How to fight ranch cravings?

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firstsip
firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm sure this exists, but I'm always looking for more ideas, and I've never really opened a topic on here before...

My number one craving is ranch dressing. Be it with fried food, vegetables, salad... I crave ranch dressing. I have made homemade dressings, made it low-fat/low-cal, etc... but nonetheless, I find it is my number one craving that it is ALL CONSUMING.

Does anyone else experience this? Did you figure out if it was really a craving for something else, or seemed to fight this craving with another food?

Also: I'm usually pretty good at figuring out what I'm deficient in with my cravings, especially since I frequently get my blood drawn for thyroid related issues (ex: I crave refried beans almost every "time of the month" when I'm losing iron). Any idea if I'm missing something contributing to this?

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  • HausfrauB
    HausfrauB Posts: 104 Member
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    Move outside of the US. lol

    Ranch IS delicious, but since we moved to Europe it is a rare treat mailed from home in dry packets. I've learned that carrot sticks actually taste pretty good without a dunk into ranch first. :)

    I find that I'm using a lot more garlic for adding flavor in general. Instead of ranch dressing I often make an asian-ish dressing with sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, garlic, soy sauce, honey and vinegar.

    I think ranch tastes so good because the flavor is strong without being overwhelming; maybe that's why garlic has become my go to flavor now.

    Okay...I'm getting hungry for ranch now. :P

    As to the craving, maybe it's one or two of the ingredients in ranch that you are really wanting. The first five ingredients are: maltodextrin, salt, monosodium glutamate (sounds like more salt), dried onion, dried garlic...

    Sorry that I can't be more helpful than that. :)
  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
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    You actually did! I eat quite a bit of garlic (I'm an Italian girl living in a heavy Middle-Eastern population), but my fiance has blood pressure issues so we eat virtually no salt... I'm wondering if this is just a salt craving in disguise! I'll test it out.

    Thanks!
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    If you want to stop craving ranch, do some research on it. It's primarily canola oil, which is a genetically modified aritifical food that never existed in nature. Pretty gross right?
  • Foodie711711
    Foodie711711 Posts: 137 Member
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    As a healty alternative you can mix a ranch seasoning packet with plain greek yogurt. Hope this helps!
  • iuew
    iuew Posts: 624 Member
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    fat free ranch isn't bad.
  • jiddu17
    jiddu17 Posts: 187 Member
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    I would like to believe that the craving is Hidden Valley's way of keeping me buying more. Which pisses me off. Lol. As for how to fight it, I can only recommend the following two things: (And btw, for me, the only good ranch is HVR and some coney islands)
    1) Buy the HVR dry packet, 8oz reduced Fat Sour Cream. 8 oz Fat Free Sour Cream and mix all of them together. Save your calories and Sodium to allow yourself this treat. No reason to deny yourself, moderation is key!
    2) Use the dry packet as a seasoning on potatoes, Chicken or homemade pizza. Even though you have some salt limitations you have to keep in check, there's no reason you can't put the dry on 1/2 of whatever you are making.

    I find the dry seasoning has all of the flavor I am looking for, in concentration, so less is needed. But yeah, that salt is a little intimidating.
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    fat free ranch isn't bad.

    Often the fat free options have a lot of sugar. The only good thing about normal ranch dressing is that it's low in sugar.
  • Miss_Suzylee
    Miss_Suzylee Posts: 26
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    Fat sour cream with some of the hidden valley ranch seasoning dip packet........that's what I use to dip veggies in when I want some ranch
  • noneya2010
    noneya2010 Posts: 446 Member
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    As a healty alternative you can mix a ranch seasoning packet with plain greek yogurt. Hope this helps!

    I do this and send it through my blender and it is a wonderful alternative!! Yum!
  • HausfrauB
    HausfrauB Posts: 104 Member
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    Since you think it may be a salt craving...AND you say you are living in a place with lots of people from the Middle East, I have to ask...

    Have you ever tried Ayran? It's a Turkish drink of yogurt, water and salt--and it's easy on the calories too (about 35-40 for 3.5 ounces).

