Salt vs. Sugar, what do you crave??

[thepainterdoug]

Im sorry to say I crave both! But when the chips are down , pun intended, I crave salt

what do you say, and why? and whats your favorite fix

painter doug

[DeDukshyn]

I don't do sugar at all, and I don't crave it whatsoever. Wasn't always the case, I more or less eliminated it from my diet, and after a short time all the cravings vanished. Sugar, especially HFCS, is extremely addictive, and the "cravings" tend to just be the addiction rearing its ugly head.

I can't even buy most fruit juices anymore - they all have ~30+ grams per serving (about 8 teaspoons full), and sodas are usually closer to 40 grams. That's an insane amount of sugar. Most people in the west have a very unhealthy relationship with sugar that is considered "normal".

Dark chocolate is my only weakness, but I usually opt for whatever has the least sugar. The taste of extreme sweetness just isn't pleasant to me anymore.

[RunningDeer]

I use to crave sweet, but since I’ve changed up my lifestyle, I enjoy salty over sweet. My favor fix is: brown rice & barley, Bragg’s amino acids (salt alternative) and sesame tahini.

Full disclosure, last Monday I had Ben & Jerry’s coffee ice cream for breakfast. It’s the second pint in almost 4 years. I use to have at least a pint a week.

Often there’s a craving for an opposite food because there’s an imbalance of the Yin/Yang (acid/alkaline), i.e. extreme food and drink. Two examples: 1) popcorn and soda at the movies 2) breakfast of eggs, bacon, coffee and orange juice. They’re extreme yin & yang foods and the body's way to bring it back into balance. Too extreme and too often will tax the body over time.

Along with a balance between yin and yang food and drink, ideally, each meal should consists of the five flavors, then one leaves the table satiated. In today’s busy world it’d be helpful to incorporate the five tastes over the course of the day or two. The five are: pungent, sweet, sour, bitter, and salty.

The importance of five flavors

The flavors of foods are important in Chinese diet, (also Japanese, Macrobiotic) because different flavors have their respective effects upon the internal organs.

• foods that have a pungent flavor can act on the lungs and large intestine
• foods with a sweet flavor on the stomach and spleen
• food with sour flavor on the liver and gall bladder
• food with a bitter flavor on the heart and small intestine
• foods that have a salty flavor can act on the kidneys and bladder

The five flavors & food examples

• pungent (acrid), - black pepper, cinnamon twig, clove, garlic, ginger, grapefruit peel, green onion, radish
• sweet - apples, carrot, strawberry, sugar, sweet rice, sweet potato
• sour - crab apple, grapefruit, olive, vinegar, lemon
• bitter - celery, coffee, grapefruit peel, lettuce, sea grass
• salty - pork, salt, seagrass, seaweed, duck

[Wind]

Sugar, I've always had a sweet tooth. I'm a dark chocolate addict, but I hope to kick that habit eventually. Sugar is like cocaine.

"In animals, it is actually more addictive than even cocaine, so sugar is pretty much probably the most consumed addictive substance around the world and it is wreaking havoc on our health."

https://www.theguardian.com/society/...body-and-brain

[thepainterdoug]

I love pretzles. but now on salted popcorn . but if i start the chocolate train, ill go down heavy

[Karen (Geophyz)]

I don’t eat any sugar so I don’t crave it. I also try to keep my salt to a minimum but I love it. I like raw green beans dipped in a little sea salt!

[DaveToo]

I don't crave salt at all. In fact, there's hardly any salt in my diet.
As for sugar...
For me it's more of a chocolate thing.
I am a die-hard chocoholic!

I eat some type of chocolate almost every day.
Brownies, cake, cookies, straight chocolate etc.
I prefer dark chocolate over milk chocolate.

If I simply have a sweet for dessert, I still crave the chocolate!
I've always been this way.

[Agape]

I think I’ve cleared cravings for both at some point and repeatedly (but they can pop up out of sudden especially when under stress) , yes both can be “dangerous substances” if overused.

When people stop craving either , there seems to be small moment when cravings for “pure protein”, such as pure meat, fish , egg or piece of tofu perhaps arise.

I think it’s where the Japanese invented the “umami taste” in time of scarcity as it can replace subtle meat cravings.

It may be an aha moment but it manifests only if you’re short of proteins at that point.

Further on, there are “pure taste cravings” I believe , very selective and tight to our body clock and immediate needs.

Sometimes, all I can come up with is potato with piece of butter.

The other time all I really needed was spinach. There was nothing that could replace the idea of spinach and nothing in the world that would work it out better.

In Europe I used to “fix myself” with sauerkraut and gherkins. There is nothing that jar of pickles can not do for you 💫

[Strat]

Salty. My mom is from Jersey and instilled me with the love of salty cold cuts, there's actually a bit of a story behind it. When I was a boy she made my bro a 'hero' sandwich and I wanted one solely cause of the name. She said it was too much food for me so she didn't make it for me (she hates wasted food more than anything in this world). Ever since then I've been eating sandwiches. Unfortunately we don't have that culture down here and a decent sandwich is hard to find.

So for me, I love salty finger foods. Cold leftover pizza gets a special mention.

Doug have you tried chocolate covered popcorn? How about chocolate covered almonds? Those are the best.

[thepainterdoug]

Strat yes have tried them. and chocolate covered pretzels i have to avoid at all costs!

[Agape]

My mum was “professional mum” (for the best and the worst of it) so she grew me up in very healthy ways, she would give me fruit based sweets, fruits, nuts and raisins and puddings etc. for desserts but chocolate very rarely till I was school age I guess.

Later we would have chocolates on the table and plenty in the fridge but I’ve never eaten much of it except if I’m working on something intensely and then Belgian pralines are the best 🧁 but they’re not always easy to get for everybody, let’s put it that way ..


I stopped eating nuts and dried fruits last year also as it’s not good for my teeth and too heavy to think about.


If I happen to live on this planet somewhat longer I would probably end up on milk rusks and tea and ice cream with whipped cream like old ladies do 😀


Ultimately, the “saltiness” is not good for you


🥣

[TargeT]

Posted by Agape (here)
M
Ultimately, the “saltiness” is not good for you


🥣

why do you think that?

I'm a salt guy (thankfully!) and a researcher... I've dug into this one a bit.

Salt is like THC, you can't have too much (unless your being ridiculous).... salt becomes a laxative if you ingest too much, it's got a built in safety mechanism.

[Agape]

Posted by TargeT (here)

Posted by Agape (here)
M
Ultimately, the “saltiness” is not good for you


🥣

why do you think that?

I'm a salt guy (thankfully!) and a researcher... I've dug into this one a bit.

Salt is like THC, you can't have too much (unless your being ridiculous).... salt becomes a laxative if you ingest too much, it's got a built in safety mechanism.

I’m always interested to know what do people think about the logic of our need for NaCl ( other than what can be tracked on Wikipedia and historical records of course).

I tried to do some research into this myself and of course there are clinical studies out there supportive of the fact that our salt intake helps to create more osmotic environment for neural synapses to work fast and efficiently but the results were claimed inconclusive and not enough good research has been done to the topic alone.

One of the best salts I ever tasted was from Laesoe Salt from Denmark:

https://green-gourmet.dk/laesoe-salt/

I totally agree that salt has many beneficial properties and functions for us depending on climate zone I guess.
In cold climates I’ve seen deers would lick salt in winter to keep warm and people likewise included more salt in their diet in winter months.

In dry and desert like climates, for example in sub Saharan Africa the Arabic and other tribes depended lots on salt trade. They would swear on it as a medicine to keep their body strong in cold and heat, with little water intake.

But and -. Not every body can do that, nowadays. We mostly also don’t live the same life styles. Our metabolism is slow and inefficient compared to our ancestors and many people suffer from soft and leaky texture of vessels, tissues, organs.
Some of us are not that strong built anymore that is, that’s why we have to be cautious with about everything. One reason, we were born “like that” but add 45years of evolutionary experience and trying to “kick the best out of the car”

Thanks for sharing 🍵

[TargeT]

Posted by Agape (here)
I tried to do some research into this myself and of course there are clinical studies out there supportive of the fact that our salt intake helps to create more osmotic environment for neural synapses to work fast and efficiently but the results were claimed inconclusive and not enough good research has been done to the topic alone.

