I love spicy food, so pretty much anytime I’m craving something it has some sort of spice to it. If it is not spicy to begin with and I can put hot sauce on it, then I will not hesitate to do so. At night I usually want ice cream, that is really the only sweet I crave. Also, I really crave fruit especially after I see people eating it on TV. I would say my surroundings do influence my food cravings. I do not really crave most things until I see someone with it. My entire family loves spicy food, like we compete with who can get the spiciest things. My brother for example puts hot sauce on his spaghetti, which is interesting. The reason I crave ice cream is probably because I see my four and eight-year-old sisters eat it all the time. So, I probably eat the healthiest when I am not around my little sisters, and around people with better diets. With that said, I personally think environment factors influence people’s cravings rather than my parent’s gut biome that was passed on to me.
If epigenetic tagging is the reason for my cravings and will affect my future offspring, then I would make a few changes with cravings I indulge in. However, I truly believe everything in moderation is understandable and I still want to enjoy food I like even if it’s not the healthiest. I also believe everything needs to be balanced with a healthy lifestyle and that physical exercise is something I make a priority always.
I do think alcohol and drug use can be influenced by people’s genetics, because they have more active properties and do change chemical properties in one’s body. I was very interested to learn all the damages alcohol can have in the long term. While I was shadowing in the hospitals over Jan term, the residents were talking to me about how liver and pancreas cancer has increased primarily because most people tend to drink late at night, so the harmful toxins in alcohol will just sit in your organs and if done excessively can result in cancer.