Why Are Cravings?
April 7, 2019 4:34 AM Subscribe
Why do pregnancy cravings exist, especially the ones that are weird (like one I saw about dish soap on a cheeseburger)? Are they the body's way of signalling some nutrient deficiency or other? There's this question about cravings but it specifically excludes pregnancy.
I'm not 100 % convinced that pregnancy cravings are real to the extent enshrined in popular Western culture. What happened to me during pregnancy was that particularly during the first trimester I was incredibly nauseated and prone to vomiting. So it a less a matter of cravings and more well buttered toast seems like the one thing I could eat and not vomit. I did feel like eating some things, and not others - but I felt that way prior to pregnancy too. The difference was that now I felt I had license to act on those cravings much more. And people really expect you to have cravings - so I felt like I had to have an answer for them, so that was further reinforcing. I don't recall there being such an emphasis on the idea that pregnant women have cravings in India growing up, and am curious if other cultures are as insistent that pregnant women have cravings as my current Northeast American culture.
posted by peacheater at 5:55 AM on April 7, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by peacheater at 5:55 AM on April 7, 2019 [7 favorites]
I agree with peacheater. I didn’t feel I had more cravings in pregnancy. For me, the difference was that people thought they were important. So if I wanted a burger from Wendy’s, those around me thought I Must Have It. (Because nothing says healthy baby like saturated fat and a processed bun.)
posted by FencingGal at 6:19 AM on April 7, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by FencingGal at 6:19 AM on April 7, 2019 [4 favorites]
Food cravings during pregnancy are certainly real at the population level. They don't affect everyone, and many people who are not pregnant also have food cravings. Likewise, I do not personally have large problems with jet lag, but many people do!
Here is some 2002 research about food cravings and food aversions during pregnancy: food cravings and aversions [were reported] by 61% and 54% [of participants] respectively. Although more women experienced both food cravings and aversions than either symptom alone, cravings and aversions were statistically unrelated. The study concludes that some amount of aversions can be explained by learned association with experienced nausea and vomiting, and that no, at that time nobody really understand the mechanisms or "why" of food cravings. Here is some research on more general food cravings, that also indicates a lack of general or mechanistic understanding.
Your suggestion that cravings may help with certain nutritional demands is reasonable, and lots of people believe that. However, beware the just-so-story! It may be right, it may be wrong, it would seem we don't have enough good info yet to be sure. Keep in mind that any studies of pregnancy are very difficult, expensive, and face many ethical challenges. Together, this pretty much precludes experiments with a high degree of scientific control.
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:30 AM on April 7, 2019 [8 favorites]
Here is some 2002 research about food cravings and food aversions during pregnancy: food cravings and aversions [were reported] by 61% and 54% [of participants] respectively. Although more women experienced both food cravings and aversions than either symptom alone, cravings and aversions were statistically unrelated. The study concludes that some amount of aversions can be explained by learned association with experienced nausea and vomiting, and that no, at that time nobody really understand the mechanisms or "why" of food cravings. Here is some research on more general food cravings, that also indicates a lack of general or mechanistic understanding.
Your suggestion that cravings may help with certain nutritional demands is reasonable, and lots of people believe that. However, beware the just-so-story! It may be right, it may be wrong, it would seem we don't have enough good info yet to be sure. Keep in mind that any studies of pregnancy are very difficult, expensive, and face many ethical challenges. Together, this pretty much precludes experiments with a high degree of scientific control.
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:30 AM on April 7, 2019 [8 favorites]
Not to derail, but I'm not convinced by self-reported survey data of that sort - the notion that cravings are something that pregnant women experience is so ingrained in popular culture that it has to bias survey data of that kind. I would be more convinced if pregnant and not pregnant women were asked if they were experiencing a specific craving at that particular moment in time and then the results compared (rather than a retrospective question only to pregnant women). That said, I'm not saying that cravings don't exist at all - of course they do, just as I've had cravings as a non-pregnant woman - the thing I doubt is the prevalence.
posted by peacheater at 6:49 AM on April 7, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by peacheater at 6:49 AM on April 7, 2019 [12 favorites]
I think cravings when pregnant definitely can trigger confirmation bias. You have a craving while pregnant? You note it more strongly because it’s a thing that is culturally induced to notice. One thing I will add, anecdotally for myself and among my cohort, is that smells and flavors changed a bit while pregnant. I was a big fan of craft beer at the time I got pregnant and later on in pregnancy, I would have the occasional sips of beer. It was terrible! I was generally overwhelmed with the smell of the beer, it seemed like I could smell all the separate ingredients in a really overwhelming way. This continued a few months post-partum to an extent but quickly tapered off. It was so nice to get my old “tastebuds” back.
