Cravings can be more than just fleeting desires; they can serve as a window into our deeper nutritional needs, lifestyle choices, and emotional states. Among these, protein cravings stand out as particularly telling, often signaling more than just a need for sustenance.

When you crave protein, your body might be trying to communicate that it needs more than just food—it could be calling for a shift in your diet, a response to stress, or a need for balance in your life. Understanding these signals can be a game-changer on your path to better health and personal growth.

By exploring the underlying reasons for your cravings, you can start making choices that truly support your wellness goals. The Eating Enlightenment Food Journal App is an essential companion on this journey, offering a compassionate and structured way to track your cravings, manage emotional eating, and prevent binges. With the right tools, you can transform your relationship with food and navigate your unique path to well-being with confidence.

What do cravings mean your body needs in general?

There are two main reasons you get food cravings.

First is nutritional deficiency. When you lack specific vitamins or other needed items, you will crave foods that provide them!

If our bodies lack oxygen, we will crave fresh air, and vice versa.

It’s why when someone has just finished exercising, they have an increased appetite. Their body needs more nourishment to recover after exerting itself so much during that workout session!

Of course, the most common example is literal hunger for certain foods!

If you are hungry, your blood sugar levels go down. Then you pretty quickly tend to crave, right!?

Secondly, cravings can be the result of emotional eating or stress eating.

You might find yourself grabbing anything sweet, like ice cream, at night even though you aren’t actually hungry.

This is because sugar releases feel-good hormones into your system, which make you happy and calm down. So naturally, reaching for them when stressed makes sense.

The same goes for why we crave chocolate when feeling down or why we might want a burger after a bad day at work.

Finding healthier ways to manage stress and emotions, such as meditation, can reduce these cravings. Instead of reaching for food!

What are the symptoms of protein deficiency?

Now let’s say for whatever reason, perhaps a combination of reasons …

You are craving protein because of some protein deficiency …

What are the symptoms?

Here are just some of the symptoms of protein deficiency!

• tiredness and fatigue
• weakness or dizziness when trying to stand up from a seated position
• headache, brain fog, and trouble concentrating at school/work
• lowered immunity and frequent infections
• dizziness
• muscle cramps, muscle spasms or twitches, especially in the legs (restless leg syndrome)
• fatigue and lack of energy during times you should be active, like morning time

1 – Too Much Exercise

Let’s start with the most apparent reason why you crave protein.

Too much exercise!

Exercise is essential for our health and well-being, but too much of a good thing can be harmful.

When we exercise intensely, our bodies break down. For example, when you lift weights, the muscles in your body are broken down and need to be rebuilt.

It’s why we get sore after an intense workout, or our muscles ache!

The process of breaking down and rebuilding is called “catabolism.” When you’re catabolic, your body needs extra protein to rebuild itself.

But what if you haven’t eaten enough protein?

Then you will crave protein! You will crave protein foods, like meat or chicken.

If you exercise intensely every day, you may not be getting enough rest time between workouts.

Instead of giving your body ample repair time, it puts even more stress on it to build muscle.

Too much exercise and not enough protein is one reason you crave protein.

2 – Not Enough Protein In Your Diet

Protein is essential to your body.

Your body needs protein because it is a fundamental building block to function.

Protein helps you build muscle, maintain healthy hair, nails, and skin… the list goes on!

If you don’t get enough protein in your diet, your body cannot rebuild itself!

Let’s emphasize again that protein goes far beyond just muscle building.

Protein is used in almost every single bodily function:

• digestive proteins help you absorb the nutrients from your food
• transport proteins carry oxygen to cells and take carbon dioxide back out again
• energy production, storage, and transfer molecules are all made of protein!

The list goes on…

And without enough protein in your diet, your body will crave more protein!

Why you don’t have enough protein in your diet

The most common reason people do not have enough protein in their diet is that they eat too many carbohydrates and sweets.

Carbs and sweets give us a quick energy boost but do not have many nutrients.

We typically eat carbohydrates from sugary foods like donuts, cakes, etc.… as well as starchy carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, and rice.