    Creamy and salty...yum! But my husband hates it! haha
  • MadameButtafly84
    MadameButtafly84 Posts: 1
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    I actually discussed this with my doctor about a year ago i was dousing everything in ranch with my doctor's help we discovered i have severe GI problems one being ulcers and ranch settles ulcers. I have tried in the past year to curb the craving of ranch several ways and last month read a topic on breath mints ( they were originally created as stomach medicine but people discovered they make your breath smell good so they were dubbed breath mints instead of stomach mints) so now my addiction is breath mints you have to do your homework on them though some are very high in calories fats and sugars but it does work to curb the ranch thing if it is indeed a stomach issue that is making you crave it.
  • Shropshire1959
    Shropshire1959 Posts: 982 Member
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    If it's not in your larder .. you can't put it on your plate!!

    Stop buying hite :-p
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    If you want to stop craving ranch, do some research on it. It's primarily canola oil, which is a genetically modified aritifical food that never existed in nature. Pretty gross right?
    Uh, no. Not gross at all. Also not true. Canola seeds were created through good old fashioned cross breeding, the same way we humans have created pretty much every food that currently exists. Technically cross breeding is genetic modification, but it's genetic modification we've been doing for thousands of years.

    Also, using that definition, none of the food we eat today has existed in nature, until we literally created them. Cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, chicken, cows, pigs, nothing we eat today existed as they are even a couple hundred years ago. Carrots used to be purple. We made them orange about 300 years ago.

    And why the hell are people bumping 2 year old threads?
  • Shropshire1959
    Shropshire1959 Posts: 982 Member
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    And why the hell are people bumping 2 year old threads?

    Why not .. if someone has something that they want to add? or even moan about people moaning about people bumping old threads :huh:
  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
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    HEEEY, this is my old thread!

    Pssh, canola oil... as if I DIDN'T make homemade ranch, because it tastes way better. This was leftover salt cravings from my adrenal insufficiency, btw ;)

    I don't crave anything salty anymore because that's been taken care of.

    But I still love ranch.
  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
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    And why the hell are people bumping 2 year old threads?

    Why not .. if someone has something that they want to add? or even moan about people moaning about people bumping old threads :huh:

    Oh, I didn't realize saying someone's food preference was "****e" was a helpful add to the dead conversation :wink:
  • adam_willard12
    adam_willard12 Posts: 12 Member
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    Bolt House Farms Classic Ranch - Its made from yogurt - 45 cal per serving (located by the lettuce, carrots, mushrooms area in your typical grocery)
  • Shropshire1959
    Shropshire1959 Posts: 982 Member
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    And why the hell are people bumping 2 year old threads?

    Why not .. if someone has something that they want to add? or even moan about people moaning about people bumping old threads :huh:

    Oh, I didn't realize saying someone's food preference was "****e" was a helpful add to the dead conversation :wink:

    Seems like you are confusing me for someone else :tongue:
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    If you want to stop craving ranch, do some research on it. It's primarily canola oil, which is a genetically modified aritifical food that never existed in nature. Pretty gross right?
    Uh, no. Not gross at all. Also not true. Canola seeds were created through good old fashioned cross breeding, the same way we humans have created pretty much every food that currently exists. Technically cross breeding is genetic modification, but it's genetic modification we've been doing for thousands of years.

    Also, using that definition, none of the food we eat today has existed in nature, until we literally created them. Cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, chicken, cows, pigs, nothing we eat today existed as they are even a couple hundred years ago. Carrots used to be purple. We made them orange about 300 years ago.

    And why the hell are people bumping 2 year old threads?

    Well excuse me for trying to help him get over his cravings for Ranch dressing! I will concede that I'm not aware of any strong evidence that Canola oil is unhealthy. However, I still think it's pretty gross. And I have no idea why these 2 year old threads are getting bumped.
  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
    Options
    If you want to stop craving ranch, do some research on it. It's primarily canola oil, which is a genetically modified aritifical food that never existed in nature. Pretty gross right?
    Uh, no. Not gross at all. Also not true. Canola seeds were created through good old fashioned cross breeding, the same way we humans have created pretty much every food that currently exists. Technically cross breeding is genetic modification, but it's genetic modification we've been doing for thousands of years.

    Also, using that definition, none of the food we eat today has existed in nature, until we literally created them. Cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, chicken, cows, pigs, nothing we eat today existed as they are even a couple hundred years ago. Carrots used to be purple. We made them orange about 300 years ago.

    And why the hell are people bumping 2 year old threads?

    Well excuse me for trying to help him get over his cravings for Ranch dressing! I will concede that I'm not aware of any strong evidence that Canola oil is unhealthy. However, I still think it's pretty gross. And I have no idea why these 2 year old threads are getting bumped.

    Him? Missed the "I make homemade dressing" in the OP?

    :grumble:

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