So, my feeling is confirmation bias + cultural programming + altered senses which can make some foods enjoyed previously less palatable and other foods more palatable.
posted by amanda at 7:03 AM on April 7, 2019 [3 favorites]
So, my feeling is confirmation bias + cultural programming + altered senses which can make some foods enjoyed previously less palatable and other foods more palatable.
posted by amanda at 7:03 AM on April 7, 2019 [3 favorites]
I wasn’t so much subject to cravings during my pregnancies as I was severe aversions, which I imagine is created by the same mechanism as cravings, just in reverse. There are plenty of foods I can eat to be polite or things I don’t enjoy normally, but this was an incredibly strong “I need to walk into another room because just the smell of this meat cooking is killing me” inability to deal with certain foods I otherwise enjoy. Red meat was the worst during my first pregnancy, as was tea. I normally have 3-4 cups of British-style tea every day and starting at about seven weeks I just could not. Even in third trimester when all the nausea and such was gone, I tried to politely drink a cup of tea when some friends were visiting, but I only made it a few sips in and then vomited it shortly thereafter. As soon as my daughter was born, though, I thoroughly enjoyed a lovely cup of tea the next day with no ill effects.
Chocolate, too. I have a massive sweet tooth. First pregnancy was the first year of my life I got through Easter without eating a single Cadbury egg because chocolate disgusted me. Also right back to normal following delivery.
So I’m fully willing to believe that other pregnant people feel the opposite, that particular combinations of flavors are especially appealing. And when you are experiencing aversions and nausea but are also mysteriously very hungry due to the sophisticated parasite you’re carrying, trying to figure out what does sound good but addresses your other constraints I think can naturally end up with weird combinations. (Like a friend of mine who wanted lots of Greek yogurt with salt. A very specific combination of flavors, but it’s what sounded appealing.)
Actually I just remembered I did have one weird craving with my first - I had two weeks of first trimester where my aversions were so many and so bad I survived on a liquid diet of fruit juice and yogurt, and I constantly drank orange juice. Which I hate. I do not drink it, ever, when I am not pregnant. But the only thing I could handle was a fresh/sour/sweet taste that didn’t require chewing and my husband had orange juice in the fridge so I tried some out of exhausted desperation and it was actually great so I drank lots through first trimester. Don’t think I’ve had a glass since, four years later.
posted by olinerd at 7:04 AM on April 7, 2019 [5 favorites]
Chocolate, too. I have a massive sweet tooth. First pregnancy was the first year of my life I got through Easter without eating a single Cadbury egg because chocolate disgusted me. Also right back to normal following delivery.
So I’m fully willing to believe that other pregnant people feel the opposite, that particular combinations of flavors are especially appealing. And when you are experiencing aversions and nausea but are also mysteriously very hungry due to the sophisticated parasite you’re carrying, trying to figure out what does sound good but addresses your other constraints I think can naturally end up with weird combinations. (Like a friend of mine who wanted lots of Greek yogurt with salt. A very specific combination of flavors, but it’s what sounded appealing.)
Actually I just remembered I did have one weird craving with my first - I had two weeks of first trimester where my aversions were so many and so bad I survived on a liquid diet of fruit juice and yogurt, and I constantly drank orange juice. Which I hate. I do not drink it, ever, when I am not pregnant. But the only thing I could handle was a fresh/sour/sweet taste that didn’t require chewing and my husband had orange juice in the fridge so I tried some out of exhausted desperation and it was actually great so I drank lots through first trimester. Don’t think I’ve had a glass since, four years later.
posted by olinerd at 7:04 AM on April 7, 2019 [5 favorites]
There is a correlation between pica (craving for non-food items like the dish soap you mention) and iron deficiency; here for example. However these don't seem like a practical way for the body to actually get iron, so it's not as simple as cravings making up for specific nutritional deficiencies. There's also a separate, but related, craving for smells rather than tastes, also loosely linked to iron deficiency.
(Anecdata: I craved the smell of new car sponges throughout pregnancy, partly because it blotted out the nausea-inducing smell of anything else but partly for its own sake. I had low-ish iron levels but didn't meet the treatment threshold for anaemia. I have no interest in the smell of car sponges the rest of the time, and now immediately postpartum the craving is gone and I have a massive pile of car sponges that I have no idea what to do with.)
posted by Catseye at 7:12 AM on April 7, 2019 [4 favorites]
(Anecdata: I craved the smell of new car sponges throughout pregnancy, partly because it blotted out the nausea-inducing smell of anything else but partly for its own sake. I had low-ish iron levels but didn't meet the treatment threshold for anaemia. I have no interest in the smell of car sponges the rest of the time, and now immediately postpartum the craving is gone and I have a massive pile of car sponges that I have no idea what to do with.)
posted by Catseye at 7:12 AM on April 7, 2019 [4 favorites]
The top linked study is a 2014 review article. It summarizes decades of research using a variety of different methods, and cogently discusses the evidence for and against the main hypotheses being reported here, as well as a few others (including pharmacologically active agents in craved food). It really is the one thing anyone should read about this if they want to see the state of scientific understanding as opposed to anecdote and supposition.
