Lately I’ve been having these cravings for sand. Perhaps this is a vitamin or mineral deficiency. I hope so, anyway. Does anyone know what it could indicate? I am not pregnant and I don’t have a desire to eat anything else other than standard dietary fare. The cravings often hit around 4:00 in the afternoon. I think, “The beach… Yum!”
Seriously though, this happened about fifteen years ago as a young teen, and when I asked my father if he thought I had a vitamin deficiency he said the deficiency was probably in my head. It seems like my body may be lacking something, though.
This might be an interesting question to ask a doctor. I seem to remember a Straight Dope column on the subject that said that many people’s strange cravings could be eased with the right vitamin supplements, but I’m too tired to go to the trouble of looking it up.
I looked up “pica.” That is pretty scary stuff. I should say I have never actually eaten anything but “normal food” and don’t plan on chowing down on the sandbox anytime soon. Since this has been only going on for a week, I think I will blame it on the female body cycle and see if adding more iron-rich foods to my diet will help.
But if you scooped up sand at your local beach, you’d likely find iron and other trace elements mixed in.
Believe it or not, I’m another sand craver. It seems to be the crunchy, gritty texture I really want. No, I haven’t actually eaten sand but I have found a toothpaste that has a gritty substance that I like to crunch on at least once a day. I’m sure this isn’t good for me either though.
I do know that I’m usually iron deficient because sometimes I’m not allowed to donate blood. It’s interesting the two could be linked. I think I even remember my doctor once saying I was borderline anemic. I’m going to check that out about Pica. Interesting!
Since this has been only going on for a week, I think I will blame it on the female body cycle and see if adding more iron-rich foods to my diet will help.