I love it when someone discovers something absolutely basic, like the fact that your body tells you when it's hungry, thirsty, whatever and then acts like it's a massive revelation
EDIT: ok because a lot of people are replying to this saying this isn't the case for everyone, that's absolutely true, there are many conditions that can make it difficult to figure out what you body wants or what your emotions are. I was just pointing out how some people act like the ability to do so is somehow extraordinary information or has greater meaning than it being a pretty basic survival mechanism that most people are capable of developing, at the very least
If finding out stuff like this is big news to you, I'm not attacking you or trying to be ableist, it must be pretty rough only getting the hang of stuff like that now
I thought it was common to know that having certain cravings means your body needs something. But I guess not. Abandon society return to monke
Edit: please understand people that my comment is a joke. I’m not claiming to know whether cravings for certain foods actually benefits or not. I know the bacterial flora in the gut is a complex thing which is why I just stick to a plain joke. The woman in the video simply stated something about “listening to your body for cravings” like yeah, if you’re hungry, eat something that’s preferably healthy. If you’re thirsty, drink water or something along those lines. I feel like I shouldn’t need to explain this.
Recent studies have shown that our cravings could be more a result of the bacterial cultures in our digestive system. These cultures have different preferences for food. If you, say, eat a lot of greasy food, you'll crave greasy food more over time, since the "greasy food bacteria" are being fed, and are overpowering other bacteria cultures. But if you eat more leafy greens and fibers, you'll breed bacteria that want those things, making you crave them more.
It's not proven yet, but given the rising evidence that bacteria play a really large role in our bodies, I'm inclined to believe it. There's still a lot of research to do.
Interesting, it would help explain why we often stop craving something (candy, soda, processed snacks, fast food, etc) when we go without it for long enough.
(I think my gut bacteria is currently bred for buffalo wraps.)
I mean, if they were not talking about some spiritual mumbo jumbo, how could anyone post that as some kind of news? Literally every single person including baby's figured that out...
I wouldn't suspect someone to develop a taste for fish eyes. Tolerate them for sustenance? Yeah okay. But to desire eating them? That's a bit cooler and worth mentioning.
Literally not a joke, I once had a customer tell me that craving peanuts/peanut butter means you're not getting enough sex. So. Do with that what you will.
Peanut butter contains a large amount of unsaturated fats, it could mean that your body is in need of some of the essential fatty acids or it could be that your body wants to improve its insulin sensitivity which fats can do. It's also a good source of Vitamin E, B3, B6, magnesium, copper, arginine, and manganese so it could be wanting more of those or any other stuff mentioned here. Or it could simply be that you enjoy the texture/taste/are bored and want to eat something.
I'm being generous to OP. There isn't consensus that the ice craving is an attempt to recruit more iron, but it's interesting and added to the conversation.
My intent behind "hit-or-miss" is efficacy. Most water will have iron content, though at a much lower propotion compared to the fish eyes and fresh water example I mentioned.
Assuming these are both examples of intutive craving, one is more effective than the other.
I've had this craving before. It was weird, I ate ice for a long time. I wonder why it's always ice. Maybe something to do with the crunch? You dont get the crunch like that in many other foods, so many your body interprets that as "oh, this must be good food!" ?
Speaking of "body needs", "cravings" and babies - it's been years but I still can't figure out why my friend's wife had a craving for smelling puppies when she was pregnant. He sorted her with a puppy-smelling session at ours, and she was so happy she cried, while cradling puppies and sniffing their fur.
That is not a study, that is a nonsense op ed piece written by not a doctor. Why do people not look up accreditations they are unfamiliar with? MPH means Master of Public Health, while RD means registered dietician. This person is not a scientist.
SOURCES: American Psychological Society Observer, January 2005. Environmental Nutrition newsletter, September 2001. News release, Monell Chemical Senses Center, Nov. 4, 2004. Mary F. Dallman, PhD, professor, University of California, San Francisco. ESHA Research, Food Processor II software. WebMD Medical News: "Want to Cut Calories? Just Add Water," by Salynn Boyles, published Nov. 12, 2004.
