Have you noticed chilly weather seems to turn many of us into something like a bear seeking fat before hibernating all Winter? I know the connection between cold weather and fatty foods isn't true for everyone, but many of you voted on this poll that you do indeed crave the fat when the temperature is low.
According to sports nutritionist Ryan Kohler temperatures below freezing can increase a person’s basic energy needs when compared to the amount of energy it takes to simply "exist" at room temperature, which is between 60 and 70 degrees F. In colder temperatures it takes more energy to keep the core temperature of the body stable. That makes sense, right?
Possibly a stronger factor in fatty-food craving is tradition and association — the mind is a powerful thing when it comes to cravings. After all, the Thanksgiving meal, which really seems to kick off the Winter season, at least mentally, is full of fatty, rich foods. Maybe it is the lack of sunlight combined with the cold that makes us crave comfort foods. Since fat, as an ingredient, tends to make food tastier and thereby more palatable. We associate fatty foods with cold weather.
I was craving fat like crazy, not that I live in a climate where temperatures get anywhere close to, let alone remain, below freezing. To combat my desire for ice cream I made sure to take my fish oil supplement daily and, anecdotally speaking, it totally helped. Do you take a fish oil supplement?
Cinque
Dress for Less
Vertbaudet
I don't take a fish oil supplement.
I recently moved and changed climates (to a place where there are colder winters than I'm used to) and I have noticed I've been craving soda. It's so random because I used to never drink it, but now all I can think about is Dr. Pepper. Maybe it's just a phase and has nothing to do with the weather.
1Does taking a fish oil supplement really help?
2I miss my endless summer....
I take a fish oil supplement, mostly because I know it's good for my heart, skin, hair, etc. I never thought about it helping with fat cravings before, but that makes sense I suppose. I don't really crave fat when it's cold, but I could see the whole comfort-food thing being more appealing when you're cold a lot and have to stay inside more.
3No I don't..
4I do take fish oil supplements, but it doesn't do crap for my cravings of sweets or fatty foods. Today I'm hunting around constantly in my kitchen for what else I can snack on. Yes it is cold out and rainy and grey and I'm always cold with cold hands so maybe this is why I want to snack all the time?? I don't know.
5I live in New York City, where the winters are impossibly cold (below freezing every day) and the summers are ridiculosly hot. In the summer I definitely want more salads and fruits- colder food. In the winter, it's not so much about fatty foods, but about warm foods- soups, baked things warm out of the oven, hot chocolate. And I don't think a fish oil supplement does a thing to warm me up- which is what I'm looking for.
6banana, I totally agree. I live in Chicago and our weather is pretty much the same. Therefore, I also crave those foods
When it's freezing, I want my borscht and dumplings, pierogi, sweets, et al. They're comfort foods plain and simple. Plus, there isn't much sun in Chicago during the winter, so it's can get somewhat depressing and some days I'm just lethargic. That's where the fattier and warmer types of foods come in.
I take a fish oil supplement daily too, but I don't believe that it has any effect on fat cravings. My skin and hair have improved, I believe, but I think the effects of my environment/weather is much stronger than a supplement's.
7Everytime I take fish oil, a week later I get a zit and it's HUGE and cystic. Weird.
8so.. you're saying that taking fish oil supplements reduces the fat craving? (i just took 2 caps.. after reading this haha)
9I have a fish oil supplement in my medicine cabinet. I don't take it regularly...I think that might be the inspiration I need.
10Faylinn, borscht and dumplings, you sound like my husband!
Are you Ukrainian?
11syako - I'm actually Polish.
12Oh Ok. My husband's grandmother is Polish. We eat all those things too! And you totally made me hungry.
13I do and an Omega 3. I don't normally crave "fatty" stuff anyways although when I'm PMSing it's been known to happen.
14syako--mmmm, Ukranian food. I went there in January and I had the BEST borscht there! And pyolmeni and vereneki and roast duck. NOW I'm craving some winter comfort food, lol!
15Ahhh! I am too now! Ukraine in January! Eek. I did that last year it was C.O.L.D.
There's a Russian store a few blocks from our apt that sells frozen pyolmeni so we eat them about once a week.
Oh, and the sour cream there is unbelievable!
16I crave soup and warm liquids in the winter. I'm not sure if I crave fattening foods, though. Just something to warm me up...I'm always cold haha
17I'm going to buy my fish oil supp. today!!! I can't help craving fatty stuff, esp here in England, London, where there is very very limited sunshine and it's basically cold/rainy/blah 340 days of the year.
18I try snacking apples, nuts, drinking a lot of green tea to trick myself that this is what I need, but, my body KNOWS this is not a chunk of cheese and a sausage.
all my hopes in fish oil =)
oh yeah and my mother is Polish, so borscht is swims in blood.
I Love it, but it's definitely not anything fatty, it's super healthy and low fat (unless you have it the Ukrainian way - with sour cream
)
19what is a good fish-oil supplement? can you get them anywhere?
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