I would say that my two biggest cravings are for sweets or salty foods, but most often for sweets, more specifically chocolate. I don’t know how often my cravings are related to the bacteria in my stomach, though. It is my dad that has the other big sweet tooth in my house, so if I get it from anyone, it is definitely from him. My mom did not even like sugar until later in her life, after she had me. My other cravings for salty foods probably come from her. She grew up in japan, and I also spent a few of my younger years growing up there as well. I would say that over fifty percent of the snack foods there are some form of salty rice based crackers.
Even though I have these cravings, I wouldn’t say that I was addicted to chocolate or salty foods. I can generally control whether or not I have them based on how well I eat the rest of the day. If I can have at least two solid meals a day, on a schedule, I am much less likely to have cravings. This did become difficult when I got to college because I could never get up in time to get breakfast before my 8ams and I had back to back classes around lunch time.
I am careful about what I eat, so I am not too stressed about passing down an addiction to my children. At this point, it seems that the best way to take care of my future self and my future children now, is to take care of my current self.
When reading about the man who had NAFLD, the article mentioned the question that asked why certain people have high-alcohol producing strains of the bacteria and others don’t. I think this would be a very interesting topic to research, because it doesn’t seem that genetics are the main reason.
Cohen, J. (2019, September 20). Microbe that got man drunk could help explain common liver disease. Retrieved April 13, 2020, from https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/09/microbe-got-man-drunk-could-help-explain-common-liver-disease