waterlilybarb

That's funny Shinny, I had the same problem.  I rarely eat fast food (only if I'm travelling & there's no other choice) or processed food.  My blood pressure runs on the low side, and my doctor told me to increase my salt intake.  Every now & again I get a craving for dill pickle potato chips (crisps), so I feel quite justified in eating the whole bag if I want.

As for MSG, the Chinese restaurants that cater to non-Chinese people add it here too.  You have to request for it not to be added.  

studiojek

I like the taste and texture of McDonald's too but I never ever eat it, knowing how bad it is for me and how addicting it can be.

I never knew what MSG stood for, thanks Shinny!

shinny

Barb, that happens to me too. I get "salty" cravings every now and again and I know it's because I need it. It hasn't happened to me in a while because I have been consciously adding it to my food.

Funny thing is obviously you hear so much about the bad affects Salt can have when you eat to much, but it's also bad if you don't have enough !! I used to get cramps in the back of my legs because I wasn't eating enough !

Reply  2122#2122 studiojek's post

Studio, you are more than welcome. I mentioned before that I have a habit of retaining seemingly useless information, but every now and again it's useful !!

studiojek

Everything in moderation as my grandma would say!! Definitely not having enough salt's no good for you - I didn't know leg cramps was one of the risks though.

I heard a while back that some people are 'sugar cravers' and some are 'salt cravers' because of something their mother ate or didn't eat during pregnancy. Anyone a believer?

shinny

I dunno about that. I must ask my Mam about that, however my Mam smoked during nearly all of her pregnancies. In fairness to her, they didn't really know the bad affects that they know about now. Although, she didn't smoke when she was pregnant with my youngest brother.

The irony of it though is that he is the smallest of my four brothers and actually smaller than one of my sisters. So the theory of "stunted growth" didn't manifest there. None of us have asthma or problems with our lungs either and we were all average birth weight.

Out of the 7 of us, only my sister smokes now and she isn't really a big smoker, mostly when she is out socialising. My Mam hasn't smoked for about 20 years now too. She just decided one day and that was it. No patches or anything, just stopped smoking.

I have to say, I really hate smoking. I was so happy when they banned smoking in public places here back in 2004. It really made a massive difference when you are out in the pub or a restaurant ! To think we put up with it for so long !

studiojek

Just goes to show that for every 'proven' scientific fact there are gazillions (yes that's the official technical number) of examples of exceptions.

imarielle626

I know when my mom was pregnant with me she craved Spaghetti O's with meatballs and for a long time that was my favorite food.  It was something I could make myself without adult supervision and i prefered eating that out of a can than my mom's actual cooking.  I don't know if you can connect that to my mom's craving during pregnancy or not.

waterlilybarb

When my Mum was pregnant for me she had weird food cravings, and I have to say, I've never been tempted to try any of them.  One was peanutbutter, jam and dill pickle sandwiches.  ICK!  She says they tasted delicious at the time and took care of salty sweet & sour cravings all at once.  She doesn't eat them now though.

I find I've changed as I've gotten older as to what my cravings are.  When I was young it was always sweet cravings.  Now it's usually more salty/savoury things I crave, with the occasional sweet craving thrown in.  I find I generally crave things that have something in them that I'm lacking.  I don't eat a lot of meat, so when my protein is low, I crave fish.  I've already mentioned the low salt, but when I was a kid I would suck on match heads or wire coat hangers.   I now know I was low in certain minerals.  

meljones_83

I teach 8 and 9 year olds. They did seem very nice on first meeting but am sure they were on their best behaviour to meet their new teacher! I noticed one who seems like he'll be a character!

I knew about the MSG in McDonalds food (although I still eat it!) but I never realised they put it in Chinese food too.

waterlilybarb

That's a fun age.  I'm sure you'll have more than 1 character among them.

It's funny, I knew about the MSG in Chinese food long before I did in McDonald's, but we have quite a large Chinese population in my city, and thus many Chinese restaurants.

imarielle626

I don't know how many of you heard about the attack in Jerusalem last Wednesday, but even since then I've had a lot of anxious energy because the bus that was hit was one I used to take almost daily.  Anyway I went to a kickboxing class yesterday 1. just to try and 2. to release some of this anxious energy.  I worked muscles in that class i didn't even know were possible to work out and am so sore now!  I've spent almost the whole day in bed just watching shows cuz i can barely walk i'm so sore.  i only got out of bed to drive my car back to the lot it has to be parked in before i get ticketed then walked a little to stretch the muscles.  If anyone is interested in a great workout I'd definitely recommend finding a kickboxing class!  It works your whole body and was a lot of fun!  plus it can never hurt to learn a little self defense.

shinny

Gosh Arielle that must have been so scary. To think only a short while ago you were taking that bus. Try not to think about it too much because it will really mess with your head.

Yes, kick boxing is definitely a great work out. I used to do a Jazz aerobics class. Dear lord, it used to nearly kill me !!

imarielle626

it was scary when i found out, but i'm fine with it now.  I was more worried about my sister because she is in Israel now and I wasn't sure if she was in Jerusalem, but she was down south.  The thing about the attack though was it made me wish I was still there!  I know that is not the typical reaction, but I was watching video clips from the news there and saw ambulances I rode on and had this urge to have been there to help.

shinny

Oh, I'm glad to hear your sister was nowhere near it. I know what you mean. I suppose that's not such a bad reaction to have, it just shows how close it is to your heart.

meljones_83

Sure is a fun age to teach, old enough that you can go into subjects in more detail and they'll understand (well, most of them!) but young enough that they are not too hard to control and they still think their teacher is cool!

Arielle - it sounds like a pretty natural reaction for someone who has called a place home and is as altruistic as you obviously are!

cshapiro

Sodium is one of the basic cations that regulate electric impulses and fluids across various membranes in the body.  Sodium in particular regulates Extracellular Fluid Volume (ECF volume) which affects the central nervous system.  Low sodium is called Hypernatremia and causes ECF volume to expand which in turn prevents the cells of the nervous system from transmitting properly due to a process called Central Pontine Myelinosis.  Mild cases can cause spasms, cramps, weakness and fatigue.  More severe cases can cause loss of limb and motor control, paralysis, coma and even death.

imarielle626

I think i'm the only person who actually enjoys when you break out the medical terms

waterlilybarb

Not true.  I find it quite interesting.

cshapiro

I was just called a nerd in the free chatting thread that asked for favourite web sites (not to mention my own kids) so I figured I would embrace my inner nerdiness unless people start to object.  Generally I get more interest here than from my students.

shinny

Yep and it was also one of the reasons why I was getting palpitations. The electrical balances in the heart rhythm were upset.

Although, it's very uncommon these days for people (in Western society) not to be getting enough Salt.

*edit* and the other thing I noticed was that I kept getting really bad electrical shocks ! That doesn't happen to me anymore.