We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

Making SENSE out of CRAVINGS????

Jill_newimprovedversion
Jill_newimprovedversion Posts: 988 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I APOLOGIZE in advance if his subject's been covered- couldn't find in SEARCH


Is there ANY correlation between different TYPES of CRAVINGS
(salty, sweet, sour, ect)
and something your body is SEEKING?
......PARTICULARLY when it's things you don't *normally* crave???

ANY sources IN ADDITION to opinions would be GREATLY appreciated

Replies

  • ConstableOdo
    ConstableOdo Posts: 104
    A lot of things claim there is a correlation but I've found no good studies on it. So, maybe. I have found that, for me, cravings are a form of extinction burst.

    As a simple explanation, your body is designed to seek food. It's a survival thing. When you eat you get feel-good hormones. When you stop eating as much you don't get that chemical reward. The extinction burst tries to get you back into the reward zone. I found that after I rode my burst, the cravings went away and it became more of a "I would like chocolate today" but I felt no need of it.

    You might have a bunch of bursts spaced out, but just try to ride them out and get past them.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    No idea if there is any science behind this.

    http://healthwellness808.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/cravings1.jpg

    I have found that chocolate cravings (for me) are assuaged by eating nuts. And since I started taking a magnesium supplement I don't get the chocolate craving at all.
  • ConstableOdo
    ConstableOdo Posts: 104
    No idea if there is any science behind this.

    http://healthwellness808.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/cravings1.jpg

    I have found that chocolate cravings (for me) are assuaged by eating nuts. And since I started taking a magnesium supplement I don't get the chocolate craving at all.

    I would sort of lean towards that being junk science because of the stuff at the end. PMS is hormonal in nature and while zinc might help, the things they recommend have high levels of iron in them.

    Also, Tobacco cravings are habitual and chemical in nature. If you suggest to someone going cold turkey that nuts will make their day better they might knock you out. =D

    I have no proof that it's junk science but it has no sources and some of what they say doesn't make sense.
  • PurpleEpiphany
    PurpleEpiphany Posts: 96
    Often cravings are telling us about something our body needs, it's just difficult to know exactly what element of the craving is that. Added to that is the fact that we're programmed to crave salt, sugar, fat, things that aren't found as easily in nature (going back to our days as foragers), sometimes it's tough to tell when a craving is 'good' or not.

    Personally I've found that when I greatly reduce my intake of refined sugars and carbs, I can trust my cravings a bit more. For example, like what was said above I've found I tend to crave tomatoes during that TOM...my guess is the iron to combat the natural mild anemic tendencies then.
  • Jill_newimprovedversion
    Jill_newimprovedversion Posts: 988 Member
    Personally I've found that when I greatly reduce my intake of refined sugars and carbs, I can trust my cravings a bit more. For example, like what was said above I've found I tend to crave tomatoes during that TOM...my guess is the iron to combat the natural mild anemic tendencies then.

    THAT makes a LOT of sense. A LOT of sense. Thank you.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    No idea if there is any science behind this.

    http://healthwellness808.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/cravings1.jpg

    I have found that chocolate cravings (for me) are assuaged by eating nuts. And since I started taking a magnesium supplement I don't get the chocolate craving at all.

    I would sort of lean towards that being junk science because of the stuff at the end. PMS is hormonal in nature and while zinc might help, the things they recommend have high levels of iron in them.

    Also, Tobacco cravings are habitual and chemical in nature. If you suggest to someone going cold turkey that nuts will make their day better they might knock you out. =D

    I have no proof that it's junk science but it has no sources and some of what they say doesn't make sense.
    Some of it is clearly not right, like the tobacco. That just seems silly. But some of it could be based on something real... or not. Doesn't hurt to try - as I said the chocolate/nuts thing works for me. I don't really get the other cravings so I can't try them out.
  • devonette
    devonette Posts: 263 Member
    I've been reading some things that say if you eat junk foods (chocolate, chips, sweet things, salty things) when you are very hungry, you will have strong cravings for them at other times. If you eat them after a meal when you are more full, you will eat less of them because you are full and you won't have the strong cravings for them at other times because your brain won't recognise them as something to appease hunger. Not sure if this is scientific or just someone's theory, but it makes sense in a strange sort of way.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories