Does your body "know" what you should eat?

[sawdust]

Especially for those of you who have a good understanding of the foods that work and don't work for you, I am curious if you also have strong feelings about certain foods on certain days?

I flared a little more than a month ago and immediately returned to the low residue / low fiber diet I know works for me. But, I am finding that I generally know from day-to-day what's a good idea and what isn't as I look to add some other foods back into the mix. I don't really think that it's a real calculated scientific reasoning that I've come to over time, but rather, it just feels like my body knows what to do. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

Now, don't get me wrong, I crave lots of foods that are a bad idea and pass on those cravings because they're somehow different. I watched the Man vs Food guy eat a 4lb burrito the other day on tv, but of course, this would fall in the catastrophe category.

I suppose I am curious about this because while it seems amazing to me, it also makes planning meals, packing lunches, and going grocery shopping difficult. A little inconvenience in those categories is a fine trade for knowing what to do, I suppose. Interested to hear your thoughts.

 

[katiesue1506]

I hate fruits, but last night I was craving apples and peaches. I think its just my body's way of telling me "hey... you should really probably eat this"

I have weird craving like that all the time. I'm still on an egg kick... probably just needing protein.

 

[Domsmom]

I think our bodies know a lot more than we give them credit for. I'm also of the thinking that some of the issues related to Crohn's are caused by the way we eat. Sometimes what our body knows does not relay to our brain though

 

[xX_LittleMissValentine_Xx]

I agree, you crave and fancy what you need.
But generally I find it puts me off food completely. Even when I'm healthy I find it really hard to decide what to eat and I can walk around a whole supermarket and not want anything!
But yeah, If you have a stomach pain you just don't want somthing that you know is going to make it worse!
x

 

[Rebecca85]

I do go through periods where I constantly want a certain food, and will eat it as often as possible until one day I have had enough. Like BC (before Crohn's) I went through a pickled onion phase and would just eat them out of the jar. Later, on Pred, I craved hot buttered toast and ate it at least twice a day. I did wonder if there was a reason for it, because these cravings last for weeks (I think the toast lasted from going on pred in April, to going on holiday in August!) not like 'oh I fancy a bit of that' but more like pregnancy cravings (I imagine, never actually been pregnant).

 

[sawdust]

I've been all about tuna of late. I must be in need of protein... or mercury.

 

[Miss Spencer]

Yes, my body "knows" what I should eat.

Trouble is, I don't always listen to what it says.

I sometimes have emotionally eating, rather than sensible eating. And that is where the problems occur.

The other day I was craving juicy ripe organic peaches and water. If I had eaten these, everything would have been OK.

The chocolate and red wine I chose to consume on an emotional level (i.e.) stressed after work.....left me in pain and kicking myself for being so stupid.

Before I consumed them, I said I will no doubt regret it later. And I did.

Next day I was still craving juicy ripe organic peaches and water, I listened to my body, consumed them and everything was fine.

When I ate a lot of crap unhealthy foods, I rarely picked up on what my body was saying. Now I eat purer foods, the message gets through loud and clear.

Just need to listen and act on it more.

 

[annak87]

I just had this conversation with my Mom the other day! I find myself craving things and can sometimes feel my body just needing certain foods. A lot of times meat, and even the thought of eating meat, can make me nauseous so I tend to miss out on protein. A few days of that and my body feels like it's begging for some eggs or chicken. Recent blood work showed I was low on potassium. I crave potatoes alllll the time and my Doctor said potatoes, as well as bananas and orange juice, are the best ways to get potassium. Maybe if we listened to these cravings more often we'd feel a little better in the long run : )

 

[outlier]

Maybe other peoples bodies do, mine is clueless, either that or my stomach has declared war on the rest of my body.
90% of things I crave give me a stomachache.

There is also what i've been calling the one more cookie conundrum, this makes it sound less evil then the one more sip of coffee, or one more slice of apple conundrum. I don't feel full, and since I'm underweight. I think why not have a second cookie. 15 min. later I have a killer stomachache. If i had waited, and remember that my body needs extra time to decide if it's full. I would have been fine. But want one more bite, and given in and then pay.

In a neuropsychology class I took college. I remember learning, your body only craves a small number of items, but then your brain filters those cravings into food items. but i can't remember which items it was.

 

[krbsmom]

I think my body knows what I need. I started craving pineapple a few wks ago , didn't know till reading on here it was an anti inflammatory and just found out last wk my crohns is still active............ thats spells it out pretty clear to me, mainly cause ive never been a big fan of pineapple.

 

[endibd]

I believe your body knows what to eat, and it's not really that imporant today.

But, and it's a big but, that sense of what to eat is inate to the human body based on what is available in nature, and is meant to be a survival instinct, not based on what is available in the grocery store shelf, and advertising.

When you want sweet you need carbs. When you want salty you need greens and veg. Sweet and salty taste great, and are great for you. Problem is that sweet is fruit, and that salty are vegetables, not a can of something or a box of 'food'. The things we like, if we find that taste in nature, will be good for us, sweet and salty included.

The more overriding urge is hunger that drives us to eat anything to fill up, and it's all good for you at that point. Again though, with that big but, based on the stipulation we're running around in a jungle or in a field somewhere and eating something that is alive, raw, and fresh, or happens to be hopping by.

Based on past experiences we also build up a catalogue. Though the line between perceived or real I don't think is part of that catalogue. Do you crave something because of a commercial you saw, something you read, an addiction to sugar (read starches), or a past positive or negative real experience?

Problem with that kind of catalogue is the grocery store shelf, and that many people eat based on emotion. So who's to say if that particular craving for whatever it may be, comes from emotion or comes from a different place.

 

[happytummy]

Sawdust; I find this absolutely true. Certain foods feel so good when I'm eating them, especially during a flare-up. Bananas are my super-food; I can feel good vibes running through my body like when you hear a piece of music you connect with. There's a butternut squash, carrot & ginger soup that does this to me as well; it's super healthy and my body loves it.

It's a hard balance too, because packaged junk foods are so easy to eat and chemically engineered to appeal to our tastes, but they're practically poison. Sweet, salty & tasty poison!