Posted by Duckalucky on Dec 16, 2006 · Member since Aug 2006 · 1127 posts
I go through phases where I am dying for something made with tahini or sunflower seeds, molasses, or nutritional yeast. I wonder if it's because I need calcium, iron, or B vitamins? I suspect that my body is trying to tell me something, and I'm trying to learn to listen... anyway, does anyone have anecdotal or scientific evidence for the nutritional basis of cravings?
(I'm pulling this notion from researching my cat's pica-- she tries to eat some pretty strange stuff, like cellophane, and one of the prevailing theories as to why animals eat fairly-inedible things is that they lack a nutrient...)
Actually, this is one of those questions that I was always intrigued in.
I remember an old HS teacher of mine saying that they did a study and found that rats are able to pick their based on what nutrients they are deficient in. Beyond that, I don't know. I get some strange cravings sometimes and I figured it wasn't pregnancy related since I'm a man :P
Hmm.... There's a lot of debate on this topic. I personally believe that it has nothing to do with the nutritional value of what you eat, only what "triggers" the brain would like to be activated:
- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16045168/
Some other interesting links:
- http://www.vegan.com/issues/1999/feb99/messina.htm [That one addresses the "pica" in your cat)
- http://health.msn.com/dietfitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100125440 (This one is -very- long, but an interesting read. It focuses more on the psychological aspect.)
Great sources! And thank you!
That last one (Psychology Today's article) reminded me very much of the reading I've done into the terrific anthropological/sociological literature on consumption and food-- I suppose that as a trained social scientist, I should wonder about my social habits before I chalk up my impulses to pure biology!
i've been wondering about that a lot too......whether cravings for specific foods indicate that your body is lacking some nutrient.
The only thing that I DO know is that cravings for non-foods (ice, soil, clay) are a symptom of iron-deficiency anemia.
Other than that, I really don't know......sure wish I did!!! :-[
Happy holidays to everyone!!! :)
I can't think of any scientific sources right now, but (I believe) your speculation is correct. A friend of mine developed kidney stones and had an attack in an airport. She never drinks soda pop but at that moment she had an intense craving for Coke. Within the hour, the pain had subsided and she had passed the stones. She found out later that the 'cure' for passing kidney stones was actually crushed up asparagus (not sure why) and something like 6-8 cans of Coke (coke is utter garbage, it's literally poison---nothing made of that much unrefined sugar and synthetic chemicals could be good for you. So when the coke passed through my friend's kidneys it blasted through the stones and broke them up--imagine what it does to your body when drinking it regularly if it can break up kidney stones?). Our bodies have the ability to be self-regulating (indeed they are autonomous)... it makes only perfect sense that they would know what they need, when they need it. We forget that we are the experts on our own health, not all the medical professionals and 'authorities' out there who often have personal, political and corporate agendas driving their public reports, recommendations and opinions. Granted, there are some people who are really out there to help people, it's just that the majority (especially those in the spotlight) are not.
The psychological/emotional triggers for cravings are just more evidence of the mess the West has made of the mind. Amazingly, we have managed to exploit its powers to the extent that the majority of people in North America cannot even think for themselves (ever been to a first year English class in university? Whoa. Prof: "I want you to write a critical analysis on this poem" Students: "A what? How many similes do we need to pick out? How many metaphors? ... what was the topic again? I don't understand!!! Why can't you just give us direction?)--much less have control over their own bodies. Sometimes emotional stress is so ingrained that it's expressed subconsciously... and in effect seemingly inescapable. What we mistake for cravings are indeed purely mental creations... mental desires, so the experiment quoted above makes perfect sense. The fake chocolate fulfilled the need in the person's mind for comfort food.
But psychological and emotional triggers are just that---they have been created by the mind (which is influenced by society), they are listening to the stress and emotional problems we have created. We stuff emotions by stuffing ourselves with high sugar, high fat---"FORBIDDEN, guilt-laden, glorified"--foods. Personally I think our cravings for these kinds of foods and the 'cravings' we experience when our body actually needs something are two entirely different phenomena.
I'm hoping to expand on this futher.. and I will when I get the time. I want to find some scientific sources to cite because at the moment my arguments are purely philosophical (I can't help that! I'm in the final year of my philosophy degree). Hopefully when I start/finish my Doctor of Naturopathy degree my theories will be significantly improved/scientifically backed. These sorts of things occupy a vast space of my mind and in effect my time, and I'm really glad you started this discussion, Duckalucky!
I have to say, whenever I come down with a respiratory thing (and the mildest cold heads straight for my chest), my body yells and screams for green tea! I am very sensitive to caffiene normally, even the small amount found in GT, and yet when I've got a cold it doesn't seem to bother me, no matter what time of day I drink it. I crave it like mad, and it does seem to make me feel better, less "chesty." If it were black tea I would associate it with the physcho-comfort factor of "a nice cuppa tea" (I learned to drink tea at my mother's knee or some other low joint, at age 3), but green is something I discovered only about 4 yrs ago.
IDIOGLOSSA, I'm with you on the Coke-is-poison thing...this new Coke Zero is touted as having 0% sugar, 0 calories...oh goodie, that means it's pure chemicals!! :o
I don't think it's true with me. I don't crave a lot, but when I do it's usually something bad like chips, cheese or ice cream. : :o
But then again, when I'm on a roll of poor eating habits, like during the holidays or on vacation, I start to feel a bit sluggish physically and I crave for a return to healthy eating if that makes any sense.
That definitely makes sense. I feel your pain of getting into a string of poor eating habits, especially as it gets colder out and the holidays are around. I can't wait until January first when I can break out the juicer and go on a juice fast to cleanse the body and rid myself of this sluggish, clouded feeling.
Usually, come warm weather, I am eating lots of whole and raw foods with minimal seasonings. I notice it's actually more difficult, once in this habit, to eat "junk food." You taste buds are so sensitive, as well as your body. Your body is conditioned to running on optimum fuel and when it gets garbage, well the old saying comes to mind... "you are what you eat."
So, relating this to cravings, when my body and nutritional needs are fully satiated I do find I crave less, and tend to just enjoy meals when I have them. I also find when you condition your body to eat simpler, whole foods, you tend to notice there complex flavors, most of the time hidden from you because of the "over-stimulated palette." But as of now, yes, I am definitely craving some good ole healthy eating.
I'm with idioglossia here. As for the chocolate-it was mentioned that these people have constant cravings for it-sounds like addiction to me. Yes, you can be addicted to a food. Though natural, there are thousands of 'natural' chemicals in chocolate. . .though this particular study may have had some in need of comfort food--as they were comforted by fake stuff. And the junk food tweety craves, I don't know if this applies to you, but it has with me in the past. . .my diet was so low-fat (I wasn't dieting, that's just how I eat) that my body naturally needed some extra fat, so I was craving chips, cheese, ice cream. My then doctor took some blood and asked where I was hiding my cholesterol. Our bodies usually crave what they're familiar with-when it needs something, the brain knows where it has gotten that before and triggers a craving, whether or not it is the best source of what we need.