What
Meat Cravings Really Mean
by Olivia, registered nurse and health and wellness coach
I was talking to someone the other day who gave me that
Ever heard of Pica? Those with Pica crave paint and dirt and
classic:
all kinds of nonfood and dangerous goodies. Not only do they crave it, they actually eat those things. Some research has
“I would go vegan, but ____”
demonstrated a correlation between Pica and nutrient deficiencies. In some cases, an improvement is achieved once
This time the ‘but’ was because she craves red meat during
the deficiencies have been treated with supplementation.
menstruation, and thinks that means she is/will be anemic.
However, this is far from being ‘always the case’. There are
Now, please don’t think I’m making any assumptions about this gal’s character or intelligence. I have a great deal of respect for her, and outside the ‘vegan thing’, we have very similar ideals. She's truly intelligent with regard to health, which prompts me to question whether this whole ‘needing red meat for periods’ thing is simply another knowledge deficit created by the industrialized gods that be. Or perhaps it became a culturebound belief and then a ‘craving’? How this wives’ tale came to be is irrelevant. What is important is that this misinformation ceases to spread and be believed.
other studies that have shown a nutrient deficiency in Pica, but no improvement when the deficiency was corrected and the nutrient was at normal levels. Furthermore, there are many
other studies which show no nutrient deficiencies in the presence of Pica. So even the craziest, and likely strongest, form of cravings one can experience (Pica):
1. isn't a reliable indicator that there's a nutrient deficiency 2. shows that if a nutrient deficiency exists, it can't be reliably associated with the craving one experiences (because A. correcting the deficiency doesn't consistently make the Pica go away and B. how could we correctly distinguish what nutrient someone might lack if they're eating hair or paint??).
Do we crave nutrients we lack, or not? Physicians at one of the top ten leading medical institutions So, let’s start with whether the body can/does produce
(Cedars Sinai Medical Center) state that there's no reliable or
cravings for essential nutrients which it's deficient in. The
consistent evidence or research supporting that any food
short answer is yes and no, but mostly no.
cravings are related to nutrient deficiencies. This honestly would be enough for me, but let’s explore some other points
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