Do you crave what you need?

Question

this post by Jetgirly got me thinking about something I'd considered before:

"I try not to drink calories, but yesterday I couldn't get my mind off orange juice. I trekked to the grocery store, in the snow, bought a litre and drank it all within the hour. I guess I needed the Vitamin C (or the acid... could my body be too alkaline?)."

I think that in general, our bodies must crave stuff that we need. So say you're getting low on iron, you start thinking "mmmm, spinach".

So, can anyone give any examples of this?

And let's do an experiment - for those of you craving something right now, can you think of a reason you might be craving it? (Although I expect the #1 reason is reading about it here...)

Answer

I do believe that our body knows what it needs/wants to function properly and that one should follow cravings (within reason).

Two things that I sometimes crave that make me think that it's because my body needs it are orange juice and what I call "bloody" tasting food (raw tuna and rare beef).

Answer

I definitely believe that our body craves what we need. When I was in Puerto Rico recently, I ate a lot more meat and starch and fried foods than I normally do. Towards the end of my trip I was just craving vegetables and lots of citrus. The idea of eating any more fried food or meat made me really ill.

Problem with cravings is that they can trip you up. There are a lot of people who have items that aren't the best for them but crave them because of an imbalance. Best example I can think of is sugar. And I'm sure if you're really craving that cigarette, it's not because your body really needs it. The thing about cravings is to see how you feel about an hour or two after eating the item in question. Those who mistakenly crave sugar will feel great 5 minutes after eating it but will probably feel like crap again a couple of hours later. 

And for jetgirly -- your body was probably too acidic if you were craving orange juice as opposed to alkaline. While oranges are acidic, when taken in, they raise the pH.

Answer

With me, it's salt during the summer. I run for fitness, and sweat a lot (and sweat out a lot of salt) once the dew points start getting above about 75F. So if I'm craving french fires (salt plus potassium) during the summer, an electrolyte imbalance is frequently the reason.

Answer

Don't have any examples that I am feeling right now to add but I totally buy this. Some people are more in tune with their bodies than others, and I have heard it said that women are more in tune than men in general. When I have heavy flow at my time of the month I want me some red meat for sure.

Answer

No, I don't believe that. If that were the case, most Americans would crave more fresh vegetables and not cookies and french fries. And, people, pregnant women, have pica cravings for non food, non nutritional items, like chalk.

Answer

this is a nice follow-up to the "healthy foods you crave" post, earlier. i do believe we crave what our bodies need. the clearest example i can think of off the top of my head is that i have always been prone to anemia (low iron) and often crave foods like liver and spinach.

Answer

Another wrinkle: I've heard that often people crave things they are allergic to; not sure if it's a real craving in my case, but I'm allergic to corn, and I love corn chips. And consequently feel lousy afterward. So I really like them, and will often eat them despite the consequences, but it's not something that I crave in the sense that it's something I think about and then go out and get them and scarf them down....

Answer

When I'm really craving ice cream, yogurt, or dairy, it's usually after realising I haven't had any in a few days, so it could be calcium (or at least that's what I tell myself).

Kumquats made coffee undrinkable--I was so shaky from whatever it is in kumquats (and grapefruit, if I remember), that anything more stimulating energy-wise was too much.

Raw vegetables during visits to the south, lots of juicy fruits during the summer (dehydration), potatoes in the winter.

Then again, when I'm totally stressed it's really salty food, pizza (throwback to college, although I can no longer eat an entire 18" pie), or my mother's cooking.

Answer

our body craves what a million years of evolution have taught us to crave due to scarcity.

Answer

I think so, I feel like I need to eat some protein, and I haven't had fish in ages. So I totally believe that.

Answer

I have noticed after a very long (18hrs +) and wearing day I crave red meat & spinach. I have always thought it was because I was low on Iron. And after a night of too much to drink I crave milk, cheese or anything with calcium.

Answer

The latest science research says we don't crave what we need. 

Mostly, we crave foods with fat and calories, not foods that have the nutrients that we need or lack. In fact, the foods we crave are often not good for us, according to a 2007 study by Tufts. 

Examples of cravings not good for us: Most cravings are for energy-dense foods, and for those trying to lose weight, managing those cravings (everyone gets them) is key to weight loss. Pica or unusual cravings can be terrible for the body. We may think we are craving a food with something we need, but other available foods often supply the "nutrient" we think our body wants in far greater degree that the craved foods. So, no, cravings aren't "guiding" us to eat properly.

Peter Pressman of the Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills, Calif. and Roger Clemens of the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy wrote about food cravings in Scientific American in 2005. They said "a hankering for particular foods is not linked to any obvious nutrient insufficiency."

The article, titled "Are food cravings the body's way of telling us that we are lacking certain nutrients?", concludes by saying: ""Cravings" undoubtedly represent a true bio-psycho-social paradigm in which sociocultural factors, stressful environments and hormonal fluctuation participate in a complex drama performed on a neurological stage and the result has varied--and as yet incompletely understood--implications for nutrition and health." 
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=are-food-cravings-the-bod

More here as well:
http://health.howstuffworks.com/food-craving2.htm

Answer

Beachmouses post was the kind of idea I had. And regarding the last post by Maria Lorraine (and touched on by others) I totally agree that sometimes you crave things that aren't good for you, but this might be misplaced due to bad diet.

