Decode your cravings!

The urge to scoff is a window into your nutritional needs and your personality!

WHEN YOU CRAVE SALTY FOOD
If nothing but the saltiest chip will do, you may have a mineral deficiency. Studies have shown that women who eat low-calcium diets want salty foods. Animal studies have found that a lack of potassium, calcium and iron causes test subjects to devour table salt. Salt lovers have an ‘external focus of control’, meaning they believe that outside forces, not their own actions, determine their fate.

WHEN YOU CRAVE CHOCOLATE
Chocolate stimulates the release of serotonin. It’s basically an antidepressant in dessert form that your body instinctively seeks when your happy chemicals are bottoming out and you need a quick lift. Dark chocolate lovers are the life of the party, a social butterfly and right in the mix of the team project at work. Milk chocolate lovers are quiet, introspective. Your idea of a perfect afternoon is a solo run or sitting quietly with a good book.

WHEN YOU CRAVE SPICY FOOD
If you’re having trouble cooling down, your body may crave a fiery taste to make you perspire, which helps explain why Mexican food is popular even when temperatures are scorching. Some research also suggests that people become addicted to the rush of spicy food – spiked blood pressure, accelerated heart rate and rapid breathing. If you like spicy food you are a perfectionist. You love order, dislike wasting time and sweat the details!

WHEN YOU CRAVE LOLLIES
This is a lot like a chocolate craving – lusting after sweets could indicate that you’re looking to boost your mood or that you are low in energy. Sugar fiends tend to walk towards the wild side. They like to stand out and feel special.

WHEN YOU CRAVE SWEET AND SALTY
Your body needs glucose and sodium to function properly, so when the cells get sluggish and you get tired, you reach for the chocolate-covered pretzels. What does it say about you? You’re a loner, but a whiz too. You tend to be creative but private, to the point where sometimes you appear standoffish.

Oxygen Magazine May 2010