So, I've been pondering....is there any truth to the idea that your body/brain can let you know what it needs? I'm not talking about cravings for unhealthy foods or emotional cravings. But is it possible that your brain keeps some kind of log of what foods contain what nutrients, and if you are lacking in something, it can cause you to crave a specific food?
As an example. Last November, I severed the tendons in my finger and had to have surgery. After the operation, I craved red meat and citrus fruit. Seriously, I could have eaten hamburgers and orange juice, 3 meals a day 7 days a week. I did some research and the nutrients in those items (zinc and vitamin C) were both very beneficial for healing.
I also wonder if this is part of the mental/emotional battle of learning to eat healthier. If your "brain log" of foods to eat to attain certain nutrients is not filled with healthy options, do you have to reprogram? Consider this scenario:
Body: We need sodium.
Brain: Sodium? How about potato chips? A family size bag of potato chips. Eat all of it.
Body: Potato chips? No, not an option. How about something else?
Brain: Um... *begins frantically flipping through the log for another alternative
Meanwhile, that craving for potato chips has kicked in. If you give in to it, the brain is no longer forced to come up with a different solution and you've set yourself up for a future chip craving. But if you wait it out, and instead eat the healthy food that your brain finally decides on, then you've started the reprogramming process and next time the craving will (hopefully) be for the healthy food.
Am I making any kind of sense?
Has anyone else experienced this? Is there any validity to this theory? Anyone have any thoughts?
Interesting question. I don't know the answer and i'm glad you've made a distinction between cravings that are emotional and or due to damaged body functions.
But i do know others who's opinions i generally respect seem to think there is something in it.
I don't know that i've ever actually craved anything weird or specific. I"ve certainly like this or that but nothing that seemed out of the ordinary. You should maybe ask the doctor next time you visit.
I don't know either. From what I understand, research says no (I could be wrong) but I for me, I take my cravings that are not sweets to maybe mean that something is needed. Meat is a good one because I used to be vegetarian and I still don't really like meat. But at times (especially during my first trimester of pregnancy) I craved meat. Hamburgers, omg, I could eat the all day!! I also craved lemon juice (I would just drink it! Ewww) and other fruits. Eggs too, were another food I craved. I know what you mean that when you "crave" ice cream, its like, yeah I just want to eat it for other reasons, but when you crave meat or veggies, or something like that, it makes you wonder if your body knows what it needs.
They do say that pregnant women craving non food items such as ice, sand, dirt etc. is a sign of anemia.
Again I don't know. I do think our bodies are quite amazing and I don't think its a far fetched idea.
Anecdotally, I'd have to agree there's something to it ... as long as the craving isn't sugar. That's just addiction talking. When I was pregnant, I was obsessed with tuna sandwiches ... and they weren't going to cut it unless they were also piled with sprouts. Neither tuna nor sprouts alone would satisfy. I haven't delved into what that might have been driven by.
It's always worth a moment to sit and reflect on a craving, whether it has a nutritional or an emotional basis.
Cool question - I'm looking forward to seeing other thoughts on the matter!
I would think the answer would be Yes, but a complicated Yes. Animals are driven to eat certain things (see this article about elephants seeking out salt-licks and literally eating dirt to supplement their diet of low-sodium water and plants). It seems to be driven by their body's actual nutritional needs.
So I can only imagine we have some of the same functions. I just think that with our hyper-food-focused environment and engineered/processed food sources we might also get bad signals that aren't triggered by actual nutritional requirements.
I don't know either. From what I understand, research says no (I could be wrong) but I for me, I take my cravings that are not sweets to maybe mean that something is needed. Meat is a good one because I used to be vegetarian and I still don't really like meat. But at times (especially during my first trimester of pregnancy) I craved meat. Hamburgers, omg, I could eat the all day!! I also craved lemon juice (I would just drink it! Ewww) and other fruits. Eggs too, were another food I craved. I know what you mean that when you "crave" ice cream, its like, yeah I just want to eat it for other reasons, but when you crave meat or veggies, or something like that, it makes you wonder if your body knows what it needs.
They do say that pregnant women craving non food items such as ice, sand, dirt etc. is a sign of anemia.
Again I don't know. I do think our bodies are quite amazing and I don't think its a far fetched idea.