It clearly states that while the type of food craved and prevalence does vary by culture, Evidence suggests that all these phenomena exist in diverse cultures. So while I’m sure cultural influences play a role, the experts on this subject do not view it as primarily a cultural phenomenon.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:18 AM on April 7, 2019 [12 favorites]
It clearly states that while the type of food craved and prevalence does vary by culture, Evidence suggests that all these phenomena exist in diverse cultures. So while I’m sure cultural influences play a role, the experts on this subject do not view it as primarily a cultural phenomenon.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:18 AM on April 7, 2019 [12 favorites]
When I was pregnant I was like, I totally don't have cravings (except lots of very tart cranberry juice), and then I had baby and realized I wasn't wanting ice cream every day....
Of course there's much societal pressure.
I know baby takes all the iron! I had to supplement as my midwife estimated I would (& blood tests proved) after a certain point in pregnancy.
posted by PistachioRoux at 8:33 AM on April 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
Of course there's much societal pressure.
I know baby takes all the iron! I had to supplement as my midwife estimated I would (& blood tests proved) after a certain point in pregnancy.
posted by PistachioRoux at 8:33 AM on April 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
I think a lot of pregnancy “cravings” have to do with feeling allowed to relax in terms of what one eats. Women are so policed and judged about their diets, but pregnancy cravings are these socially sanctioned things (sometimes they feel almost demanded by others! My family constantly asked for a list of my cravings, they really wanted to provide me those special foods).
But yeah, I know some women report craving lima beans or blackberries or whatever, but soooo many more crave Reese’s milkshakes or brownies. Are those really these “wacky” things you never want when you’re not pregnant? I think it’s a lot more likely that women feel more freedom to not deny themselves (both in terms of “bad” food but also in actually SAYING that they want something, and maybe even making a partner bring it to them).
Personally I noticed food aversions as the much more visceral, unusual thing. I could not stand green peppers during my pregnancy, wouldn’t even have them in the house. Normally they aren’t my favorite but I certainly eat them.
posted by Bebo at 11:15 AM on April 7, 2019 [4 favorites]
But yeah, I know some women report craving lima beans or blackberries or whatever, but soooo many more crave Reese’s milkshakes or brownies. Are those really these “wacky” things you never want when you’re not pregnant? I think it’s a lot more likely that women feel more freedom to not deny themselves (both in terms of “bad” food but also in actually SAYING that they want something, and maybe even making a partner bring it to them).
Personally I noticed food aversions as the much more visceral, unusual thing. I could not stand green peppers during my pregnancy, wouldn’t even have them in the house. Normally they aren’t my favorite but I certainly eat them.
posted by Bebo at 11:15 AM on April 7, 2019 [4 favorites]
The doula gave us the „nutrient deficiency“ explanation.
My anecdotal evidence:
Pregnancy 1: No out of the ordinary cravings whatsoever. Just my normal weird tastes.
Pregnancy 2: Holy crap. I woke up one day with an intense craving for olives. I bought a giant jar of garlic-stuffed olives. For a whole trimester I would wolf them down every morning (my poor husband). Like, I would open the fridge first thing in the morning and eat 10 giant kalamata stuffed with garlic. (I generally crave mild tastes for breakfast, even OJ tastes too intense first thing).
And the instant ramen. I ate two packets a day for a month straight.
„Your baby needs...salt?“ the doula said, blanching a little.
Then, one morning I opened the jar, chomped down on a garlic olive and spat it out again because WTF this tastes disgusting! How could anyone eat that! The (first? second?) trimester was officially over. I‘ve never eaten them again.
Based on that, yes, pregnancy cravings are a Thing indeed, but they don‘t strike everyone, every time.
posted by Omnomnom at 12:07 PM on April 7, 2019 [5 favorites]
My anecdotal evidence:
Pregnancy 1: No out of the ordinary cravings whatsoever. Just my normal weird tastes.
Pregnancy 2: Holy crap. I woke up one day with an intense craving for olives. I bought a giant jar of garlic-stuffed olives. For a whole trimester I would wolf them down every morning (my poor husband). Like, I would open the fridge first thing in the morning and eat 10 giant kalamata stuffed with garlic. (I generally crave mild tastes for breakfast, even OJ tastes too intense first thing).
