What You’re Food Cravings Really Mean

One may argue that sometimes a chocolate craving simply means you want chocolate…now. But certain cravings, especially when they are intense and regular signal a deficiency or imbalance in your body.

If you understand what it is your body really needs, you can eliminate cravings by treating the cause instead of temporarily satisfying them.

From the regular to the odd, we look at what your cravings are trying to tell you. 

Mind Hunger

Whilst hunger is controlled by your gut, cravings are all in your head. When thinking about food or craving it, three areas in the brain are activated: The hippocampus, insula and caudate.

The hippocampus filters sensory data, storing it into short and long term memory. You crave food you have had before and during a craving those sensory memories you have formed in relation to food will be aroused. Simply thinking about a food item can create a craving. While your body tends to crave healthy foods, the brain goes for high-fat and high-sugar foods.

The insula helps control social emotions by interoperating interpreting? your physical state. Your emotional state impacts your food cravings. Many cravings arise when blood sugar or serotonin levels are low, causing one to feel like they need a pick me up which is quickly satisfied by a sweet snack.

The caudate nucleus helps control the dopamine reward system. The feel good hormones released when food cravings are fulfilled, follow similar neural pathways a drug addict will feel when using drugs.

When you crave food it could be that you’re craving a certain memory, the feeling certain food gives you, or it could be your body signalling that it needs a certain nutrient.

Common Food Cravings

You’re craving Chocolate

Your Body Wants Magnesium

Give it raw cacoa nibs, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, greens or even a Magnesium supplement like 32Gi Trumag or Slow-Mag 

You’re craving white carbs like pasta, bread and pastries

Your Body Wants Chromium

Give it Onions, tomatoes, cinnamon, grapes, apples or sweet potato

You’re craving Cheese

Your Body Wants Essential fatty acids and calcium

Give it Flax oil/seeds, chia seeds, walnuts, Tahini, broccoli, kale and legumes

You’re craving Crisps

Your Body Wants Chloride and essential fatty acids

Give it Celery, olives, tomato, kelp, chia seeds, walnuts and flaxseeds

You’re craving Meat

Your Body Wants Iron

Give it Beans, legumes, spinach, figs, sea weed, cherries and Vitamin C to help your body absorb iron or in this instance, give into your craving and have a piece of meat!

You’re craving Fizzy Drinks

Your Body Wants Calcium

Give it Sesame seeds, kale, legumes and broccoli

You’re craving Sweets

Your Body Wants Tryptophan, Chromium, sulphur, phosphorus or you’re low on blood sugar

Give it Fruit, complex carbohydrates, cinnamon, spirulina, pumpkin seeds, raw cocoa, oatmeal, spinach, apples, onions, kale, cauliflower, cranberries, brazil nuts and lentils

You’re craving Coffee

Your Body Wants Sulphur, iron or phosphorous

Give it Kale, cabbage, horseradish, carob powder, whole grains, pinto beans, lentils, nuts, and cherries.

Unusual Cravings

You’re craving Ice

Your Body Wants Iron

Give it Beans, legumes, meat, figs, spinach, cherries and Vitamin C

You’re craving  Burnt food

Your Body Wants carbon

Give it fresh fruit

You’re craving Acidic food

Your Body Wants Magnesium

Give it raw cacoa nibs, whole grains, beans nuts, seeds, greens or even a Magnesium supplement 

You’re craving Salty food

Your Body Wants chloride or you may be stressed

Give it celery, olives, tomatoes, leafy greens, Vitamin B and C

Sources: Better Raw: What do Food Cravings Say About You?; Care2: What Your Cravings Mean; How Stuff Works: How Food Cravings Work; Jillian Michaels: What do Food Cravings Mean?; Science Daily: Images Of Desire: Brain Regions Activated By Food Craving Overlap With Areas Implicated In Drug Craving