DEAR ABBY: I crave certain foods sometimes. My doctor said that when you crave a food, it means your body needs something that's contained in the food -- such as salt on pretzels.
My grandmother thinks whenever I say I'm craving a food that I'm pregnant. I have tried to explain to her that I'm not -- that sometimes when your body needs a certain vitamin or mineral, people crave foods that are high in it.
My grandmother insists that my doctor is wrong and doesn't know what she is talking about. She says the only time a woman craves a certain food is when she's pregnant. Unlike my doctor, my grandmother has not been to medical school. She thinks experience and age are everything, and science is nothing.
Abby, what should I say to my grandmother to help her understand that science is here for a reason? -- CRAVING HELP IN MUSTANG, OKLA.
DEAR CRAVING HELP: Please stop arguing with your grandmother because as steeped in "folk wisdom" as she appears to be, she isn't going to budge. I do have one suggestion, though. The most effective way to get her to quit telling you you're pregnant would be to stop telling her you have a craving.