I was just wondering if someone had any idea as to why I crave peanut butter and eat it out of the jar?! Is there something in it my body craves? I know that peanuts are high in protein, monounsaturates and vitamin E, but I've no idea why it's so...addictive!

(P.S. - @ IAAIA - great pic! It's always nice to put a face to the name on a forum! )



Mandy

quietgirl wrote:
G'day Quietgirl.

@ the pic, thanks.

There could be a few different factors at play in why you are craving peanut butter. The article below might explain the reason why for you.

Personally, I eat an organic peanut butter made from raw nuts. It's good stuff, nothing artificial, no additives, etc. One of the only things that I eat that is non-organic is an all natural Afghani bread. I spread a thin layer of peanut butter on it and then add either an avocado or banana on top of it, fold it or roll it up and then munch away. When I was back in Port Macquarie, I was able to get the same quality peanut butter, though I used an organic bread that was really delicious instead of the Afghani bread (didn't have it available in Port).

There are times I don't eat, though not really that often. Personally though, I don't actually have any cravings for it when I am not eating it. Anyway, hope the article helps.

Why People Crave Peanut Butter

There are certain foods and drinks that people crave due to emotions, stress or hunger, but what makes certain foods so desirable? Peanut butter is a commonly craved food that attracts lovers of all foods — salty, sweet, indulgent and protein rich, peanut butter satisfies them all.

Women seem to succomb to cravings more than men do, and it’s all a matter of hormones. Seratonin triggers feelings of happiness and satisfaction. When seratonin is low, the body begs for a pick-me-up, and that usually comes in the form of not-so-healthy snacks or drinks.

Hormonal Fluctuations

You have significant hormonal fluctuations on a month long cycle. Depending on where you fall in your cycle, excess estrogen, or an imbalance of estrogen to progesterone can cause food cravings. That’s why you get kitchen crazy when you have PMS. Those imbalances and low seratonin production causes you to crave feel good foods. Peanut butter provides a satisfying sweet treat, and when combined with the carbs in toast, bread or crackers, it is exactly what your PMS-ing body wants.

Stress and Exhaustion

You juggle a lot in a day: work, family, kids and more. These stressors can cause you to suffer from major stress and a lack sleep. Eating is a comforting act. It’s what you do with friends, what you use to reward yourself, and even conjures up feelings of life when you were younger. So, getting too little sleep or being stressed will cause you to eat higher fat foods. Though peanut butter is a healthy fat, it is higher in fat than most “healthy” foods.

Why Peanut Butter?

Peanut butter is a sweet but salty treat that provides enough protein to keep you full and satisfied. Some theories say that you crave what you are deficient in. In other words, if you are deficient in protein, you’ll crave protein rich foods. There is little scientific evidence to back this theory, but it could explain some of your peanut butter cravings. Protein and fat-rich, these are two nutrients that many people avoid. If you are on an extremely low fat diet, maybe you need some fat! Start keeping a food diary to check it out.

The best way to cure a craving is to give in to it. Keep it within reason to avoid excessive fat and calories. At 190 calories and 16 grams of fat per serving, it’s easy to overdo it. However, a serving is a generous 2 Tbsp. Keep it to 1 tablespoon, and spread it on celery, apple slices or a banana. Those choices keep the calories low and give you a healthy dose of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

www.3fatchicks.com/why-people-crave-peanut-butter/

Thanks very much, IAAIA - very interesting! There are definitely factors in there that I recognise in myself!

Mandy

quietgirl wrote:

Urgh, I ate dairy for the first time in ages yesterday. Having a hangover is deadly when it comes to healthy eating, I suddenly crave the worst, most disgusting foods and have to have them. I felt so rough last night and my tummy was very poorly indeed.

I've not felt like that since I had a kebab

LesleyPumpshaft wrote:
Poor lesley - hope you feel better soon!

I don't drink alcohol (clashes with my various meds!) but the more miserable/tired/ill I feel the more I tend to crave "rubbish" food - it's wierd! I know what you mean about kebab-shop kebabs though - I've not had one in years but the last one I had made me feel pretty queasy!

Mandy

quietgirl wrote:
I don't drink often, but on Saturday I thought why tf not! I know what you mean about feeling tired and crappy and craving 'rubbish' food. It's strange because that's exactly what you don't need at a time like that

The kebab was a wrongun. I have one about once every 3-5 years just to remind myself of just how minging they are!

LesleyPumpshaft wrote:
G'day LesleyPumpshaft.

I was over in the UK between '93 and '97, back when I used to eat meat. I used to love having kebab meat with chips here in Aus, but over there I found that it was shite. The meat was a VERY poor quality and tasted crap, so much so that I didn't eat it after a few times trying it out.

I recall seeing a program about the mad cow disease while staying in Alperton, right next to Wembley. They stated that the meat had been in cold storage for up to 8 years. After such a long period being frozen, I personally don't recognise how it could have nutritional value left in it. You'd be better off eating road kill.

icke_is_right wrote:

LesleyPumpshaft wrote:
Not all kebabs are the same - years ago I went on holiday with some friends including my Iranian friend, Sara, and she made us all proper Middle Eastern kebabs - they were yummy, and did not upset my tummy (oo, I'm a poet and I didn't know it! ).

Mandy

As soon as I get on the ferry back to the UK, when I visit, people start to look deathly ill! They have this white swollen look, which I put down to all sorts of poor quality food. Over here in Germany, the bread is something you could mainly live off and although we have a lot of fatties too, there are masses of fitties. Many people use bikes for transport. I do too. OK, you can get good breads in the UK plus other good food, but the majority is this fluffy stuff with no nutritional value in it. A lot of the UK food is like that. Aussie meat does tend to be out in the wilds and roam. If I was in Aus and eating flesh, there'd be enough road kill in the outback to develop some serious animal protein related illnesses, quite quickly. Lol. But you know what, I think Aussie bad treatment of animals very often extremely shocking. Please don't take this personally but so often northern hemisphere animals eg sheep/cattle are penned up in huge open fields, in blistering temps with absolutely no shade to shelter under. The fields are literally bare apart from dried grass and perhaps a water supply. In South Australia it was incredible. It makes me sick just to think about it.

So far today I've polished off roughly:

2 Coffees
8 Large Bananas

Juiced: 1kg Carrots, 3 large celery stalks with leaves, 800grm nettles

2 Tomatoes, large amount of cucumber, half red pepper salad with pepper, tiny amount of mustard and tiny bit of balsamic
6 pieces of home made spelt bread toasted.

200 grams dried figs.

Now it's nearly 15.00 hrs and I got up at about 08.30 hrs, so there is still a lot of eating to be done. I'm in no way saying that my diet is ideal as it's not purist 80 10 10 or raw, but I's feeling good. As I said I need to give up coffee and ideally I'd like more fruit. There is also alot against grains. Most people will think this insane but just to show, this is what I'm doing at the momento, if anyone is interested. I'm about 6ft tall, and about 77kg, 43 years old. So, I feel OK in a reasonably tight T shirt or with shirt off.