Constant Craving

Sometimes a question pops in my head and I have to find out the answer. Google quickly sets my mind at ease. Today while at work I went down to the cafe area and looked things over in the vending area... Diet Coke was a given, but I had some extra change so I was trying to figure out what to get out of the snack machine that I wouldn't end up regretting later.

Salted peanuts. Harmless, really. But as soon as I punched in "E-4" the thought occured to me. 'Hey, you came down here to get something to drink because you were thirsty. Now you're getting something salty?' Well, crap.

But I really wanted the peanuts. And I didn't know why. Thus, the Googling began.

If I were a hardcore hypochondriac, I'd be losing my shit right about now. WrongDiagnosis.com lists SEVEN diseases that can be diagnosed without any prevalence information and also lists Diabetes as a possibility.

But this Ezine article set me at ease.

"There are several different reasons why you may be craving salt. The first one is that over the years your body and your taste buds have been accustomed to a lot of salt. If you are trying to cut back on salt because of health reasons, your body will crave it, simply because it is used to lots of salt."

Okay, that doesn't quite fit me seeing as how I generally avoid salt entirely and season everything with pepper.

"Craving salty foods can also be a symptom of adrenal exhaustion, especially in people who live fast-paced, stressful lives."

Ding-ding-ding! We have our winner! I work somewhere between part and full-time at a fast-paced job, I'm a full-time student, and I do a ton of things outside of work and school.

"You could also be craving salt because your body needs the additional minerals found in natural salt. These minerals have been filtered out of our regular table salt. In this case eating salty food will only satisfy your craving temporarily until your body realizes it is still missing the extra minerals."

Or... I guess this could be a plausible explanation as well.