Like most people, I have some pretty serious cravings from time to time. I wondered if it was because my body was deficient in certain nutrients that these foods provide.
Generally speaking, that’s not the case. And that applies whether you’re craving spinach, tacos or Denville Dairy. For women, unexplained cravings can pop up during pregnancy. However, and amazingly, a deficiency of one particular nutrient, iron, can lead people to crave non-food items like dirt and clay (a condition called pica). But aside from this scenario, almost all other cravings are emotional responses to a particular food or food group.
Maybe your diet is too boring, too restrictive, or you simply won’t let yourself have something you like, but feel you shouldn't. These scenarios can easily set the stage for a craving, but minimizing and/or eliminating its effect is achievable. If you can identify the cause of the craving, managing it becomes much easier.
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In other words, if your diet is, in fact, too boring, then try to spice things up a bit while staying within established healthy eating guidelines. If your diet is too restrictive, liberalize a bit. It really can be this simple, but if you’re finding your cravings to be a real challenge, then seek out the counsel of a registered dietitian.
Be healthy.
