Here's a weird thing that seems to be happen pretty frequently...I will hit the middle of the evening and I start panging for calcium-related items: milk, cheese, yogurt and I can't figure out if this is because my caffeine intake is high or if its something that's unique to diabetes or if its just a weird thing that happens. Does anyone experience this? And does anyone know WHY it might be occurring? My Doctors seem to think that its my body signaling what it needs. But it seems kinda strange given that I make sure that I'm meeting my recommended daily dosage of those items and am still experiencing these. Thoughts anyone?
hi Matt, you want a guess? it's the fat. milk fat is delicious and satisfying. you are not craving chalk so I am guessing calcium is secondary. =)
Don't count on hunger as a sign you need to eat. Humans eat more than they need to if it is available. Previous theories stating humans would only eat as much as they needed has largely been proved wrong. Second, research has demonstrated that humans have taste preferences for sweet, fatty, or salty tastes, while avoiding bitter flavors. The only vitamin/mineral animals can taste directly is sodium, which leads to them eating more sodium rich foods. Deficieny in anything else (for example, calcium) has to be learned through trial and error. Typically, human diets are too varied to allow this to happen. So if you're meeting all of your daily allowances, I'm betting it is good old fashioned worthless hunger.
Matt, did you see the post called "Craving Milk?" Some interesting feedback there also.
Matt - the nurse in me thinks it's not calcium at all that you are craving but rather protein. Makes sense it helps so much with stabilizing your sugars overnight.
milk is full of sugar, fat, and protein. You may just need more water too if your caffeine and sugar in take is on the rise.
P.S. Broccoli has 4x more calcium then milk, I'd head for the broccoli.