Why do you crave food during pregnancy?

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During pregnancy, some women have more cravings than usual. While these are fairly common, there hasn't been much research into their causes. This article helps provide some interesting information about the reasons for cravings during pregnancy.

1. What is pregnancy cravings?

Cravings are strong urges for specific foods, more specifically hunger than usual and can be very difficult to resist. The type of food cravings are quite varied and can vary during pregnancy. An American study that looked at pregnancy websites found cravings for chocolate, sweets, pizza, crisps, and fruit. Other reported foods include ice cream, pickles, and curries.
Cravings can occur during all stages of pregnancy but tend to disappear after the birth of the baby. It is not fully known why cravings occur during pregnancy. A common explanation is changes in the body's hormone levels during pregnancy, although there is a lack of evidence to support this. Women often report increased sensitivity to taste and smell and there may be a link between altered sensory perception and cravings, but the nature of this remains unknown.

2. Why do you crave food during pregnancy?

Pregnancy cravings are those seemingly insurmountable cravings for foods you might never even think to eat!
No one really knows why pregnancy cravings occur, although there are theories that it represents some nutrients a mother may be deficient in - and cravings are the body's way of ask for what it takes.
Many experts say that our taste buds actually play a role in how we interpret our body's needs. Studies show that high hormone levels during pregnancy can alter a woman's sense of smell. So certain foods and smells can be not only more appealing, but in some cases more offensive, a problem that often plays out as food aversion during pregnancy.

3. Is it unusual to feel cravings during pregnancy?

Usually you won't want to eat in the early stages of pregnancy, as you are likely to be experiencing morning sickness - with nausea and vomiting.
While some early pregnancy cravings certainly seem a bit odd, in most cases they do not represent any threat to the mother or the baby. However, this can change dramatically when you crave a non-food item. This condition, known as pica, can lead to an excessive desire to consume any substance, some of which can be extremely harmful to both mother and child.
During pregnancy, women may have cravings and eat things like dirt, laundry starch, crayons, earthenware pots, shaved ice from the freezer... Although pica is not well understood - eat substances are not nutritionally but sometimes these cravings represent nutritional deficiencies, especially the need for iron.
In some cases, cravings can also have a cultural or ethnic component, one that actually encourages eating these dangerous non-food items.
Among the most dangerous aspects of pica is lead consumption - especially when women eat dirt or clay. This can lead to developmental problems in infants and children with low verbal IQ scores, hearing impairment and motor skill development. Another study found that the risk of learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder was increased when infants were exposed to lead before birth.
Some women and their babies get lead poisoning from ingesting dirt during pregnancy, nerve damage can be enormous.

4. What to do when unusual cravings appear during pregnancy?

Experts say if you find yourself craving any non-food items, see your doctor immediately and get checked for iron deficiency anemia or other nutritional deficiencies like zinc, also related to pica.
For most women, pregnancy cravings fall into only a few categories: sweet, spicy, salty, or occasionally sour. Surveys show that only 10% of pregnant women crave fruits and vegetables during pregnancy, with the desire to eat foods like peaches, blueberries or broccoli. And in fact, that's one reason doctors sometimes warn of pregnancy cravings.
A Scandinavian study of 600 pregnant women published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2002 found that excessive weight gain during pregnancy increased the risk of preeclampsia (a life-threatening condition often characterized by rapidly rising blood pressure), as well as a host of problems with labor and delivery.
According to the Institute of Medicine, if you were a normal weight before pregnancy, you should aim to gain between 25 and 35 pounds during pregnancy. But if you were overweight at the time of conception, your goal during pregnancy is to weigh no more than 15 to 25 pounds.

If you crave high fat premium chocolate ice cream and donuts and eat them all the time, you could see your weight add to unhealthy levels pretty soon. If you're at risk for gestational diabetes (diabetes diagnosed during pregnancy can affect the health of both the baby and the mother), ignoring high sugar cravings can cause more problems. more problem.
With gestational diabetes, not only do you have to track your weight gain, but you also have to keep track of what you eat - so again, cravings can easily get out of hand. You need to understand your cravings and then find a healthier version of the same food and make a simple alternative.
If the food you are craving is quite healthy, you don't have to bother with the craving but if it lacks healthy nutrients, you will look for healthier alternatives.
Importantly, both experts say, don't automatically reach for the food you think you want, but instead take a few minutes to understand what your body is telling you. Once you understand what you really want, it's easier to choose a healthier alternative.
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Reference source: nutrition.org.uk - webmd.com