Are cravings nutritional deficiencies?

ValentineNicole
ValentineNicole Posts: 51 Member
edited November 13 in Food and Nutrition
Why do we get cravings? Are they really nutritional deficiencies? If so, why can we crave the same food for days?
«1

Replies

  • flailx
    flailx Posts: 14 Member
    edited February 2015
    Good question, I've wondered the same thing myself. I find it interesting that after a good workout I crave healthy things.

    It's certainly possible to crave things for multiple days. I also think it's possible to condition yourself to crave something. I've gotten in the habit of grabbing a few almonds just before I head home from work. Now I find myself craving them when it gets close to 5:00pm, even if I'm not hungry at all.
  • WeddedBliss1992
    WeddedBliss1992 Posts: 414 Member
    great question. i don't know but some days i *must* have olives or pickles. so i do wonder if i am in need of sodium.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    I think the answer is "sometimes". I like a half scoop of Vega One in my water after an intense workout. That's got to be good.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    i think maybe in centuries past it could have been, diets were poor and if your body needed something, you would begin to crave it. but in modern times, with most of the civilized world having a reasonably balanced diet, its probably more rare. possible, sure, but i think it would have to be a pretty severe deficiency to cause a craving.



  • ValentineNicole
    ValentineNicole Posts: 51 Member
    Awesome input guys! This is one question I'm always so curious about. I agree @flailx - I do think we condition our cravings sometimes. I drink too much water (gasp) - but honestly sometimes 200-250 ounces in a day. I know i am not necessarily always that thirsty but I must condition myself that if my mouth is even an inkling dry, I want a sip. I can easily go through 2 24 packs of water a week at work alone.
  • PearlAng
    PearlAng Posts: 681 Member
    Could be, but I wouldnt say always.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    well kind of our bodies are designed to extract the most energy from the most caloric dense foods thats why we crave fat and sugar. Salt because in the past it's always been a limiting and hard to find element.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    Sometimes. Other times maybe not. I highly doubt my body ever "needs" anything that's in a hot plate of gooey melted cheddar fries, yet I crave those just about every waking second, lol.
  • SilverRose89
    SilverRose89 Posts: 447 Member
    edited February 2015
    ValentineNicole wrote: »
    Why do we get cravings? Are they really nutritional deficiencies? If so, why can we crave the same food for days?

    If so, I am nutritionally deficient in pizza and cheesecake...


    In all seriousness, yeah I'm sure they can be. Mine seem to be purely emotional though.
  • MindySaysWhaaat
    MindySaysWhaaat Posts: 401 Member
    Sometimes we get cravings because we're deficient, other times I think we crave things if we've told ourselves we can't have them. It's partially why I've adopted the whole "Moderation" style of eating because I don't like to tell myself that there are things I'm not allowed.
  • sarieth05
    sarieth05 Posts: 313 Member
    SilverRose89 wrote: »
    ValentineNicole wrote: »
    Why do we get cravings? Are they really nutritional deficiencies? If so, why can we crave the same food for days?

    If so, I am nutritionally deficient in pizza and cheesecake...


    In all seriousness, yeah I'm sure they can be. Mine seem to be purely emotional though.

    Totally my deficiency. How weird! :p

    Also I have no clue, but I remember there was about a week long period of time where I was getting excruciating leg cramps (this was before I started losing weight and exercising, though) when I was in bed, and they stopped when I started eating more salt during the day - which is what I was having cravings for at the time.

    Sometimes I crave eggs like crazy, and honestly I just really don't like eggs but I know 100% that I don't get enough protein and maybe my body is trying to tell me that.

  • danifo0811
    danifo0811 Posts: 544 Member
    If it is junk food, I think no unless possibly a salt craving.

    If it is something like eggs or tuna, I think I am deficient in something.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    They say you're deficient in Magnesium if you crave chocolate. I get more than enough magnesium and still "crave", or it could be feel like chocolate.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    Pica is real but rare. If you think you are deficient in a nutrient, you should go to your doctor and have blood work done.
  • slondro
    slondro Posts: 45 Member
    I think our bodies do send some cues for us to eat certain things.

    When I began logging my intake on MFP, for instance, I realized I wasn't eating nearly enough fat. Suddenly it made sense that I couldn't put down the jar of peanut butter once I opened it. Now that I'm actively paying attention to my fat intake, while I still love peanut butter, it's much easier to moderate it.
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
    Sometimes, but I do think a distinction can be made between physiological cravings and psychological or emotional cravings. Both are real but I assume you're talking about the former which would only account for a small portion of cravings.

    @callsitlikeiseeit - I believe the modern (Western) diet has been shown to be defficient in many vitimin and minerals because most people don't eat a balanced diet. Access to food has improved significantly - too bad a lot of that is processed and nutrient defficient
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    ValentineNicole wrote: »
    Why do we get cravings? Are they really nutritional deficiencies? If so, why can we crave the same food for days?

    Sometimes, yes. Other times, no, it's just psychological.

  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
    AllOutof_Bubblegum wrote: »
    Sometimes. Other times maybe not. I highly doubt my body ever "needs" anything that's in a hot plate of gooey melted cheddar fries, yet I crave those just about every waking second, lol.

    Gosh I like you.
  • ValentineNicole
    ValentineNicole Posts: 51 Member
    gmallan wrote: »
    Sometimes, but I do think a distinction can be made between physiological cravings and psychological or emotional cravings. Both are real but I assume you're talking about the former which would only account for a small portion of cravings.

    @callsitlikeiseeit - I believe the modern (Western) diet has been shown to be defficient in many vitimin and minerals because most people don't eat a balanced diet. Access to food has improved significantly - too bad a lot of that is processed and nutrient defficient

    Yes exactly. I'm thinking "healthy" food cravings. I get them a lot...