I for one, have the privilege of having a supermarket very close, so I don't often buy food in. This means I get to wander around and pick what I want to eat there and then. I have my favorites of course, but I love walking around Thinkng "mmmm, onions... what can I make with onions" or something like that.

Another factor is that I like to cook. For a while now, I've decided it will be ok to make mac and cheese again (bad for you) but I haven't really had the craving for it. Yesterday I wanted steak and spinach, but compromised on a delicious pizza (goats cheese ham and pepperoni) and some xmas pud.

But I have to say, someimes I see orange juice and think "man, I could do a gallon of that", or find myself going for things that I usually don't like (beetroot? bleagh)

Answer

I definitely think so. I'm not normally much of a beef eater, but every few weeks I would get an insane craving for a nice bloody steak. It was to the point where I would call the husband at work and tell him that if we didn't go out for steak that night, he could sleep in the car. I would get homicidal over it. I've also craved - and bought and cooked - chicken livers. It turned out I was extremely anemic. Since I began iron therapy 6 months ago I've barely touched beef or any kind of liver and have almost no interest in it.

Answer

I craved spinach when I was pregnant...and every once in awhile I still crave it. I buy fresh or frozen and just eat bowls of it. I crave grilled onions sometimes too. 

I have craved salmon and oysters too..big time. Raw oysters. I never crave fruit, sweets, or bread. I do crave pasta sometimes..and potatoes!

Answer

When I was prone to anemia, I regularly had violent cravings for red meat and spinach. It was a remarkably visceral feeling that I went well out of my way to satisfy. I've cleared up the anemia and now when I crave a steak, it's because I want a nice steak. 

I periodically crave OJ and apple cider vinegar in water, but not at the same time. I figure it's some kind of a tuneup of my chemistry. I mean, I adore rose petal tea and coffee, and always have them on hand, but I never crave them, per se.

Answer

I crave grapefruit juice ONLY when I am about to get a cold.

Answer

I'd be interested to see a scientific correlation, but it seems to me that most cravings are not the conscious response to unconscious, internal signals. A lot of people say they crave Vitamin C when they're sick, but if their body was serious about getting Vitamin C, they'd be drawn more to red peppers, broccoli or even parsley, all of which have more Vitamin C than an orange.

Answer

I deffinitally crave what I need..
my mother & I always put outragous amount of salt on our food, my friends always tell me that I am going to have a lot of health issues... but we have both gone to the doctor to make sure that we are ok, and everytime our bloodwork comes out perfect & the doctor always says that "It's just what our bodies need."

Answer

Typcially, I've only craved items during restrictive diets, such as Atkins or South Beach. I can remember fantasizing about eating yogurt, which was pretty random for me...Not because I don't like it, but because it's not my first snack choice. But clearly, I was not getting enough calcium due to the lack of milk in my diet.

These days, my cravings simply have to do with whatever it is I'm in to at the moment, i.e: bubble tea, avocado slices topped with fresh cilantro, lemon cupcakes from Buttercup Bakeshop, and the long/rectangular glazed donut sticks from the coffee carts.

www.thelunchbelle.com

Answer

I have to avoid greens for now due to vitamin K content (and meds). I'm vegan so I generally eat lots of greens and they are my primary source of calcium. Today I was craving almond mylk which is my current primary source of calcium.

Not necessarily a craving, but more of an interest in recipes containing blackstrap molasses (contains iron and b12), and lab tests which show a little (iatragenic) anemia.

Answer

Yes, absolutely. I crave the following on a regular basis: Whataburger double meat and cheese, a large ribeye steak, medium rare; pizza with pepperoni and Italian sausage.
Other than that, few cravings.

Answer

Our dog has been ill, so I have been boiling chicken and steaming rice for her (the leftover stock is for me). For some reason, even with a refrigerator full of wonderful food and a counter overflowing with fresh produce from the farmer's market, I'm craving chicken and rice. In other words, I'm craving dog food.

Answer

I totally get the rare beef cravings -- be it a nice bloody steak or rare roast beef.

I also crave ma po tofu, and I think those Sichuan peppercorns are addictive. Frankly, I crave anything with those. Just the thought of it can make me salivate.

Answer

When I'm stressed i crave alcohol.
There is NO WAY this is what my body needs.

Answer

people DO NOT crave what they need. As said a long time ago in this thread, they crave what evolution programmed them to crave, they crave what we needed as savannah dwelling hominids, where fats and salts and sugars were rare. This anecdotal sort of belief ignores all teh people who crave what is unhealthy for them, as if that was outsider the equation, or all the people who do not crave things they are lacking.

Answer

I have a lot of cravings and it doesn't have a thing to do with what my body needs. It's from reading all these posts in at CH

Answer

Lately been craving strawberries and blackberries can't go a day without them whats my body telling me?

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