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Comment by Causality1 | Hacker News Reader

It also doesn't address people with actual nutrient deficiencies. Maurice and Maralyn Bailey were a British couple who survived for 117 days in a life raft. They reported craving and consuming fish eyes. It wasn't until after they were rescued they were informed fish eyes contain vitamin C, which they had no other source of.

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Interestingly, I'm told that in Chinese culture the head is considered the best part of the fish, offered to the guest of honor, eyes included. (Source: an expat complaining about being honored with the head of the fish, and having to eat the eye to be polite.)

Had they eaten fish eyes before being stranded? If not how would they know they were craving fish eyes?

I’m guessing they ate them first and then craved more.

They were catching fish to eat and found that the eyes looked and smelled attractive.

Smell is an interesting point

As travisjungroth points out, the most obvious mechanism is feed-back where they eat something, it works, and the body is designed to do more of the same.

But if there is a feed-forward mechanism, i.e. where genetic information tells you "eat this thing now, even if you normally hate it*; then the most plausible thing would a pretty low level mechanism that matches chemicals detected by smell.

Could be instinctual knowledge too. How does a new born know a nipple has milk.

They don't have to know, at least at first. There's a (super cute) built-in reflex that causes them to move their mouth towards whatever brushes their cheek.

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