Granted, it's anecdotal so "grain of salt" and all that (haha) however:

I went blind while working extremely hard outside in Iraq, I had been drinking distilled water and not eating, I depleted myself of electrolytes (salts) so badly that my vision tunneled and went black, I got some saline and I was fine after... pretty crazy that it's that important and apparently the levels can be taken too low (though not easily). (here is the study for what this phenomenon is)

Here's a stdy on how low salt causes cardiovascular issues (worse than high salt)
The Dangers of Salt Restriction
While salt-induced hypertension is typically blamed as a cause of heart disease, a low salt intake is associated with higher mortality from cardiovascular events.

Study: Sodium cures Depression

Modern Scientific Controversies Part 1: The Salt Wars

Posted by Agape (here)
But and -. Not every body can do that, nowadays. We mostly also don’t live the same life styles. Our metabolism is slow and inefficient compared to our ancestors and many people suffer from soft and leaky texture of vessels, tissues, organs.
Some of us are not that strong built anymore that is, that’s why we have to be cautious with about everything. One reason, we were born “like that” but add 45years of evolutionary experience and trying to “kick the best out of the car”

Thanks for sharing 🍵

I dunno, I think a lot of our current woes are simply due to excess opulence and the propensity to avoid discomfort (discomfort LITERALLY makes you live longer).

I changed my eating habits and feel vastly better, I am 40 however and do not feel that "being careful" is here yet... perhaps with a bit more age I'll gain that mentaity but for now it's "Comfort = slow early death" (it's comfortable to eat multiple times a day isn't it.... that means you shouldn't be doing it!!.. haha)


ANYWAY, TLDR; we have been lied to about salt, it's amazing for you eat as much as you desire.

[Agape]

Hello Target: so sorry to hear what you’ve been through in Iraq.
We are lucky that you’ve recovered and can be with us now
finding your health and balance again.

Yes when you’re about 40 and had no major illness or accident things are pretty much “in norm” and you can do whatever you wish( suppose it’s reasonable for you).
There are 60 or even 80 years olds who can do pretty much the same they could in their 20s, physically and mentally.
It all depends on our “genes” and practice ( training) and immediate condition.

There is no “one recipe” fitting all and between any two humanoids who look evenly similar ( right from kindergarten) there are huge internal differences.
So older we are we learn to respect that, and respect our own needs as well.


Yes depletion of electrolytes and minerals in hot climates in common especially with physical exertion.

I’ve seen good few travellers in India already who got themselves to that state usually after contracting one of the microbial infections attacking their digestion systems:
resulting in “only” couple weeks of diarrhoea. I don’t think it happens as often now because the hygienic controls over so called “cheap food” had improved and street food is no longer cheap anymore, so quality has improved on both ends of the equation.

I’m lucky myself I’ve never got any of “those” but reasons are with(in) me and my personal culture, pluses and minuses. I can’t “eat everything” or ever could ( the first time strange combinations of tastes and foods made me seriously sick was when I was little girl and there’s no “I will break you to do what I can” method to help anybody, ) , and while I enjoy tasting all the yummy (pure) tastes,
I don’t eat street food or chance food. I also don’t eat meat since teenage.

So by that virtue alone I skipped most dangers coming from food no matter where I’ve been, most not all


This year I’ve caused bout of sickness by water fasting through the lockdown crisis and because I had almost no money left.
When some helpful funds finally arrived it took me another two months to fix myself.

Normally, I never get sick. I enjoy that much more than what my ancestors did - eating “whatever” then having to take medicines etc.
I learned to be “on my own” completely decades back and unless it’s a social necessity I won’t eat what other people eat, by any measure and do not allow them to “feed me”.


But I completely enjoy feeding birds 🥳

[enfoldedblue]

I'm sweet...but I don't have cane sugar at all. I make my own chocolate which I sweeten with dates. I also make coconut based icecream also sweetened with dates. I also have a bit of local honey in my coffee.