Pregnancy Cravings

We’ve all heard the joke about pregnant women craving pickles and ice cream. While you may not want anything that nauseating, most pregnant women do experience cravings for foods they do not usually eat. No one understands why cravings happen, but for the most part they are harmless. In fact, some women report eating the foods they crave early in pregnancy helps to eliminate morning sickness.

Cravings can become a problem if the craving interferes with good nutrition. Remember, a pregnant woman is dealing with several other factors that can challenge her good nutrition. If you fill up on pickles and ice cream every time you get a craving, you are not leaving much hunger for healthy nutritious food.

Be reasonable with your healthy cravings too, make good eating choices focusing on the flavors you desire. For example, you may have cravings for baked potatoes. While a baked potato isn’t bad, excess of any food skews the nutritional balance. Limit yourself to one baked potato a day and top it with healthy choices from other food groups to balance out your day.

Some women experience cravings for non-food substances such as laundry starch, crayons, ice, dirt and cravings for smells like ammonia or nail polish remover. These non-food cravings are called pica, and may present a danger for you and your baby. Eating non-food products is associated with constipation, bowel obstruction, elevated blood pressure and anemia. Your health care provider should be able to help you determine if your non-food craving is harmful, and may be able to help you find ways to deal with it.

You May Also Be Interested In: Explore ways exercise in pregnancy can help you stay healthy. Finding out how to tell if labor has started. The Coach's Notebook helps you master comfort measures for labor. The Natural Childbirth Directory can help you find more information about pregnancy and locate childbirth professionals. Virtual Labor Game lets you practice your new labor skills.

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