For many women, powerful food cravings for certain foods come with the territory during pregnancy. You’ve probably heard tales of loved ones being dispatched at all hours to search for a certain brand of bacon double cheeseburger or rocky road ice cream to quell an expectant mom’s desire. Perhaps you’ve felt an overwhelming urge to splurge firsthand.

Truth is, nobody is sure why some women have pregnancy food cravings. "Some experts say cravings, and their flip side, food aversions, are protective, even if there is no scientific data to back up that theory," says Siobhan Dolan, MD, assistant medical director of the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation and assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and women’s health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

For example, you may not feel like drinking alcohol when pregnant, which is beneficial since avoiding beer, wine, and other spirits fosters your baby’s mental and physical development.

Others think a pregnant woman’s preference for certain foods such as salt-laden potato chips is nature’s way of helping her meet her daily sodium quota. However, it’s highly unlikely that cells translate so-called nutrient shortfalls into food cravings. Longing for a particular food tends to distinguish pregnancy food cravings from cravings women have when they are not expecting.

Pregnancy Cravings Are in a Class by Themselves

So food cravings are probably all in your head, a product of pregnancy hormones. Hormonal shifts during pregnancy intensify sense of smell (which heavily influences taste) and are powerful enough to affect food choices.

"It’s possible that women who are feeling nauseous, bloated, tired, or crabby due to the effects of pregnancy hormones look for foods to increase their comfort level," says Elisa Zied, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. "Some women who deprive themselves when they’re not pregnant think of pregnancy as a time to treat themselves to foods they typically avoid."

When expecting, Zied favored foods she loved as a teen but ate far less often in the years leading up to her two pregnancies. A combination of kielbasa and melted cheese atop toasted English muffins were big with Zied during her first pregnancy. When due with her second child, she preferred Cheez-Its over anything else.

How does a nutrition professional who knows better manage cravings? By eating small portions of the lower-fat versions of her favorite foods. "When I wanted those foods, I really wanted them, so I gave in, always mindful of how much I was eating," she says.

Food Cravings Aren’t All Bad

The foods women tend to want are, in fact, good choices. Take dairy products, for example, rich in protein, calcium, and several other nutrients, which are among the top foods women want during pregnancy, according to the March of Dimes. When Dolan was pregnant, cranberry juice was all she wanted to drink. Fortified cranberry juice can be an excellent source of calcium or vitamin C and contains an array of other nutrients necessary during pregnancy.

Food cravings typically differ from pregnancy to pregnancy. They may also change from day to day. Don’t be surprised when the food you had to have yesterday repulses you today. Sometimes, a pregnancy changes food preferences permanently. After delivering, Dolan’s love of cranberry juice turned to distaste. "Now, I won’t even go near it," she says.

Some women find themselves with a yen for nonfood items, including ice, dirt, clay, paper, and even paint chips, a condition known as pica. Pica may signal iron deficiency. Expectant mothers may also get the urge to eat flour or cornstarch, which, despite being food items, are a problem in large amounts. Too much can lead to blocked bowels and crowd out the nutrients your baby needs by causing you to feel full. If you have any of these urges, resist eating the items you crave, and report them to your doctor right away.

No matter how strong your desire, steer clear of foods considered health risks for pregnant women and developing babies. These include:

Raw and undercooked seafood, meat, and eggs
Unpasteurized milk and any foods made from it, including Brie, feta, Camembert, Roquefort, and Mexican-style cheeses
Unpasteurized juice
Raw vegetable sprouts, including alfalfa, clover, and radish
Herbal teas
Alcohol

Filed under: Sodium and Salt

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