When most people think about pregnancy cravings, they usually imagine a pregnant woman wanting nothing but pickles and ice cream for nine months. However, pregnancy cravings can be a lot more diverse than that. In fact, they can be downright strange at times! In this blog post, we will take a look at some of the weirdest pregnancy cravings out there. We will also explain food cravings and how to avoid them.
What Are Pregnancy Cravings Like?
Pregnancy cravings can be for almost anything! Some women crave specific foods, while others just have a general desire for certain flavors or textures. Pregnancy cravings can also change from day to day or week to week.
Why Does Pregnancy Cause Cravings?
If you’re pregnant and craving something weird, you’re not alone!
The exact cause of pregnancy cravings seems to be unknown. They are a mystery to scientists, but there are some theories about why they happen.
One theory is that pregnancy cravings are your body’s way of getting extra nutrients that you may be lacking.
Another theory is that pregnancy cravings are caused by hormonal changes.
Whatever the cause, pregnancy cravings are totally normal and nothing to worry about.
How Early Do Pregnancy Cravings Start?Β
Some women say that they got cravings for certain foods from the very beginning while others might experience them way later.
While pregnancy cravings can start as early as the first trimester, they usually happen in the second or third trimester.
When Are Pregnancy Cravings the Strongest?
Pregnancy cravings are usually strongest in the second or third trimester. However, every woman is different, and in your case, you might feel stronger at the being of the pregnancy.
Should You Satisfy Pregnancy Cravings?
Of course, you don’t have to satisfy your pregnancy cravings if you don’t want to. Indeed it will be better to avoid certain foods such as junk food or other unhealthy options.
Just make sure to talk to your doctor about any concerns you have.
How To Avoid Pregnancy Cravings?
The good news is that there are some things you can do to deal with pregnancy cravings.
If you’re worried about eating too much junk food, try to satisfy your cravings with healthy alternatives. For example, if you’re craving ice cream, try frozen yogurt or fruit popsicles.
If you’re craving chips, try roasted kale chips or veggie chips. And if you’re craving candy, try dark chocolate or fruit leathers.
And if you feel you need help dealing with pregnancy cravings, talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian. They can help you find healthy ways to satisfy your cravings for certain foods and make sure you and your baby are getting all the nutrients you need.
What Happens If You Ignore Pregnancy Cravings?
You might be tempted to ignore some cravings such as eating too much chocolate, dairy products, and sugar because you are afraid of gaining too much weight.
While this can be valid reasoning it’s important to do not ignore your cravings and seek medical advice diagnosis. You want to make sure that your strong cravings are not due to your body missing some essential nutrients such as calcium and iron.
So it’s always best to talk to your doctor about pregnancy cravings, even if you’re not sure you want to satisfy them.
What Are the Most Common Cravings During Pregnancy?
One of the most common cravings is ice cream as well as salty snacks like chips or pretzels.
However, pregnancy cravings can be for almost anything. They can also include weird food combinations such as the well-known combo pickles and ice cream.
Here is a list of one of the most commonly craved foods :
- Sweet foods like candy and chocolate.
- Fried Food.
- Fruits such as watermelon.
- Dairies.
- Carbohydrates-pasta, bread, and more pasta.
- Fast Food such as McDonald’s, pizza, and Chinese food.
- Cold food like ice cream and yogurt.
Each pregnant woman is different and you might crave something completely different from the commonly craved foods.
7 Weird Things You Didn’t Know About Pregnancy Cravings
1. Pica
One of the strangest things about pregnancy cravings is that they can happen even when you’re not pregnant.
For instance, some people suffer from a compulsive eating disorder called Pica which can cause you to crave non-food items like dirt, clay, cigarette ashes, laundry detergent, glue, ice, or even hair. This list is not exhaustive.
If you have any doubts that you might be experiencing Pica, it’s important to talk to your doctor immediately because eating non-food items can be extremely dangerous for both you and your baby.
2. Craving For Air
Another weird pregnancy craving is known as “air hunger.”
Feeling breathless during pregnancy it’s very common especially if you were used to smoking, you are overweight or you are pre-pregnancy physical activities levels were low.
How your baby is positioned can also impact the feeling of breathlessness. For instance, while I was pregnant with my first daughter she was relatively low so I experience the feeling of breathlessness quite late in the pregnancy.
However, the second one was pretty high in my abdomen and I felt breathless quite often since the beginning of the pregnancy. I remember once after being in a professional meeting my boss asked me why I spoke so fast to the client like I was in the rush. I replied to her that I was having difficulties talking and breathing at the same time.
3. Pregnancy Cravings But Not Pregnant
If you’re not pregnant and you have pregnancy cravings, it could be a sign of an underlying medical condition like pica or iron deficiency. If you’re concerned about your pregnancy cravings, you should talk to your doctor.
4. Craving Something That You Usually Hate
While most of the time you might imagine that the food cravings will be an uncontrollable desire to eat huge quantities of your favorite foods it can be common for pregnant women to desire things that they were used to hating.
5. Vegetarian Mamas Crave Meat
Craving meat during pregnancy is pretty common. It can even happen to vegetarian mamas.
During my pregnancy, I experiences an uncontrollable desire to eat meat even though it’s been years since I stopped eating it.
It is believed that it might be due because your body is craving some nutrients such as vitamin B12 or iron.
6. Cravings Can Differ In Each Pregnancy
During your second or third pregnancy, you might think that there is nothing that can surprise you including cravings since you’ve already been through it once. However, when it comes to cravings it can be very different each time. A lot of pregnant women including myself are experiencing different food cravings in each pregnancy.
While some people believe that this might be due because of the sex of the baby it’s not always the case.
I have two girls and with the first one, I was craving sweet stuff which is believed to be a sign for a baby girl while with the second one I was looking forward to eating mostly salty food which is known to be a sign for baby boys.
7. Spicy Food
Surprisingly spicy foods are part of the common pregnancy food cravings. A lot of pregnant women seem to enjoy them.
While some of them are afraid that spicy foods might be dangerous they are indeed safe for the baby. However, it’s common to experience indigestion during pregnancy and it’s recommended to avoid foods that can trigger heartburn.
Weird Things You Didn’t Know About Pregnancy Cravings: To Sum It Up
While food cravings are something common during pregnancy and you might have difficulties resisting them, it’s important to keep healthy weight gain. Also if you experience some weird cravings and desires you should always talk to your doctor and seek advice diagnosis, or treatment, in order to make sure that satisfying your weird craving, won’t hurt either you or your baby.
We hope this blog post has helped you learn more about pregnancy cravings! If you have any questions or would like to share your own pregnancy craving story, please leave a comment below. Thanks for reading!
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Great info for any new mama! I think our bodies are so amazing during pregnancy, and pregnancy cravings are just one example of how intuitive our bodies are!
Your post brought back memories of my cravings during my pregnancy π I craved for chocolate cake but waited till my last weeks of pregnancy. A really helpful post for all pregnant women who experience cravings of some kind, on how to indulge in them without overindulging.
I'm currently pregnant so I have some cravings. Mostly for Chinese food. I guess it's not so bad. Love the post!