Cravings during pregnancy

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I am not a woman, so there is no way I could have known what being pregnant feels like. However, I have been privileged to stay 24/7 with a pregnant woman, not once but thrice. Ipso facto, I can be able to say a thing or two about the morphological, behavioural, and perhaps physiological changes that happen in pregnant women.

In addition to my own experiences, I have stories and personal testimonies from pregnant women themselves or those that have stayed with them concerning my topic - pregnancy cravings. Yes, there is more than enough anecdotal evidence to show that there are some special cravings that come with being pregnant in some women. There might even be a scientific side to it as we will see later in this post.

Before we got the news that my wife was pregnant for our first child, I have always suspected something to be amiss based on certain things she eats or craves. My wife can leave all the delicious foods in the house only to go and buy the same food in a local restaurant talking about 'I just want food that is cooked with firewood'.

One particular event will always stick to my memory. It happened in the middle of the night and that was after it has been confirmed that we will be having our first baby. My wife just woke up in the middle of the night and started sobbing. I woke up a bit scared because I have never witnessed her cry before then. I thought it must have been a bad dream and started consoling her without saying any word. We have a tradition of not relaying bad dreams to anyone in the family, not even your dearest wife/husband.

I was able to calm her down after about 5 minutes.

'It was just a dream, everything will be fine'. I said with the presumption that it was a bad dream that was making her sob.

'No, it is not about a dream. I am hungry and the only thing I feel like eating is boiled unripe plantain.' She replied.

I almost went berserk. I mean, here we are, a few minutes to 1:00 am, and my wife suddenly waking up and started sobbing just because she craves an unripe plantain - boiled. I had to force myself not to react the way I felt because on one hand, there is no unripe plantain at home, and on the other hand, I did not want to spend the entire night consoling an adult.

By arnold inuyaki - https://www.flickr.com/photos/arndog/1351629789/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28825421

I once saw a thread on Twitter where married men were sharing their experience with their partner's cravings during pregnancy.

My wife once took a bike instead of following me in the car because she wanted to perceive the smoke from the bike's exhaust.

Mine once woke up in the middle of the night to request Coldstone's ice cream. We had Mr. Biggs's ice cream in the freezer.

We once gatecrashed a burial ceremony because my wife was craving burial's jollof rice and she would not let me rest.

A few women actually joined the thread to confess their own cravings during pregnancies:

I slept on the rug during my first trimester because of the smell emanating from it.

I made my husband to travel about 300 km just to get a specific food.

It is however important to know that these cravings vary from individual to individual and do not apply to all pregnant women as some just go about their pregnancy period without any cravings.

Is there a science side to it?

Some scientific inquiries have been made to see if there are physiological reasons behind the cravings of some pregnant women. While a large percentage of the reasons that have been provided remain hypothetical, a few have been logically backed with evidence.

One explanation that has been given for certain food cravings during pregnancy is nutrient deficiencies, although this remains largely unproven. A pregnant woman that is deficient in a certain nutrient may crave for foods rich in such nutrient. A few investigations to see if there is any form of correlation between craved foods and deficient nutrients have all come back negative.

A change in the activities of the brain during pregnancy has also been fingered in the issue of cravings. Research has shown that some changes occur to the structure and functions of a woman's brain during pregnancy. The brain's gray matter has been found to be shrunk due to the hormonal changes during pregnancy. However, very little to no inquiries have been made to determine the impact of the reduction in the size of the gray matter in cravings.

One established fact, though, is that pregnant women become resistant to leptin at the latter stages of gestation. Leptin plays important role in metabolic homeostasis in pregnant women at the early stages. Ordinarily, leptin is implicated in the regulation of appetite. Being resistant to this hormone at the later pregnancy stage means that pregnant women are liable to have a voracious appetite at some points during gestation. Someone with a voracious appetite will definitely be having different cravings.

Lastly and the most supporting evidence for pregnancy craving is that it is largely psychological. This article by BBC did justice in explaining the psychological aspect of cravings.

What is your experience like during pregnancy? Do you get certain cravings? Have you experienced someone else's pregnancy cravings?

Feel free to share with me in the comment section.

Thank you for reading through.



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34 comments
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I wonder what nutrient was in the rug that may have led to her craving it more than a bed? 😅

They have a rough time making little people in their bellies. I usually wouldn't pamper, but if there was a little human inside, I think I'd make the extra effort

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Lol...you don't want to be consoling an adult for a long period of time if you do not allow them to have their way. Besides, they are always right whenever they are in this condition :)

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Besides, they are always right whenever they are in this condition :)

YES THEY ARE!

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It funnies me the way cravings comes during pregnancy and funny enough they won't be interested in what they are craving for. You will see a pregnant lady craving to take alcohol when she is not the type that do alcohol a lot of funny scenes

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Azzin. Quite complicated set of individuals.