The problem with eating too many carbohydrates is that they are broken down into sugar very quickly within the body. This raises blood sugar levels, causing an insulin spike to balance them out again!

This process of breaking down your carb meal immediately can cause weight gain over time because you aren’t getting the full nutritional benefits from those meal choices.

Remember, your body needs protein, and if you miss it, it will suffer!

3 – Vegan or Vegetarian

It’s one thing to lack protein because you eat too many sweets.

Another common reason people crave protein is that they follow specific rules improperly.

For example, let’s talk about being a vegetarian.

Being a healthy, well-fed, and satisfied vegetarian is possible.

However, so many people hear simple rules like “don’t eat meat” and take things to an unhealthy extreme.

I remember my friend in college being technically a vegetarian. She didn’t eat meat; instead, she only ate chips and fries!

She was technically following the” no meat” guideline, and she could say she was vegetarian, but that’s it!

She’d start gorging and craving cheese because cheese is high in protein and was one of the foods she could eat while still being vegetarian.

Please know veggie meat substitutes are delicious these days! Even veggie burgers taste great!

Why do I crave meat?

I’m sure you can guess by now …

We crave what we don’t have.

If you are craving meat, most likely, it’s because you are not eating meat!

Or maybe you eat a tiny amount of meat, but you, in general, restrict meat.

For example, you may be on a vegetarian or vegan diet or not eat much meat in general.

In these situations, or related situations like being low on iron and craving ice, it’s straightforward to understand why you might crave meat!

Of course, there are exceptions, but remember that we generally crave our deficiencies.

4 – Pregnant

Pregnancy is an extraordinary time in your life.

The changes that you are going through when pregnant have an impact on why you crave protein.

During their pregnancy, it’s normal for women to crave foods like cravings for chocolate, which has a lot of fat or protein and is filling …

• You are eating for two people.
• You may have morning sickness and not digest enough food for both of you.
• Your hormones are changing

Tips to eat more protein if pregnant

• Eat a high-protein breakfast. Protein is the building block of your body, and it needs those essential amino acids first thing in the morning.
• Eat protein snacks between meals. It would help if you never were starving. That leads to overeating later because when your stomach feels empty, then cravings come!
• Keep yourself satisfied by eating small amounts often (~ every 3-4 hours)

5 – Marketing Influences

In general, food cravings are influenced tremendously by our environment.

This is why we see such cravings for sugar and carbs when we go out to eat.

When you sit in a restaurant, what do they give you first? Bread! And usually, it’s warm bread, too!

And why does that make us crave sugary or carb-filled foods like cake and donuts? Because your environment cues the cravings.

The delicious smells of baked goods, pancakes, and breakfast sandwiches surround us!

It doesn’t matter if we haven’t eaten yet. Scents wafting through our noses tell us this food tastes great, so why not have some?!

If you have a random about of protein cravings, it’s possible some advertisement triggered your cravings!

McDonald’s, Burger King, and significant advertising budgets are at play here and are very effective!

6 – Gender

In a 2016 study by Yale titled “Gender-related Differences in Food Craving and Obesity,” scientists found gender differences.

Here are a few interesting statements from the Yale article:

• “Several studies have shown that men report more craving for savory foods (e.g., meat, fish, eggs).”
• “Meanwhile, women crave sweet foods (e.g., chocolate, pastries, and ice cream).”
• “Consistently, a few studies have shown that more than 92 percent of those who experience strong chocolate cravings are female.”

What do you think about cravings being partially gender related?

Final Thoughts

It’s essential to take care of your body and ensure you’re eating enough protein.

If you are vegan, pregnant, or regularly exercise heavily, you must pay close attention to the food choices that fuel your body.

You must feed your body with the nutrients it needs for these situations!

We also want to emphasize how gender can impact diet. Different dietary guidelines apply depending on whether someone identifies as male or female.

Of course, we always recommend people journal to study their eating habits.

If you journal, you can spot any nutritional deficiencies and what is behind your protein cravings.