Theory About Cravings
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OldAssDude
Posts: 1,436 Member
I have a theory that a craving is your body telling you that it needs something that is contained in the food that you are craving.
I know it sounds strange, and I don't know how, but its just a theory I have.
I know it sounds strange, and I don't know how, but its just a theory I have.
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Replies
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Then I must need salt, all the time. LOL0
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bcalvanese wrote: »I have a theory that a craving is your body telling you that it needs something that is contained in the food that you are craving.
I know it sounds strange, and I don't know how, but its just a theory I have.
your theory has led to a global obesity crisis.0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »I have a theory that a craving is your body telling you that it needs something that is contained in the food that you are craving.
I know it sounds strange, and I don't know how, but its just a theory I have.
your theory has led to a global obesity crisis.
Yep nobody needs excess of the stiff in pop, cake, chios, etc0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »I have a theory that a craving is your body telling you that it needs something that is contained in the food that you are craving.
I know it sounds strange, and I don't know how, but its just a theory I have.
your theory has led to a global obesity crisis.
And a whole lot of people justifying it that way.0 -
This is generally the theory though. Assuming you eat fairly healthy in general, when you have random cravings for out of the blue, say, oranges or peanut butter, it's considered to be your body trying to push you towards where it knows certain nutrients come from.0
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This is generally the theory though. Assuming you eat fairly healthy in general, when you have random cravings for out of the blue, say, oranges or peanut butter, it's considered to be your body trying to push you towards where it knows certain nutrients come from.
Whose theory is this? I know this idea is popular amongst many people, but I'm unaware of any evidence showing that deficiencies or specific needs have been linked to cravings.0 -
I must need Pizza and French Fries all the time then.0
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my theory on cravings is that people generally enjoy pleasure and pleasurable things...thus they crave them.0
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I crave a nice big whopper of a chocolate bar. With nuts. Does that mean I'm crazy?
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janejellyroll wrote: »This is generally the theory though. Assuming you eat fairly healthy in general, when you have random cravings for out of the blue, say, oranges or peanut butter, it's considered to be your body trying to push you towards where it knows certain nutrients come from.
Whose theory is this? I know this idea is popular amongst many people, but I'm unaware of any evidence showing that deficiencies or specific needs have been linked to cravings.
I believe doctors have talked about the theory. I don't have any studies. However, this theory as I understand it applies to people who end up with an eating disorder called pica, which makes them crave rusty nails and other such things. I doubt it applies to the general population. The only other one I've heard is that it's easy to confuse a craving for something sweet for thirst (i.e. you want to eat sweets but it's because you're thirsty).0 -
I'm thinking "no" on this one. Aside from some very good points already brought up, how in the hell is my body supposed to know what nutrients are contained in what foods? So there's a nutrient hidden exclusively in a Taco Bell Mexican Pizza that my body needs specifically at 2 in the morning and can't get from any other source? I call shenanigans.0
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bcalvanese wrote: »I have a theory that a craving is your body telling you that it needs something that is contained in the food that you are craving.
I know it sounds strange, and I don't know how, but its just a theory I have.
I think @kshama2001 espouses the same theory, and that chocolate cravings are caused by a lack of magnesium.0 -
I think I don't put much stock in this theory unless you have pica.0
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janejellyroll wrote: »This is generally the theory though. Assuming you eat fairly healthy in general, when you have random cravings for out of the blue, say, oranges or peanut butter, it's considered to be your body trying to push you towards where it knows certain nutrients come from.
Whose theory is this? I know this idea is popular amongst many people, but I'm unaware of any evidence showing that deficiencies or specific needs have been linked to cravings.
I believe doctors have talked about the theory. I don't have any studies. However, this theory as I understand it applies to people who end up with an eating disorder called pica, which makes them crave rusty nails and other such things. I doubt it applies to the general population. The only other one I've heard is that it's easy to confuse a craving for something sweet for thirst (i.e. you want to eat sweets but it's because you're thirsty).
Outside of pica (where, you're right, there does appear to be a link) there is no evidence that cravings for specific foods are linked to dietary needs. You see it a lot in pop health articles or charts, but I don't think there's any reason to think this is any truer than the theory that we crave things because they taste good to us.
If this was true, you would think that cravings would, for many people, on the most nutritionally dense foods available to us. If my body is pushing me, via cravings, to get certain nutrients, it's doing a poor job compared to how well it could be doing.
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bcalvanese wrote: »I have a theory that a craving is your body telling you that it needs something that is contained in the food that you are craving.
I know it sounds strange, and I don't know how, but its just a theory I have.
I think @kshama2001 espouses the same theory, and that chocolate cravings are caused by a lack of magnesium.
Well, my view is more that looking at deficiencies is one thing to try. I do take magnesium, but I also increased protein in relationship to carbs, and exercise.
While looking for a study, I found this interesting article.
Are food cravings the body's way of telling us that we are lacking certain nutrients?
...Studies suggest that chocolate craving, especially among women, may result from a sense of deprivation or in reaction to stress, peri-menstrual hormonal fluctuation and modulation of neuropeptide concentrations. Regardless of the factor(s) that initiate chocolate cravings in women, the apparent physiological explanations are inconsistently expressed in a diversity of cultures, especially among those that consume large amounts of chocolate. Spanish women, for example, eat relatively large quantities of chocolate and exhibit limited chocolate craving. This is in contrast to many American women who consume relatively little chocolate yet present a strong chocolate craving. Clearly, the relationship between food preferences, mood and the menstrual cycle is complex.
Some investigators have proposed that carbohydrate craving (with resulting consumption) attenuates depression. This theory results from some observations that diet can modulate the serotonergic system in the brain, which is linked to mood. Research that shows administration of naloxone, an opiate antagonist, appears to reduce food intake provides additional evidence for a nutrition-neurological interaction. This effect appears to inhibit mainly the consumption of sweet, high-fat foods such as chocolate. Studies of cannabinoids and antagonism of cannabinoid receptors have shed more light on the complex neurochemistry of selective appetite. In addition, research on satiety or appetite control mechanisms residing in the gastrointestinal tract has led to the identification of an entire spectrum of gut neuropeptides with elaborate central nervous system feedback.
Read more: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-food-cravings-the-bod/0 -
Other hypotheses (not theories) are that what you're always craving is more protein:
http://sydney.edu.au/science/outreach/inspiring/news/cpc.shtml0 -
kristen6350 wrote: »Then I must need salt, all the time. LOL
I thought I wanted salt all the time but it turned out I needed iodine - I stopped using iodized salt and became deficient in iodine once I left an ex and stopped making his favorite, Thai food.
Since I started taking kelp tabs the salt cravings went away. I used to have a little jar of coarse Celtic salt and would nibble at it right out of the jar. But since what I really wanted was iodine and this salt contained none, it did not reduce the craving. But some part of me knew that there was a connection between salt and iodine - I was just using the wrong kind of salt.0 -
I have heard this theory in connection with pregnancy--that pregnant women sometimes crave unusual (to them) foods or combinations of foods because the baby needs those nutrients. Don't think it's factual, though. When pregnant with me, my mom craved COLD pizza and would stick a delivery right into the fridge and wait for it to be cold before eating it. I on the other hand loathe cold pizza, it is a crime against pizza nature.0
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It is true that cravings are your body needing a particular nutrient, not to be confused with your mind having a desire for a succulent delicacy. For instance, people that chew ice often do so because they have an iron deficiency (anemia).0
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cwolfman13 wrote: »my theory on cravings is that people generally enjoy pleasure and pleasurable things...thus they crave them.
This is my theory too. Exactly why I want that second piece of pie right about now. lol
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