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Originally Posted by DeusXM The wierd thing is that it's almost like a craving I get in that my hunger is very specific. When I've got a cold I get this massive uncontrolable urge to eat anything that is particularly high in fat and salt but the thought of eating anything with carbs in it makes me feel ill, with the exception of white bread.
For instance, I'm starving right now but if you put a chocolate cake in front of me I just wouldn't want to touch it, yet if you put a cheese and bacon sarnie in front of me it would be residing in my stomach by the time you finish read this post! |
I was curious about your cravings, so I've been doing a little searching on it (I'm thoroughly bored at work), and it turns out there's a neuropeptide called galanin that's been found to stimulate fat intake in animals and humans. Levels of galanin seem to increase a) when fat stores are low, b) under stress and c) when insulin is high. Your body is definitely stressed when you're sick and insulin levels are probably high (you might be taking more insulin to cover food and to bring your BG down for the reasons mentioned earlier in this thread). In terms of depleted fat stores, it's possible that you are burning fat for energy (b/c the stress of infection inhibits insulin, causing your BG to rise), thereby producing 'sick-day' ketones and depleting your fat stores. Maybe it's not a drastic reduction but maybe it's enough to upregulate levels of galanin and voila! Cheese and bacon sandwich sounds awfully good! Brain chemistry is so complex but it's sooo cool! If you're sick just now, are your levels still high, are you taking a lot more insulin, do you have ketones?
