I’m developing a theory about food and obesity. there’s already a theory out there regarding the body’s ability to identify which nutrients it lacks and develop a craving for the food stuffs that will satisfy that nutritional need.

the difficulty comes when all the foods you eat are ‘nutritionally balanced’ or ‘vitamin packed’.  your body can subconsciously take note of what need was satisfied when you ate a particular food, and later on when you need that particular nutrient you will crave that food stuff.  this is explanation that is given for why, as a stereotypical example, pregnant women are claimed to crave ice cream and pickles.  over time, when you are a child and trying new foods, you develop a library of physical sensations that you use as an adult to drive how you behave.  if you ate a  wide variety of foods as a child, you can identify the reactions that you had, and when your body feels like it’s lacking something, it can go back through the physical memories to find the food that satisfied it’s current need.

anecdotally,  there was a day not too long ago where I had an uncontrollable urge for spinach.   Continue reading →