My Answer to a Question About Craving Cinnamon
This subject is all about pica also. This is more of a concentrated pica on a particular spice, in this case cinnamon. But there could also be other spices, salt, sugar, and even drugs which people crave. Yes, even taking drugs is a form of pica for most. This pica concept is extraordinarily perplexing and way out there for most people to even understand or fathom. It’s a case where you can’t possibly not crave. Everyone craves, its hunger right? No, hunger and cravings are different. Cravings are a binge or gravitation toward a particular food which is perceived to posses the nutrients we need. While hunger is more a functional mechanical drive for calories, not a craving. Cravings can occur only an hour after eating. Let see what insights there are in the following question.
Question: Could a specific craving for cinnamon indicate a specific nutrient deficiency?
Answer: I’d say yes indeed it could indicate a nutrient deficiency but not which specific nutrient you are deficient in. It’s more likely by the constant cinnamon craving to be a deficiency in many nutrients, particularly minerals. It still may be a specific nutrient but it would be impossible to find out objectively the way we understand the science currently. We require more than 60 particular minerals for health and longevity and at least 30 vitamins, amino acids, and essential fatty acids.
Your body isn’t smart enough to steer you in the right direction, it’s a scatter gun approach to gain nutrients any way possible. Animals go for dirty looking water versus clear water when nutrient deficient, or a cow may go and lick its pasture salt block when nutrients are required. Some animals with horns chew each other’s horns for nutrients, or a bear may eat bark, and some people choose cinnamon while others go for snack foods in this pica state (mineral search). Some also go for salty, sweets, spices, and even drugs.
Also this pica behaviour may not yield the nutrients required so we continue to crave. Sometimes the same foods and sometimes others. Craving is pica. If you don’t crave it’s highly likely you are well nourished. These days it is impossible to gain all the nutrients required from our food supply, and that’s why we have cravings to the point of many people becoming obese. One way out of this state is to take matters into your own hands and supplement with all the 100 plus nutrients we require. It’s amazing the feeling of not craving any more when being fully nourished. Also only few nutrient suppliers understand this.