Pregnancy and Food Aversions

Pregnancy cravings and aversions, now aren’t they a huge pregnancy perk *sarcasm* ? So far in both of my pregnancies I’ve had varied and very strong food aversions - everything from meat, fatty things (including nuts and avocados), certain cuisines like Mexican and plain dishes like risotto to sugar and anything sweet. Needless to say I’ve struggled to eat a lot of the time. I’m yet to experience the cliche pregnant lady cravings that we all know from Hollywood though and probably  easier said than done but I wouldn’t mind craving something because then at least I’d be able to think of something to eat that didn’t make me gag!

While pregnancy food aversions and cravings aren’t completely understood it’s thought that they play a protective role to the growing baby - keeping Mum-to-be away from foods that could cause harm and heading her towards foods that offer missing nutrients. But that’s not to say your chocolate cravings are totally justified! Could be you need more magnesium (found in raw cacao that makes chocolate) or perhaps it’s that your microbiome - your gut bugs - have a need for sugar and therefore want you to eat more so that they can thrive, in a lot of cases it’s the not so great bugs that want this and so is mostly not a good thing.

But when pregnant my favourite motto is you do what you gotta do. Being pregnant is no walk in the park! So while you may not always make the best food choices do your best to eat the foods that make you feel good. Not instant sugar rush good but actually down in your tummy, humming in your cells good. And if it’s foods you know aren’t all that great for you try not to eat them too often! For me today at 8am it’s a big bowl of chow mein that’s hitting the spot so excuse me while I hide from my toddler long enough to eat it without sharing it all with him 💁🏻‍♀️ What are/were your pregnancy food cravings or aversions?