Tuesday 24 July 2012

Why do Pregnancy Cravings occur?



:-•:*"*:•.-:¦:-•* Greetings *•-:¦:-•:*'''*:•-:

Olives, Nectarines, Satsuma’s, Gherkins, Salty Chips, Lemonade, these are the cravings that I’ve been having throughout my pregnancy so far and at times my cravings have driven me up the wall. It’s 3 o clock in the morning and guess what just woke me up? Yes, another craving. I actually think I was dreaming about gherkins and the next thing I know is I’m awake lying in bed fighting with myself for whether to go and get them from the fridge or just try to go back to sleep. However, I’m awake now so I’m sure you know what won.

While eating the last gherkin (I limited myself to five, don’t worry there the small ones, I promise), I started wondering about why we have cravings and if there actually a Placebo? So, naughty I decided to NOT GO BACK TO SLEEP and use the big World Wide Web to answer my curiosity.

I found a lot of interesting stuff and my results amazed me and then that got me thinking about how many other pregnant women just wonder why we have cravings. Thus, I decided to share my finding with you in the form of this post. I hope enjoy my findings and with no further a due here they are:

Why cravings occur and what causes them during pregnancy?
In spite of all the research and the experiences of millions of pregnant women, it is still unsure to exactly why we have food cravings and non-food cravings called Pica during pregnancy and what causes them.  Some specialists believe it’s due to increasing hormonal levels but there’s no scientific evidence to fully support that.

What do food cravings during pregnancy mean?
Many have different opinions and views to what cravings mean:

Some specialists believe that pregnant women crave for the nutrients that their body lacks or is in need of. For instance some may believe that craving for red meat is your body is reaching out for Protein or if your body is in short of Magnesium you may crave for Chocolate.

On the other hand, there are specialists that dispute this and believe that pregnancy cravings have nothing to do with what our body needs. They argue that if pregnant women craved for the things that there body needed then they would eat more healthy things and consume less of the unhealthy things. Like more Greens and less sugar!

Nevertheless, again here there is no scientific evidence to support any of the views.

When do the Cravings start?
Cravings can occur at any point of the pregnancy, however they are more common during the first trimester and can change during the pregnancy. You may crave for things in early pregnancy that you can’t stand later on in the pregnancy or vice-versa.

What to do about food cravings?
In most cases, cravings are more fascinating than serious or harmful. So, in moderation they can be indulged. Just make sure you maintain a healthy balanced-diet and if you do feel that your cravings are of concern than consult your GP or Midwife as soon as possible.

I hope you find this information as helpful and intriguing as I did. Simple cravings who could have thought they could be such a mystery?

If you want some further reading materials, here are few links for you to have a look at:




Now, I would like you to share your pregnancy cravings with me and tell me why you think we have cravings. So, get typing in the comments box below.

Anyway, I'm going back to sleep, and you should try as well ( WHAT ARE YOU DOING AWAKE?)

:-•:*"*:•.-:¦:-•* Ta-ra *•-:¦:-•:*'''*:•-:

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