Innate

The other day we were at a restaurant, and I was perusing the menu deciding what to order. I have broadened my horizons quite a bit, but am still pretty particular about what I eat. So looking over a menu is usually an adventure.

I was able to find something that suited just what I was looking for. A chicken/pasta dish with spinach. I had been thinking about spinach for a long time lately (craving it, is maybe a better term?), and this particular dish not only had spinach, but also had other ingredients that I will eat. So I ordered it, it was good. The pasta looked like cheese, which was confusing, but ok because I love cheese.

Anyway, that is neither here nor there. The main point is that since then, I think I have incorporated spinach with every meal we've eaten this week (outside of breakfast...but don't even get me started on breakfast).

We've gone through bags of the stuff!

This type of eating is not uncommon with me. I go on certain kicks here and there where I will eat a lot of a particular ingredient for a long while, and then move on to something else.

What I wonder is: is this some sort of innate thing that is part of nature (how God designed us) to crave certain things at certain times? Does spinach have a certain nutrient that I wasn't otherwise getting enough of, and that is why I was craving it? I know this happens in the animal kingdom, where God has given them the instinct to know what to eat, based on what nutrients they need (example: a certain bird in Ecuador will go to a cliff and eat clay. Not because the clay is particularly nutritious and tasty, but because it coats the bird's stomach so that it can eat the acidic fruits and berries. The fruits and berries are a nutritious and necessary part of the bird's diet, but are very hard on the bird's digestive system. So the bird instinctively eats clay in order to get the fruit down. Hmmm...maybe I should start eating clay, that would help me to like fruit more? Long parenthetical thought.)

Steve is the one who told me about this Ecuadorian bird, he probably knows more specific details about the bird...like the name of it, for example.

So, what do you think? Do humans crave certain foods based on need?