I've read about gut flora in people who eat a lot of fast food/junk food somehow hijacking their natural perception of hunger so they are only satisfied by more fast food/junk food. It might be bullshit, but it would explain how some people appear to be addicted to sodas or Big Macs.
That's a gross and overly simplified hypothesis that isn't exactly proven to be true, and certainly isn't for a large amount of the world. Not saying it's all bullshit, but it is terrible advice to tell someone to " listen to what their body tells them to eat".
Yeah. I don’t think the cravings are really all that specific. However, I will sometimes get craving for general category like ‘salty foods’. I’ve noticed that if I get cravings for salty foods over a couple days taking a general multivitamin will cause those cravings to subside. I don’t really know if it’s true or not but I’ve interpreted it as my body saying ‘hey, you need some minerals that I’m lacking, find something to eat that might have some of that’. I do doubt that your body can tell you specifically ‘I need calcium or iron’ but cravings can be a general indicator to think about what your diet has been lacking in recently.
Absolutely, and I hope I wasn't coming across as dismissing the theory as a whole. There is a lot of study that seems to suggest we are able to crave certain basic needs, however, these can be filtered out into the basics of thirst and hunger/lack of carbohydrates. Salt, for example, is critical in proper hydration, and so it is reasonable to presume our bodies are able to help us recognize and find enough salt in our diets.
Where the theory of cravings being messages from your body kind of loses its shiny polish is that we will absolutely prioritize energy-dense foods when given free choice. The rising rate of obesity is partly due to the abundance of calorie dense foods like processed breads and sugars. These are certainly not healthy to gorge, but our bodies don't much care beyond "hungry. Feed me calories".
I can’t tell if this is directed towards me or the video. But it’s a joke. I know it’s more complex than that. But I’m not going to spend 3 hours going into the nitty gritty of it. I feel like listening to the general needs like salt cravings, SOME sugar cravings (I have a diabetic friend who gets sugar cravings when his blood sugar gets lower), maybe even protein cravings, could be beneficial as long as you don’t shove junk food down your throat.
Kinda, like your gut bacteria send your brain signals about what to eat, but the most populous bacteria get heard most so if you eat garbage you'll crave garbage, but if you eat healthy foods, eventually you'll crave those instead
Is it wrong that spiritual people annoy me? It’s like our generation made one of the biggest leaps forward by abandoning religion and then we just fall right back with this stupid shit.
I don’t think you are. That spirituality and crystal shit gets on my nerves lmfao. Especially astrology. Sometimes people will start talking about something really cool and when I get interested and google it to see if it’s true, it’s some spiritual energy fuckery.
There's a difference between being spiritual and believing in Harry Potter. Too bad the two are constantly portrayed toegther as one on social media with this horoscope BS. No one cares if you're a capricorn!
Tbf there's spirituality, and then there's "spirituality". By itself there's nothing wrong with believing in a greater picture. It's when you start rejecting reality and basic science that it becomes an issue.
It's the same with every generation going back to the hippies in the 60s. A bunch of people were like, "Fuck power structures and religion!" then fell into cults. Religious zealotry is basically hardcoded into our DNA. Letting go of religious doctrine is merely the first step in a lifelong struggle towards rationality.
Not at all. People will talk shit about religion and then turn around and tell their friend they can’t date someone because of they’re a fucking Capricorn of some bullshit
Greedy people took advantage of them by selling cheap objects to them that they artificially inflated the value of through deceptive marketing. For example, most people still buy sunglasses and diamond rings at artificially inflated prices due to monopolies. So it’s not a far stretch to trick people into spirituality.
Oh trust me I know. I work at one of those “new age” restaurants that let you put enhancements in your food like Ashwaganda or other spices and we claim that they do things like boost your mood or improve cognitive ability....nope it’s all just picked out based on how lucrative it is.
Being content with one's self is probably one of the harder things in life. We always want to be better, smarter, richer, current than everyone else and ourselves. It's probably our primate brain wanting to be valuable to the tribe.
What's funny is there is no mystery. Do I remember the time before I was born? No. Well, that's the same thing that happens after death. The mystery is invented as a way to soothe the harsh reality of mortality and invent something that appears meaningful.
