Stuck on fish

[pavotrouge]

When I went vegan three years ago (after years of never eating meat and egg and rarely dairy and fish), I thought I was going to crave the occasional yoghurt or morsel of fish.

Luckily, I never did. A couple of times I thought that I'd like to taste something fishy, seaweed or fake fish did the job.

For the past two weeks now, I have been craving fish. Constantly.
Hell, I have even been dreaming of fish! I walked past the Rhine yesterday and seriously considered fishing and preparing the bounty myself. I spent half an hour at the supermarket, checking out all the fish products.
I'm downright obsessed and don't understand what's going on.

I supplement B vitamins, iodine, calcium and some other things that are in fish and make sure I get enough protein.
I haven't looked into the Omega 3 issue deeply yet (going to read the thread now).
What else could my body be lacking so it commands me to eat a creature of the sea?

Has anybody experience anything like this or can help me otherwise?

[BlackCats]

I haven't had cravings for fish I don't think. When I have been ill and run down afterwards I get really strong cravings for meat, things like liver especially and especially burnt meat.:amazed_ani:

What about taking some iron tablets?

Have you tried that braised tofu stuff in a tin? That tasted like tuna to me, it made me feel sick in fact.:o

[pavotrouge]

I've never seen braised tofu in a tin here, but have tried fake fish and seaweed everything already and it only makes the cravings worse.

I got my iron levels checked about 6 weeks ago and they were fine.

[cobweb]

I don't reckon there's much iron in fish anyway - probably is your fatty acids :bigsmile:.

Luckily i never liked eating fishes bodies anyway, but i have to admit that once or twice i have given serious consideration to taking some non vegan sources of fatty acids or glucosamine because i am feeling a little panicky about my Arthritic hip :sad:.

Hope you work it out Pavot. I craved meat when i was pregnant even though my iron levels were high (they are obssessed with checking them when you're pregnant!). I tried a bite of someone's burger one day (i was veggie at the time) and felt absolutely sick for the next 24 hours, so i wouldn't recommend it :pissed_ani:.

[Elahiya]

maybe it´s just the salty aspect you miss?

i don´t know whether this page would be of help as it contains omnivorous proucts:
http://www.naturopathyworks.com/pages/cravings.php

concering the omega 3´s I wrote something on my blog some time ago:
http://vegananke.blogspot.com/2008/08/omega-3-fatty-acids.html

i hope you can overcome these cravings....

[Quantum Mechanic]

A month or two after becoming vegan I craved sardines, even though save for cheese I hadn't really wanted to eat any other non-vegan thing. That was fairly much, so I munched on some nori wrapped rice crackers for awhile. It still didn't quite go away. I figured it was psychological since I used to eat them on crackers when I was little and had walked by in the store, but I bought some flax and pumpkin seed cereal anyway and made sure to chew each one thoroughly since I couldn't grind them up. I pretty much forgot about it, but besides food sources of omega 3 there are also supplements that include DHA and EPA or something; there's a thread about it here somewhere.

I have since then occasionally thought that the tuna sandwich someone was eating smelled like I wanted to eat it, but then I thought about what it was - a mashed up dead fish in mayo - and I didn't feel like it anymore. I've read recipes for mashed up chickpeas and seaweed and stuff that is supposed to mimic a tuna salad sandwich. It wouldn't be exact, but the longer someone's been away from the real thing I'm sure the more it tastes similar.

[Sarah_]

Hey, that's clever! To put nori in the chickpeas when you do a fake tuna sandwich!
Pavo, I know exactly what you mean. For the past few weeks I have been craving a tuna sandwich like no other-and not just that. ANY sort of nasty crap omni food like weinerschnitzel, hamburger helper, stuff like that.


I hope we're not pregnant.

[pavotrouge]

well, I can be pretty sure I'm not pregnant :D

thanks for the advice!
I've tried fake fish and nori and it hasn't helped at all (though the mock tuna sandwhich with hijiki and chickpeas from VWAW is good).

I think it's an Omega 3/6 issue so I'll try to get more of these.

[sandra]

I can't really remember last time I ate fish but it must have been before my 16th birthday. I just know that when I had to look after 3 adorable little goldfish, who came up to the surface of the water when they heard my voice that I could never eat fish again.
Try to look on fish, not as something you once liked to eat, but as a living beings with their own right to life. Hope your cravings go away soon Pavotrouge! :)

[pavotrouge]

thx sandra :) I'm babysitting on Monday night, I might put on Finding Nemo :)

[sandra]

Yes, that's a great idea! :)

[Sarah_]

Slightly off-topic, does anybody know where one could procure vegan fish stock? I have friend that gets it.

[baby_vicuña]

I have this insane craving for fish. It's been months now. And it's not like "oh I miss fish" or anything, it's like my mouth waters when someone says the word. I feel disgusting.

But here's the thing, I've never even tried fish (knowingly at least). I never ate it when I was an omni.

I've looked at another thread about fish cravings, but I didn't get much out of it (except an idea to watch Finding Nemo which I am seriously considering now :)). There is absolutely no way I'm pregnant. I've been taking omega 3's for months (in the form of flaxseed oil). I also take a multi-vitamin and alfalfa tabs if that's at all relevant. The craving started before I began taking supplements. The omega 3's gave me peace of mind for a little while, but they didn't make the craving subside.

Normally I would just dismiss a non-vegan craving, but it's been like this for months. It's a really strong craving. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not even remotely considering buying fish, but this is really bothering me. The red flag for me was when I was buying cat food (not vegan food, please keep your comments regarding this to yourself, thanks) and became jealous of my cats because they get "oceanfish". I know, sick.

Does this mean anything? Like I mean, do you think it means I'm lacking in some sort of nutrient? I just want it to go away :sad:

Thanks
baby v

[mariana]

Since you've never eaten fish, I don't see how your body could possibly crave a nutrient from something it's never experienced. Your body doesn't "know" that fish contain omega 3's so even if you were lacking in that (though that doesn't sound to be the case since you're taking flaxseed oil) your body wouldn't crave fish since it doesn't "know" them to contain omega 3's...seems like you'd crave some other form of omega 3's that your body has experienced.

Does the smell of fish appeal to you? Maybe you just think it smells nice and thus would taste good. You could try adding seaweed to stuff and see if that helps. I don't know how similar seaweed is to fish in flavour since I've never eaten fish either, but my veggie dad won't eat anything with seaweed in because he says it reminds him too much of the flavour of fish...

[baby_vicuña]

The way I see it, my brain knows that fish have omega 3's even though I've never tasted it. Maybe you can't crave something you have never eaten, but that wouldn't explain this.

The only fish I've smelled in years is tuna and that does not appeal to me at all, though I'm not craving tuna (I know this is all sounding ridiculous). I have seaweed on my shopping list, but I have to wait until the first of the month.

Thanks mariana. I'm hoping the seaweed will help.

[mariana]

The way I see it, my brain knows that fish have omega 3's even though I've never tasted it. Maybe you can't crave something you have never eaten, but that wouldn't explain this.

The only fish I've smelled in years is tuna and that does not appeal to me at all, though I'm not craving tuna (I know this is all sounding ridiculous). I have seaweed on my shopping list, but I have to wait until the first of the month.

Thanks mariana. I'm hoping the seaweed will help.
Are you really worried about omega 3's? I could see how it might possibly make you crave fish if you're concerned about omega 3's and don't think you're getting enough, but you mentioned you're taking flaxseed oil, so didn't think that was the case...
Hope the seaweed helps. The whole thing sounds strange. Hopefully you can resolve it soon. :)

[baby_vicuña]

No I'm not concerned about omega 3's. I was just using that as an example.

[RubyDuby]

I think the seawed it a good idea. Making veggie sushi is really easy. The mats are like $3.

Also, my bf has bought vegan lobster, tuna and prawn from here (http://vegecyber.com/). I think they have "fish" too. He's says they're like the real thing... (the vegan bacon there is really yummy, although I don't think it really tastes like bacon. It's kind of sweet and gooood.)

[Manzana]

I take Water4Life omega 3 oil pellets. They are made out of Algae and have long chain omega 3 oils (exactly the same as the ones you find in fish... because, surprise surprise, fish only have long chain omega 3s because they consume these algae...)...

I dont like eating the capsule so I break them and eat the oil. The oil tastes exactly like mackerel (i.e. not very pleasant but I do it anyway!). You can buy something like 90 pellets for £30. Then you can tell us if you were craving fish, omega 3s or just being random ;)

[Manzana]

Here is a link: http://www.v-pure.com/

And for the record, they are manufactured in the US so you should hopefully be able to find them there too?

[xrodolfox]

I have had vegan fish substitute. It was pretty good too. If you have a strong craving, buy it online, and cook it up yourself. Here is a place that sells them online: http://www.vegecyber.com/cgi-bin/vege_item.cgi?&type=Frozen

I just looked through that site. OMG. I am buying some right now.

Oh, the second option is to go to a good vegan chinese restaurant, and get some mock fish off their menu. They use seaweed, and it tastes just like dead fish! Well, much better due to the clean conscience. :) And I am sure it is full of Omega-3. Fish get it from seaweed, afterall.

[Korn]

Hi Baby V,
Meat eaters who spend time in other countries sometimes have cravings for animal products they regularly was eating in they home country, if the same nutrients are available where they are. Cravings can of course suggest that you need a nutrient that you think can be found in whatever you are missing, but it can also be psychological.


For instance, I wouldn't be surprised if eg. someone who at some point wanted to, but wasn't allowed to eat fish would feel a desire for eating fish.

Have you seen our Vegan DHA/EPA (http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9872)-thread?

[veganwitch]

Baby V, check the What did you eat today thread (sorry I don't know how to make it a link). There is a pic and recipe from Pob for making beer battered aubergine fillets that mimic fish. I am making them later this week.

[xrodolfox]

Oh, and I want to mirror what Korn said. I crave all sorts of stuff from growing up in Chile that is not available here in the US. The tastes are mostly nostalgic and the cravings are psychological. I know I do not need fried sugary squash flour pastries tied up in knots (even though they are vegan). But I crave them all the time. Nothing nutritional. Just nostalgia. They are not available here in the US. :(

[pavotrouge]

I had this a year ago - although I used to eat fish- omega 3 (walnut and linseed oil) and seaweed, combined with a general increase of protein to my diet did the trick.

there's good mock fish available in shops, too- though I think the Asian grocery variety is better than the health food shop brands for that.