Similar questions with crave, food

MSG in water dissolves into sodium and glutamate. Glutamate is a naturally occurring amino acid that is found in meat, mushrooms, seaweed, tomatoes, etc. It happens to trigger specific taste buds, creating the taste known as "umami" or "savory." Umami is one of the five basic tastes, along with sweet, sour, bitter and salty. (Betcha didn't know that!)

It can make you crave food that contains it the same way salt, sugar, basalmic vinegar or basil can make you crave certain foods, by making it taste good.

For some reason MSG seems to cause lots of fear and worry. Maybe it is the name; it sounds very chemical. (Perhaps sugar would do the same if we called it "dextrose" all the time.) There were lots of rumors of "Chinese restaurant syndrome" but nobody has actually shown it exists.

Though glutamate is natural and is actually an essential nutrient, eating lots of it can make the level of glutamate spike in your blood, which may have some negative effects in children, but again, nobody has managed to establish that.

If you are worried, you can always do without. (Lots of Asian cooking, especially Japanese, uses seaweed to create the same taste effect, so if you are dead-set on going without, look at your ingredients carefully.) But I wouldn't worry. You should probably worry about eating too much fat or salt instead. ;-)

However, people do have them. While an exact cause of a craving is not fully understood, there are several theories attributed to why they may happen:

1. Deprivation Theory- Cravings are caused by restricting or limiting foods in your diet. You tend to crave what you can’t have! Studies have shown that food denial may lead to overeating. Overeating leads to guilty feelings which in turn, leads to overeating and more guilt. It then becomes a viscous cycle. Sometimes eating a reasonable portion of a forbidden food will help break the cycle and prevent cravings.
2. Hormone Theory- Hormonal changes may be involved. Levels of neurochemical serotonin may fall leading to depression, irritability and a craving for high carbohydrate foods (i.e. candies, etc). After eating carbohydrates, the serotonin starts to rise, causing you to feel calm and relaxed.
3. Brain Chemical Theory- Two specific brain chemicals, neuropeptide (NPY) and galanin, may affect cravings. NPY peaks in the morning and during dieting and stress. NPY increases carbohydrate cravings. Galanin peaks more at night. It increases fat intake. Eating a variety of foods at all meals may prevent cravings.
4. Stress Response Theory- This theory causes the increased desire for carbohydrate-type foods for quick energy in the ‘fight or flight’ response. Did you know that ‘stressed’ is ‘desserts’ spelled backwards????

Women report more food cravings than men do. Elderly people report fewer cravings than younger people do. Women also crave more sugar/fat-type foods like cake, cookies, chocolate candy and ice cream. Men crave more protein/fat-type foods like pizza, nuts, burgers and potato chips.

 

Here is the link to a site that I think you'll find very informative (I did!)

http://www.henrico.k12.va.us/HS/Godwin/info/food/cravings.html

 

 

 

Sources: http://www.henrico.k12.va.us/HS/Godwin/info/food/cravings.html

I don't crave McDonald's. In fact, today I have to go to the optometrist. In the building there are burger joints, pizza places, etc. but I have absolutely no desire to go there. I'm desperately trying to find something yummy and healthy and am willing to take the time do eat it. Why? Because I love being alive, and part of that is treating my body properly. Once you realize that slowing down isn't that bad, that the world won't crumble under your feet, life gets a lot better.

Sources: My opinion