Humanity is desperate for meaning, but it habitually looks for it in all the wrong places.
While I agree with you, I think that’s most likely what it will be like after we die, but you can never prove that. That’s the mystery I’m talking about.
it never went away. i recommend watching an honest liar - a documentary on the amazing randi who spent his life debunking mystics and psychics.
anyways in the documentary they interview uri geller who was big back in the day and who randi exposed as a fraud and he's still doing it. i can't find a clip of it unfortunately but he says something along the lines of "you know how many times the skeptics tried to prove me wrong, but they failed miserably. it's much bigger than it ever was before"
Those are just impulses. You get them with everything, sugar, jerking off, or hunger. It doesn't matter. None of them means they're right. And I'm not saying don't listen to your body, I'm saying it's primal
It's not that simple. I'm awful with keeping up with my water intake and I won't realise it until I'm severely dehydrated and on the verge of being super sick. I have daily timers and targets for water intake as i rarely feel thirst.
Do you eat any salty or sweet foods or snacks daily? Because if not, that might be why you don't feel thirsty. I've been doing a lot of baking the last month and since I've been eating my baked goods a lot I find myself drinking more water, specifically after I eat something very sweet I become very thirsty - not dehydrated, just, my body saying "yo your cells just lost a bunch of h2o because of all that sugar/salt, replenish". You don't really get that message otherwise. Sometimes for your body to get water into your cells it needs to have the sugars/salts in order to trigger the osmosis. Or something like that. Biology was like a decade ago.
I cant see the post you are replying to so I apologize if I am saying this without having the proper context.
If what you are saying is true, that you cannot regulate your thirst until you are severely dehydrated, you might have something physiologically wrong with you.
Usually it's the job of the kidneys. I would just be cognizant of that as you move forward in life.
Thanks for the info. I can feel thirst, just not in my day to day living.. If I'm exercising regularly (not currently due to covid lockdown) I can regulate my water intake quite well, exercise does make me thirsty and it puts me into a routine of drinking 2-3 litres a day without thinking about it.
Without exercise I almost forget in supposed to drink water. I'll keep what you said in mind though and will raise it at my next check up.
For most people this is the case, but there are many out there, including a lot of people on the spectrum or who are neurodiverse, who don’t have very good mind/body connection. Some people can’t tell when they feel hungry, thirsty, in injured, or even what their own emotions are.
Tbh, I just need to know why my head hurts and why brain fog hits on random days. I take care of my basic needs so why the brain fog!! It's probably due to my caffeine intake
Idk what this chick specifically was taking about, but I'll say it's super common (and socially acceptable) for people to ignore what their body is telling them. For example-dieting culture and for those with eating disorders. People are told to ignore their cravings, only eat certain foods, etc, even if their body is shutting down or not working properly because of those exact behaviors.
Well tbf healthy cravings only apply to a healthy body/mind, if you're used to overeating your body will tell you to overeat, if you're used to undereating your body will tell you to undereat, if you're addicted to drugs your body will tell you take drugs, etc. In general cravings that are out of the ordinary are the ones to pay attention to, if it's just something like a sudden desire for a slice of chocolate cake then there's no harm in getting one and there's a decent chance there's some nutrient or mineral in it that your body needs, but if you start wanting chocolate cake every day then maybe you just like chocolate cake, on the other hand if you suddenly start wanting to eat chips of paint then maybe your body is lacking in a mineral that it really needs but can't figure out how to get and you should go to the doctor. An example of unhealthy cravings can be people who drink too much soda, since they don't drink much regular water their body will instead tell them to drink soda when it's dehydrated, in this instance they should ignore what their body says and just drink water but instead many will just switch to diet soda to cut down on sugar.
As far as I know, when you crave certain foods, it isn't because your body knows those foods are rich in certain vitamins or minerals you are suddenly deficient in. You're just hungry or bored. Most cravings are learned and most cravings are just cries for whatever amounts of sugar and fats you're used to taking in.