    One week, I can't get enough carrots. Another, suddenly I develop an inkling for a can of tuna that I just can't shake. Some nights, all I want is kale. And most recently, my body is just screaming at me for almonds!
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
    It's an interesting topic because even the healthy food cravings must be partly phsychological. Your brain must somehow be able to make an association between a particular food and a particular nutrient or combination of nutrients.
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
    As my nutritionist tells me, cravings can sometimes be due to nutrients we need, but actually hunger can be due to that as well. But we've got some natural cravings built in to the human species, for fat and sweet tastes, which kind of makes sense when you realize that both of those are full of calories and we want to have something that encourages us to eat more of those.

    Well, we don't need it now, but a few thousand years ago, maybe. :-)

    From a few animal studies, and a couple poorly done human studies, it seems that the body gets pretty good at associating tastes and smells with various nutrients IF they are distinct. Which they usually aren't, for most foods now. Like right now, we can have bread that can have a huge variance in what nutrients we get out of it, so our body gets one set of signals (scent and taste) but not the same results every time.

    But when people and animals alter food habits so they are getting one ingredient at a time, or only a few mixed together, they seem to start to be able to, well, sort of 'figure it out' a bit better. Makes sense, if the body has one set of nutritional payoff associated with one scent and taste, I'd think.

    I actually had to have a hugely restricted diet for medical reasons and I started growing my own herbs (couldn't used bought spices). I used to get the worse cravings for some of these, sometimes, just wanted handfuls of one herb or another. When we went back and started looking over the diet, it turned out that I was usually low in certain nutrients on these days, and the herbs I craved were high in those same nutrients. It was really kind of cool to see, honestly.
  • nesian_twin
    nesian_twin Posts: 198
    They can be but if I crave chocolate, my body doesnt need chocolate, it probably needs fruit. A lot of my cravings are mental thoughts only, not always a physical need. I can tell the difference now, have learnt to "listen" to my body.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    edited February 2015
    I'm going to go with maybe. I think that possibly it might have been when I was craving oranges and grapefruit, but I'm going to go with a firm no for that potato chip craving the other week.
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
    I dunno, it depends. When I'm stressed I crave specific binge friendly foods, but unless I'm fat deficient.... Or possibly fat and calcium deficient? I binge on Kraft singles too often. Also bread-y things.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,616 Member
    ValentineNicole wrote: »
    Why do we get cravings? Are they really nutritional deficiencies? If so, why can we crave the same food for days?

    Cravings can indicate nutritional deficiencies ... but they might not be straightforward and obvious.

    You might crave chocolate ... but what you really need is something to raise your blood sugar level, and a mango or chicken sandwich will do the trick just as well.

    For some time now, I've been craving potato chips, french fries, and all sorts of greasy salty food. I started tracking my calories here 10 days ago, and the most interesting thing I discovered is that my diet (heavy in fresh fruit, veg, and whole grains) is very light on salt. I struggle to reach half the daily recommended value. I started salting my veg and whole grains, and even taking electrolyte tablets on days of heavier exercise, and although I'm still not at my daily recommended value, I'm closer ... and my cravings for greasy salty food have pretty much disappeared.

  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
    @Machka9 my diet is pretty "clean" (for want of a better word) and I add salt to pretty much everything. I've been told to by my trainers before because I cramp up a lot playing sport. If you don't eat much processed food then sodium is something you need to watch
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    shaumom wrote: »
    As my nutritionist tells me, cravings can sometimes be due to nutrients we need, but actually hunger can be due to that as well. But we've got some natural cravings built in to the human species, for fat and sweet tastes, which kind of makes sense when you realize that both of those are full of calories and we want to have something that encourages us to eat more of those.

    Well, we don't need it now, but a few thousand years ago, maybe. :-)

    From a few animal studies, and a couple poorly done human studies, it seems that the body gets pretty good at associating tastes and smells with various nutrients IF they are distinct. Which they usually aren't, for most foods now. Like right now, we can have bread that can have a huge variance in what nutrients we get out of it, so our body gets one set of signals (scent and taste) but not the same results every time.

    But when people and animals alter food habits so they are getting one ingredient at a time, or only a few mixed together, they seem to start to be able to, well, sort of 'figure it out' a bit better. Makes sense, if the body has one set of nutritional payoff associated with one scent and taste, I'd think.

    I actually had to have a hugely restricted diet for medical reasons and I started growing my own herbs (couldn't used bought spices). I used to get the worse cravings for some of these, sometimes, just wanted handfuls of one herb or another. When we went back and started looking over the diet, it turned out that I was usually low in certain nutrients on these days, and the herbs I craved were high in those same nutrients. It was really kind of cool to see, honestly.

    Very interesting post.
  • mrsmuckster
    mrsmuckster Posts: 444 Member
    "They say you're deficient in Magnesium if you crave chocolate. I get more than enough magnesium and still "crave", or it could be feel like chocolate. "

    Interestingly this past week, I was having chocolate cravings, and also having charley horses in my legs at night. I started taking magnesium before I went to bed and both went away :)
  • Jolinia
    Jolinia Posts: 846 Member
    I don't think it's mostly built in, I think you train your brain what to crave by what you eat. At one point I was taking a liquid multivitamin that looked like bottled swamp water. It tasted gross. At first I could barely get it down. The rest of my diet was really poor, I was eating college cafeteria food, gas station food, and working myself to death. After awhile I got to where I woke up craving that vitamin goop every day. I think it's because it was by far the best source of nutrients I was consuming.
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,513 Member
    i have several deficiencys diagnosed via blood work, cant say i get any cravings thou
This discussion has been closed.

Categories