Our body talks

Isn't it funny how our body will sometimes crave very specific things?  I've been craving water for the past 3 days.  Even soda doesn't quench my thirst recently.... Or iced tea.... Or milk, juice, etc.  So I've been sucking down about 60-90 ounces of water a day.  My training as of late has not been as regular or consistent as I would like, but when I do train, I tend to keep the intensity rather high.  I suppose the fact that my body is craving water is a bad thing; this possibly means that I haven't been hydrating like I should (oops).

You know I watched a documentary some time ago about a man who was shipwrecked at sea.  It was in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight.  I think he was on a raft or something.  He said he would catch fish and eat the meat part (like most people do).  However, at one point, when he would catch fish, he began eating different parts of the fish instead: eyeballs, organs, etc.  He didn't know why, but his instinct to eat the (normally) wasted parts was overwhelming.  Instinct took over him.  He survived for much longer than any survivalist would expect to.  (BTW, he was an ordinary man -- not Bear Grylls or Survivor Man.) 

Scientists figured out later that those cravings and instincts were the body's way of saying that it was lacking in specific nutrients to survive.  Fish meat is not full of vitamins.  Sure it has some good stuff, but it lacks nutrients essential for survival.  Turns out there is a specific nutrient found in fish eyes that the body requires.  Same goes for the different organs.  Mind you, he wasn't cooking his fish; he ate it all raw.  I don't know about you, but raw fish eyes do not sound appetizing to me.  The man said that he never had eaten them before and he claimed he wouldn't eat them if given the choice, but the overpowering instincts forced him to do it.  This saved his life in the end.

Sometimes we crave foods/drinks that are not good for us at all: french fries, burgers, fast food, sodas, highly processed sugars, candy, etc.  Those types of cravings are good to limit.  For me I do not (currently) possess the will power to avoid those foods/drinks entirely, but I do watch how much & how often I consume them.  After all, the Buddha even says that the path to enlightenment is the "Middle Way" -- so moderation is ok.  Denying yourself everything will create misery.

However, if we crave things like water (in my current case), vegetables, fruits, etc, maybe even a specific food (watermelon, carrots, etc), it could be a signal from our bodies that we lack in a nutrient or two.  Here we need to follow our instincts.