Informal Poll

[suspectclass]

I told my sister the other day (in the context of citrus) that if she was craving something, it meant her body needed it. I quickly amended that to only apply to citrus.

What do you think? Are our cravings indications of what's missing, or do they indicate our dependencies? Or maybe they just mean we're really suggestable. Or that our brains are complex, strange organs and cannot be trusted.

Edit: What about other stuff? Does this extend beyond food? EG, sunshine, sex, seeing a particular person, doing a certain activity?

Comments

[nineinchlovely.livejournal.com]

I think it's a crazy mix. I know that I actually literally responded to marketing once. I saw a billboard for grapes and I said "Mmm. I want some grapes." Not really processing that I'd been had until after I'd said it. I also think that as someone who has gone from meateater to veggie, it's about what we're used to also. If someone told me that I'd love tofu, I would have told them to stuff it. Now I can't even imagine eating a steak or a burger. It's weird how our bodies work. I can't remember what a burger tastes like either, oddly now that I think of it. But then again, I do know that when I started testosterone, I craved meat something horrible, so I think it's that we're complex and can't be trusted.

[shipbuilding.livejournal.com]

Especially citrus. Note icon.

[beatgoddess.livejournal.com]

Both, neither, all of the above.

Sometimes, food cravings can be emotional cravings that our body is trying to satisfy via oral input. Sometimes, lusting oranges means the body's putting up the Scurvy Keep Out sign. Sometimes, you crave raisins when your iron count is low.

I've had experience with all of the above, personally.

[thenightrainbow.livejournal.com]

I crave peanut butter when I'm running low on protein.

[laynamarya.livejournal.com]

I think if you have been craving anything for a few days, you need it. But if you have a momentary desire for some kind of food, especially after you have seen an ad for it, it's a whim and a testament to our suggestibility.

[jabberwocki.livejournal.com]

Sorry to be redundant... but this is what we talked about during our Valentine's Day-themed lecture in Biology of the Brain. And I feel like sharing.

The subject: SEX DRIVE.

So we have these super special cells spanning in a network across our body, called our nervous system. The super special cells are called neurons. Some of these neurons monitor levels in our blood. For example, when neurons pick up that our glucose levels in our blood are low, the neurons fire off this information to our thalamus? hypothalamus? the evolutionarily older part of our brain whose function is not monitored or controlled by our consciousness... and then the hypo/thalamus starts to pump the body with chemicals to make us go seek food. We feel a gnawing... and emptiness in our stomach... we will go find food. All of this goes on without our awareness or control. (Yes there are super cool monks who can go sit on a mountain somewhere and not eat for forever and not feel hunger... but my prof's response was that they're still feeling it, they just are dealing with it in a unique way. They can't turn off their "unconscious.")

Some other neurons deal with sex drive. These neurons monitor testosterone levels in the blood. My professor phrased it this way; "when our testosterone levels in the body get too high, our body gets unhappy, and wants to lower them." Too much testosterone makes us uncomfortable, which is nature's way of making us a ticking time bomb. We feel we will go off if we don't relieve the problem. The problem? No sex!

Additional fact: during orgasm, the testosterone level drops dramatically- even more so in males, and more quickly.

So, my bio. prof. would say that our sex drive is an evolutionary biological doping, and we have little/no say in it.

/sharing

I agree; if you crave, your body needs it. In one way or another... it doesn't matter if it's on account of nature/nuture- in my opinion- because they tie in together too tightly.

[littlepunkles.livejournal.com]

I think, unless you're high or drunk, cravings mostly indicate actual needs. That being said, I now have cravings for grapes, a big juicy burger, and testosterone lowering sex.