Peanut Butter Cravings >_

This topic contains 1 reply, has 2 voices, and was last updated by Minka 7 years, 8 months ago.

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petcrazy18

7:27 pm
3 Aug 16
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My god people, I’ve been craving peanut butter like a monster every non-fasting day and I can’t figure out why. My real suspicion is that I’m not consuming enough fats or calories on my non-fasting days [given how often I fast], my vitamin B levels are too low, or my cortisol levels are too high.

So here are some background stats so you can help me solve this puzzle:
-I take a multivitamin, magnesium, potassium, calcium, iodine, and MSM daily
-I’ve been doing a pescetarian keto diet lately (for omega 3)
-My bulk fat comes from homemade MCT coconut oil mayo (to limit omega 6)
-I do a 24 hour water/coffee fast on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday
-I feast on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday
-I eat the same meal on non-fasting days: Canned salmon (630 cal, 28 fat, 91 protein) Homemade mayo (700 cal, 98 fat) Total Calories: (1330 cal, 126 fat, 91 protein)
-On non-fasting days I swim for 1 or 2 hours (300-600 calories estimated burn?)
-On fasting days I do 1 hour barre and 30 minutes of Vinyasa yoga (maybe 200 calories burned?)

Body stats: 110 pounds, BMR of estimated 1300, TDEE of estimated 1500, goal weight of 95-100 pounds, BMI of 21.5 (meh)

Minka

12:18 pm
4 Aug 16
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Hi Pet! I guess you ran across the same online article I did just now, which mentioned that peanut butter contains beta-sitosterol which is a stress fighting plant sterol which has been shown to help balance high cortisol caused by endurance type exercise. This sounds like quite a plausible reason.

For all the exercise you do, the canned salmon and mayo sound somewhat Spartan if that is you consume on each NFD, especially since you are practicing 4:3.

I’ve had intense cravings for peanut butter. Nut butters are so comforting with their satisfying ratios of fat, protein and carbohydrate.

It sounds like you are doing a lot of good research and troubleshooting. I too found the article that pointed to peanut butter cravings in response to high cortisol caused by endurance exercise. I’ve had peanut butter cravings when struggling with low cortisol, so go figure!