Food Cravings and What They Mean
Craving Sweets
If you find yourself craving certain carbohydrates - like candy or ice cream - low serotonin levels might be to blame. Sadness, tiredness and depression often leads to a need for sweets.
Supplements such as 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) can help with said cravings by raising your serotonin levels.
Another reason you might be craving sweets is blood sugar fluctuations. When your blood sugar drops your body might start craving sugar, but eating sweets is not the solution, it will just keep adding to the problem. Instead, try adding more fiber to your diet. Whole grains or beans, for example.
Craving Red Meat
Cravings for red meat are more straight forward; your body needs more iron. You can get iron from red meat itself, or you can get it from other sources such as clams, nuts, and spinach.
Vitamin C helps our bodies absorb iron, so adding more of that to your body will also help!
Craving for Coffee
Coffee cravings are also associated with Iron deficiencies. So, as with meat cravings, eat more iron-rich foods instead of getting yourself another cup of coffee.
Craving Salty Food
Stress is often cause of salty food cravings. More accurately, stress-hormone production. One solution for this is reducing stress. Some advocate for meditation, yoga and other relaxation techniques.
Some vitamins also help solve these cravings; such as Vitamin B-5, and Vitamin C.
Craving Greasy Foods
There are plenty of reasons for craving fatty foods.
- You might be experiencing fatty acid deficiency. To solve this problem consume healthy fats. For example nuts, avocado or vegetable oils.
- Emotional responses might also be the cause of craving fat. If you immediately head for the ice cream or pizza when you are stressed or upset, your body becomes used to these types of foods being comfort foods. To stop this you have to get yourself used to doing other things, or eating healthier foods, when you're craving some comfort.
- Another reason might be that you have a fast metabolism! People with faster metabolisms might need more fat to sustain them. So if you're naturally thin, this might be the reason you find yourself craving fatty foods.