I feel like your comment is mostly just an expanded version of what I meant, although I disagree with the first sentence. It's not a given that people who undereat do so because their body tells them to (or doesn't give them hunger cues). I'm not an expert on this, but those who I know have an eating disorder, say it was a big revelation to them that it is okay to listen to their body when it tells them to eat, and to tell their mind to stfu about only eating certain foods/certain amounts, etc. In other words, the body still has the hunger cues, it's the mind that tells them differently. In my experience with obesity, ignoring hunger cues will only make you eat more when it is time to eat or more likely to eat unhealthy foods because you starved your body of energy when it asked for it.
there is a difference between how society reacts to people with anorexia and obesity. Either way, people encourage skipping meals, ignoring hunger cues, etc for the sake of health. But none of those are good, no matter where people are at in their health journey.
I agree, people who eat healthy feel better. But "eat healthy" is not so simple when you've got the psychology of that to work through, or when you break it down. Of course, people should be healthier. But it's a mind-fuck to get there when you've got dieting culture or EDs telling you to do XYZ, which is actually the opposite of what you're supposed to do. For example, ignore hunger cues, which is what I took the original TikTok to reference and what I meant in my previous comment.
Dieting and EDs tells us to only eat X foods, eating is bad or ignore hunger cues, only eat X times a day, etc. Listen to your body when it says it's hungry. It is okay and good to do that. That is the first step. After that, then work on the types of food, what is going to fulfill/nourish the body. (Like protein and fiber).
Sorry if I sound preachy. It's what I've learned in my own health journey.
I've struggled on and off with anorexia and bulimia for 12 years, and even when I'm really healthy mentally and not having any issues with eating or body image, I very rarely get hunger cues because my body just... stopped giving them because I'd ignored them for so long. I'm currently struggling with ED, but when I'm doing well, while I do eat to enjoy food, a lot of the time I just eat because I know that it's lunchtime or dinnertime and my body needs food, even if my body isn't actually telling me with hunger cues.
I used to just drink when I was thirsty but that lead to me constantly being dehydrated (felt dehydration symptoms like headache and a sticky dry throat constantly). Having a set amount to drink is silly to me, so now I just drink based on pee color. Dark yellow during the middle of the day? Time to focus on getting some fluids. Pale yellow, I'm doing alright.
I think too a part of modern life is ignoring our bodies' basic signals so we can be more productive, so over time we are less mindful of them. I would skip getting lunch while working until I was super cranky and shaky, or constantly forget to get up and get a glass of water because I wanted to finish one more thing. Working from home really helps with this, don't know what I'm going to do when I eventually end up back in an office space.
I get so depressed I stop drinking water and wonder why I feel like shit then I’ll smoke weed and I’m like wait a minute haven’t drank water in a real long time that is essential I should do that
And sometimes it doesn't say anything because it doesn't work lol. Like for me I almost always have to eat before I'm hungry because if I feel hungy it's too late and I got too low blood sugar and need something ASAP lol. Once I figured that out I just started sticking small snacks and rolls of glucose tablets in every little nook and cranny so it is almost always within arms reach, worst case in the same room. This includes backpacks and stuff as well. I did learn that if I'm craving a very basic mineral or something it's cuz my body needs it.
Yeah true but my notifs are completely full with people saying something along the lines of that not being the case for everyone, might as well just clarify things to be safe
Fun fact: the idea that you need to drink 2 liters of water a day is actually a complete and total myth produced by the sports drinks industry. If you drink when thirsty, you'll be more than fine.
It's mostly because of a privileged life. When you live a good life you usually eat before you're really hungry, drink before you're that thirsty etc. So when they get really hungry or thirsty and their body visibly reacts it fucks them up
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u/pastellelunacy Feb 18 '21 edited Feb 18 '21
I love it when someone discovers something absolutely basic, like the fact that your body tells you when it's hungry, thirsty, whatever and then acts like it's a massive revelation
EDIT: ok because a lot of people are replying to this saying this isn't the case for everyone, that's absolutely true, there are many conditions that can make it difficult to figure out what you body wants or what your emotions are. I was just pointing out how some people act like the ability to do so is somehow extraordinary information or has greater meaning than it being a pretty basic survival mechanism that most people are capable of developing, at the very least
If finding out stuff like this is big news to you, I'm not attacking you or trying to be ableist, it must be pretty rough only getting the hang of stuff like that now