Have you ever felt a deep urge for a particular food? This is called food craving that can be defined as a powerful desire for certain food. It happens to everybody. You would crave tangy and spicy chaat, sugary treats, freezing creamy ice-cream or chocolates.
Such stuff is always on the favourite list but at times you need it really bad. It isn’t just a whim; your body is trying to tell you that it has a deficiency of certain nutrients.
Ok now let me tell you what different food cravings actually mean.
• Sweets- Craving sweets a lot these days? Now, who would say no to Gulab Jamun and jalebi? But when the urge goes over the top it indicates blood sugar imbalances and a deficiency of chromium, carbon, phosphorus, sulphur and tryptophan in your body. By the way tryptophan is an amino acid needed for normal growth in infants and for nitrogen balance in adults.
So, you must be wondering what is the way out? Try including the following in your diet:
• Grapes
• Dried beans
• Cheese
• Fresh fruit
• Chicken
• Fish
• Eggs
• Dairy
• Legumes
• Nuts
• Cabbage
• Sweet potato
• Spinach
Vegetarians can get nutrition form vegetarian sources.
• Aerated drinks- sometimes you really want to have that can of chilled carbonated drink very badly. What does that mean? It means you lack calcium. Try including the following in your diet:
• Milk
• cheese and yogurt
• Green leafy vegetables
• Coffee- Do you guzzle down several cups in a day?? Or you can’t stay without coffee? Coffee cravings point to just one thing- deficiency of phosphorus, sulphur, salt and iron.
Try including the following in your diet:
• Fish
• Eggs
• Dairy
• Chicken
• Red peppers
• Garlic
• Onion
• Greens
• Sea salt
• Salty snacks- This is a sign of lack of chloride in your body. Chloride is needed to keep the proper balance of body fluids. It is an essential part of digestive (stomach) juices. Try including the following in your diet:
• Tomatoes
• Lettuce
• Celery
• Olives
• Unrefined sea salt
• Chocolate- Hmmm one of the most common cravings indicates the need for magnesium, chromium, B-vitamins and/or essential fatty acids. Try indulging in the darkest chocolate you can find ( in moderation of course!!). Chocolates releases serotonin which is a mood boosting hormone. More than food you need emotional comfort when you crave chocolates. Reach out for a family member, friend, pet or any other activity that makes you feel good.
• Ice, chalk, clay and dirt- It may sound disgusting but some people tend to eat all such stuff!! This common mostly in children but some adults too do it. It plainly indicates that there is a mineral or iron deficiency in the body. Try including the following in your diet:
• green leafy vegetables
• legumes
• nuts and seeds
I hope this article would help. A little advice from my side: don’t ignore the voice of the body. Listen carefully to what it is trying to tell you. Even a trivial matter can be an underlying nutrient deficiency.
Madhuri Asbe
PDipNutDiet