What do cravings for certain foods reveal about your health?

And how can craving be eating a type of food, evidence that your body is trying to deliver a certain message to you?

In the following examples what a craving for 8 foods may indicate, according to a report published by Reader's Digest in its Australian version by writer Charlotte Anderson:

1- Craving for snow:

Some people may feel a strong craving to chew on ice, but this could be a sign of anemia.

A 2016 study published in the American Journal of Nursing Sciences included the recommendation that physicians ask patients whether they had ever felt a craving for ice, as a sign of iron deficiency.

This disorder is called peculiar craving (in which a person craves things that have no nutritional value), and it may extend to other unfamiliar and even disgusting desires, such as eating dirt and soap, which are all things associated with anemia.

2- craving chocolate:

If you find yourself constantly searching for chocolate bars, which are some of the most popular foods people crave, then this may be an indication that you are suffering from depression, and that your body is seeking to treat itself by ordering chocolate.

A survey of more than 13,000 people found that those who ate dark chocolate over a 24-hour period decreased their symptoms of depression by 57%.

Chocolate also contains substances such as magnesium and theobromine, which are ingredients that lower stress hormones and help relax muscles.

3- Craving for sweets:

If you dream of eating candy and donuts day and night, this indicates a lack of sleep.

This was shown by a study published in 2018 in the American Journal of Nutritional Medicine, following an experiment that showed that people who enjoyed adequate sleep hours were less likely to consume sugars.

4- Craving for fizzy drinks:

Although fizzy drinks are sweet and attractive, your craving for them may be caused by your need for caffeine.

But there is another unknown reason, which is that this craving may mask your calcium deficiency.

According to a study published in the journal Front Endocrinol, daily consumption of these drinks weakens the bones and lowers calcium and magnesium levels, which leads to a vicious cycle of osteoporosis and an increased desire to consume these drinks.

5- craving potato chips:

According to nutritionist Taylor Newhouse Leahy, French fries and potato chips are two types of foods that are very popular among people, but cravings for them may be a sign of a lack of healthy fats in the body, specifically a lack of omega-3 fatty acids.

In return, we can get healthy fats from foods like salmon, fatty fish, avocados, nuts and olive oil.

6- Craving for water:

Feeling very thirsty is an alert that the body is dehydrated and needs a lot of water.

But feeling constantly thirsty and craving to drink water may be a sign of something more dangerous: diabetes.

Excessive thirst and urination are among the early warning signs of disturbance of insulin levels in the body, according to the American Diabetes Association, and this is due to the fact that high levels of glucose in the blood makes the kidneys overactive to analyze this substance.

7- Craving salty baked goods:

Craving for salty foods may be a sign of Addison's disease - adrenal insufficiency - or Bartter syndrome, especially if this craving is accompanied by other symptoms such as extreme fatigue, weight loss, and skin discoloration.

And Barter's syndrome is a group of kidney disorders that cause an imbalance of potassium, sodium and chloride.

8- Craving to Eat Everything:

The author says that cravings for any food, especially sweets and fast food, may be seen as just a feeling of hunger, but in fact it may be evidence of a lack of water in the body.

Feeling thirsty is actually the last sign of dehydration, and there are several warnings that the body makes before that.