system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Are food cravings random or does my body know that it needs something that is contained within the food that I crave?

Effectively, what I am asking is whether or not my body knows to any extent what sort of nutrition each food will provide. For example could a craving for spinach be my bodies way of telling me I need iron?
gpt
For the most part your body craves based on it's needs.

It makes you thirsty when you are dehydrated. It makes you crave chips and soup and such when you don't have enough salt. It makes you crave candy and chocolate when your blood sugar is low.

It's all part of evolution. The body that could effectively convey it's needs was more likely to survive.