Revealed: What your food cravings say about you

Karen GEORGE

14 May 2015

updated the 6 October 2015 à 23:07

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Salt
Craving salty foods is a sign that sodium levels in the body are low. When you're dehydrated, you start craving salt to stabilize your electrolytes. Exercise, alcohol consumption, and even a high salt diet can all lead to dehydration.

Solution: Stay hydrated throughout the day and keep those salt cravings at bay by drinking 8 glasses of water.
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Chocolate
The desperate urge to gorge on chocolate is a sign your body lacks magnesium - an essential mineral involved in energy production, glucose metabolism, and muscle function. Magnesium levels also lower weeks before we get our period which explains why chocolate cravings is one of the PMS signs.
Solution: Add leafy greens like spinach as well as nuts and seeds to your diet. If you insist on giving in to your chocolate cravings, reach for dark chocolate instead as it is rich in magnesium.
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Sweet
Low energy levels causes our bodies to crave sweet treats for that quick insulin boost. A lack of chromium, a mineral which moves glucose from the bloodstream into the cells to be used for energy is also what contributes to the lethargy and sugar cravings.
Solution: Skip the quick fix candy and go for grapes and apples. Unlike simple sugar, fruictose will fuel your cells while avoiding the post-sugar crash at the same time.
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Starchy Carbohydrates
Carbs are good - in moderation. However a constant craving for bread, pasta, potatoes and the likes could mean your body is lacking in trytophan, an amino acid used to synthesise the chemical serotonin which regulates moods.
Solution: Instead of loading up on starchy carbs, try upping your protein intake with eggs or fish. If you insist on that bowl of pasta, try substituting it with whole grain pasta instead.

Got the urge to munch? Whether you’re craving something sweet or salty, perhaps you should look past the snack and decode what your body is trying to tell you.

Ever get those intense food cravings where you feel like you could devour a whole bucket of chicken wings followed by a tub of ice cream? No shame in admitting to those binge attacks that everyone gets once in a while. It’s only natural.

Cravings are the body’s way of telling us it is missing out on something. By sending hunger pangs to the brain, our bodies can maintain the nutrients we need without going into starvation mode. But if you’re constantly hankering for snacks and unhealthy food, it might be more than the usual emotional eating.

Click through the gallery to find out the possible explanations behind some specific food cravings.

Karen George

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Revealed: What your food cravings say about you

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