Pregnancy is the first thing I thought of too, since the cravings come on SO strong and can be so different from what we would "normally" eat. During the beginning of my pregnancy I wanted hamburgers and bacon. I had been a vegetarian for nine years and mostly vegetarian for a few years previous to getting pregnant, so it was definitely something new.
I do think there is some validity in needing certain nutrients and craving something that may fulfill them (like sodium in the OP's post).
I think that our brain is sending us messages when in need of something, it certainly make me sleepy when tired, makes me sick to my stomach when I over indulge, etc. My brain will not make me grab a bag of chip when in need of salt or a pound of butter in need of fat, or have me take a cola if dehydrated.
We get the signals, we make the wrong choices. If those tasty foods are not around we would grab something else. When they are around well it is so easy to dig in, that is when we have decisions to make.
I would think the answer would be Yes, but a complicated Yes. Animals are driven to eat certain things (see this article about elephants seeking out salt-licks and literally eating dirt to supplement their diet of low-sodium water and plants). It seems to be driven by their body's actual nutritional needs.
So I can only imagine we have some of the same functions. I just think that with our hyper-food-focused environment and engineered/processed food sources we might also get bad signals that aren't triggered by actual nutritional requirements.
Now that's interesting - I've always subscribed to the camp that cravings are linked to nutritional needs, but I'd never thought or heard about it in other animals.
Now I'm even more curious about my dog's intense cravings for women's flip flops...
I tend to run anemic, so if i start craving red meat, I know it's probably because my iron is low. WHen I was pregnant, I wanted watermelon - EVERY DAY... hydrating? And guess what, a good source of iron AND a natural diuretic.
Some of it is seasonal for me too and I don't know what that is about - in spring and summer, all I can think about are green, fresh salads. In winter, I want heavier foods. I think that has to do with evolution and scarcity of foods seasonally.
It's always worth a moment to sit and reflect on a craving, whether it has a nutritional or an emotional basis.
To me, this is key. It's a fine line and your mind can even make you believe that a craving has a nutritional basis when in reality it is your mind trying to convince you to eat it for whatever reasons (addiction, etc.)
To me, this is key. It's a fine line and your mind can even make you believe that a craving has a nutritional basis when in reality it is your mind trying to convince you to eat it for whatever reasons (addiction, etc.)
My diet is not lacking, according to MFP, and I tend to "crave" crunchy foods like chips or pretzels, so I think mine is mostly emtional. I certainly don't lack for sodium in my diet. I try to not give in.
But, if I find myslef lusting after a chopped cucumber with olive oil and vinegar, or a fresh pineapple slice or two, I go ahead and indulge.
I definitely think so. I have noticed that many times in my own life. I can tell if its an emotional craving versus a physical craving usually. I tend to be low in iron and every once in a while I will get a craving for a steak. I normally don't even like steak. Or sometimes I will get a craving for fresh bell peppers. Again, I don't like bell peppers. Or mushrooms, or avacados, or apples or bananas. Sometimes i go on a crazy banana craving kick. I really know its a craving that my body needs very easily when I normally don't eat it or don't like it. I guess because what I like, I eat often so I wouldn't be missing nutrients from those.
I can't recall ever craving potato chips but it may be because I don't really eat them very often. Im not a salty snacky person usually, Im more chocolate and baked goods.
I am so no expert but IMO I think if we are well balanced and are in sync with our bodies then yes we will be able to understand what we are craving and why.
But I think by far most people are way out of sync with what we really need and why. We get a craving and it could be because we need it, because of subliminal advertising that we didn't even realize-even if we do not really focus on the commercials or advertising all around us we still pick up on it, memory triggers, emotions, etc....
When I was trying to quit smoking I read about how we train ourselves that when X happens we want Y. And it becomes a habit. When I first started smoking I would smoke in the bathroom all the time & also in the car. So EVERYTIME I would go to the bathroom or be in the car I wanted a cigarette. It didn't matter if I just had one. I think it is the same way with food. If I have trained myself that everytime I sit on the couch at night and watch a movie I eat chips, then in that same type of experience I am going to crave chips. That one is pretty obvious. But I bet there are tons and tons of other experiences that are tied with food that we just do not realize we do or that we have tied together.
Food cravings: to obey or not to obey
When I was pregnant, I was obsessed with tuna sandwiches ... and they weren't going to cut it unless they were also piled with sprouts. Neither tuna nor sprouts alone would satisfy. I haven't delved into what that might have been driven by. 