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Lol it's not their fault it's the product within

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(Edited)

I have been pregnant four times I honestly never had a craving for any particular food..
In fact I just couldn't eat at all.
Eating was like punishment for me.
Fish was the only food I ate and digested well.. the rest I threw up until the end of my two full term pregnancies.
I know women you ate charcoal and sour fruits and stuff though.

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Charcoal? That's new...lol. Just when you thought you have seen it all.

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Yes, my former colleague ate charcoal. I was dumbfounded by her craving.

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My mom told me of ladies who craved sand, the smells of paint, and even dung. It is crazy to me

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Hello @gentleshaid. Interesting finding on cravings in pregnant females. I don't remember having any specific cravings. Thanks for sharing the information and experiences with your wife.

Have a good rest of your week.

Read through @dreemport

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Thanks. It seems cravings is limited to certain cultures. Testimonies in the comment section of this post give credence to that.

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My child's mother craved peanut butter and pickles. (combined) I thought it was strange, and I was craving pickles a lot while she was, but just the pickles.

Nicely written article, it gave me a bit of a chuckle thinking back about it :)

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Thanks. Many people do not know that pregnancy cravings are a thing until they experience them firsthand.

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I almost went berserk. I mean, here we are, a few minutes to 1:00 am, and my wife suddenly waking up and started sobbing just because she craves an unripe plantain - boiled. I had to force myself not to react the way I felt because on one hand, there is no unripe plantain at home, and on the other hand, I did not want to spend the entire night consoling an adult.

This reminds me of some different times with my wife during her pregnancies. So what was the outcome, you never said? Did you go get some? Did you spend all night consoling?

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I managed to console her back to sleep promising to get it for her first thing in the morning. By dawn, she's already Craving another thing.

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Sounds about like my experience, but then again sometimes I had to go get what she craved too.

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I think I need to get prepared for this stage someday 😅😅 I might tell my husband I am craving for tortoise head roasted in stew 🤣🤣🤣
Seriously, it does happen to most pregnant women and I haven't make up time to know the reason behind such.
Thanks for this information.
I came through by @dreemport

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Tortoise head roasted in a stew is even easy. As long as you do not demand for the head of an elephant that died while flying. :)

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Somehow I was thinking of the mysterious hormones hide or seek game behind these mood swings 😁
Also, I was an unmarried girl who can't share the experience 😂 but yes I am the evident

I made my husband travel about 300 km just to get a specific food.

Hehe, it's my brother 😁 also my sister-in-law acted hilariously at night time when she starts yelling and saying I am not going to make it happen hahaha and after we all were to console her she sleeps calmly by making us awake.
Haha, it was the best time and somehow nothing was in my hands too.
Good to read such incredible content @gentleshaid
Thanks to @dreemport for this suggestion.

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I hope you won't have any cravings when it gets to your turn. Thanks for the comment. I really laughed out loud.

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Haha as I said it's hormonal 😁 and who doesn't want such attention lol🤣 by the way I am already a dramatic person and I wouldn't restrict myself to add up some extra spices during this condition.
Kidding 😁

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Sometimes I ask myself why women become so difficult to stay with when they are pregnant... I just don't understand all the cravings.. I just hope my wife won't be like the women you described in your post because I don't like stress oo...

Thanks for sharing this informative post... Now I know there is science side to their cravings.. @dreemport directed me here

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You are welcome. Hopefully, you will be lucky that your woman will not have any unusual cravings during pregnancy. Otherwise, you are better equipped to deal with it now. You understand that it is sometimes due to circumstances beyond their control.

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😂 😂 Oh my goodness!!! I read this post and then the comments under it and I was just laughing and affirming to almost every thing said here... I was even shocked to see that a lady crave for charcoal during pregnancy 🙆‍♀️ that's very new to me.

I know of a pregnant lady who enjoy the smell of faeces especially the one of her eldest son who was 2 years at that time... It was very disgusting but she felt better after sniffing the smell in 😳

Seriously, I really do hope I don't have weird cravings when I get pregnant... I may regret it after I give birth 😂 I want to be like lady I know who craves for a type of fruit till she gave birth.

There's also another woman who craved got Pepsi and boiled egg three times a day... She couldn't give birth the normal way because the baby grew so big in her... That's really life threatening because of her cravings 🤷‍♀️

You have a really nice write up here, I enjoyed making contributions to it as well 😊

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I think craving is the most common habit among pregnant women. Most times, it is always about liking neighborhood's food. I remember the last time my wife was pregnant, fortunately, there was a sister staying in another apartment but within the same compound, so they both got pregnant together, having known this common habit among pregnant women, I usually ask my wife to serve her food once she cooks or I brought some eatable food home, not long my wife started doing it that the other pregnant sister started to reciprocate the action and they both enjoyed it to the fullest.

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