And the instant ramen. I ate two packets a day for a month straight.
„Your baby needs...salt?“ the doula said, blanching a little.
Then, one morning I opened the jar, chomped down on a garlic olive and spat it out again because WTF this tastes disgusting! How could anyone eat that! The (first? second?) trimester was officially over. I‘ve never eaten them again.
Based on that, yes, pregnancy cravings are a Thing indeed, but they don‘t strike everyone, every time.
posted by Omnomnom at 12:07 PM on April 7, 2019 [5 favorites]
As I understand it, almost all mammals, whether their normal diets are vegetarian or not, will eat their placenta after birth.
I've wondered whether the strange food cravings of pregnancy are a premonition of and a preparation for that act.
posted by jamjam at 12:11 PM on April 7, 2019
I've wondered whether the strange food cravings of pregnancy are a premonition of and a preparation for that act.
posted by jamjam at 12:11 PM on April 7, 2019
I just want to share that a woman of my acquaintance craved a carrot pizza while she was pregnant. Draw your own conclusions.
posted by mannyfeefees at 12:30 PM on April 7, 2019
posted by mannyfeefees at 12:30 PM on April 7, 2019
When I was pregnant I was like, I totally don't have cravings (except lots of very tart cranberry juice), and then I had baby and realized I wasn't wanting ice cream every day....
Hey, are you me? I had exactly the same experience. And it was very specifically nutella and raspberry gelato I had every single day. Without finding that unusual, even though I hardly ever eat any form of ice cream, and even though you could only get gelato in one place in the city.
It wasn't bad though, a women I know a bit had cravings for a specific type of salt licorice and raw oysters. Eaten together. And they lived in a suburb with no convenience stores or fancy restaurants. I'd say that was bordering on pica.
I agree with the idea that probably aversions come first. I hated almost all food while pregnant, and it went away literally minutes after each birth. But in retrospect I felt the ice cream was a different thing from my basic foods, which were milk and bananas. (Though I actually don't like milk or bananas normally).
posted by mumimor at 1:32 PM on April 7, 2019
Hey, are you me? I had exactly the same experience. And it was very specifically nutella and raspberry gelato I had every single day. Without finding that unusual, even though I hardly ever eat any form of ice cream, and even though you could only get gelato in one place in the city.
It wasn't bad though, a women I know a bit had cravings for a specific type of salt licorice and raw oysters. Eaten together. And they lived in a suburb with no convenience stores or fancy restaurants. I'd say that was bordering on pica.
I agree with the idea that probably aversions come first. I hated almost all food while pregnant, and it went away literally minutes after each birth. But in retrospect I felt the ice cream was a different thing from my basic foods, which were milk and bananas. (Though I actually don't like milk or bananas normally).
posted by mumimor at 1:32 PM on April 7, 2019
I'm pregnant right now and in the first trimester I've found that "craving" is code for "I'm starving and the thought of every food makes me want to puke but I think if I could enjoy eating anything it'd be this."
I'm not usually someone who denies myself foods I want, so I think the cultural "you can eat anything you want!" noise hasn't had much effect on me. It's not like I'm taking this excuse to eat all the ice cream I want; I eat ice cream all the time whether or not I'm pregnant. I'm just so picky right now that if anything sounds fleetingly good I'm like "I'LL TAKE TEN PLEASE" so I can get it down before it starts sounding disgusting like every other food I can imagine.
I will say, later in pregnancy as the nausea dies down the cravings thing does get more stereotypical. For me it's not that I necessarily want a certain food more desperately, though; it's that I get hungry more suddenly and more urgently, so whatever I happen to want, I really want it, all of a sudden, sometimes rather unpredictably. My digestion doesn't work as it usually does so my usual food consumption pattern isn't well adapted. And definitely the altered senses come into play, as I hate many of my usual favorite foods, so the stuff I want seems weird to me and those who know me.
I have no special love for dill pickles when not pregnant and find them more compelling right now, but tbh I'm almost ashamed to eat them where people can see me because it feels so cliched.
posted by potrzebie at 1:43 PM on April 7, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'm not usually someone who denies myself foods I want, so I think the cultural "you can eat anything you want!" noise hasn't had much effect on me. It's not like I'm taking this excuse to eat all the ice cream I want; I eat ice cream all the time whether or not I'm pregnant. I'm just so picky right now that if anything sounds fleetingly good I'm like "I'LL TAKE TEN PLEASE" so I can get it down before it starts sounding disgusting like every other food I can imagine.
I will say, later in pregnancy as the nausea dies down the cravings thing does get more stereotypical. For me it's not that I necessarily want a certain food more desperately, though; it's that I get hungry more suddenly and more urgently, so whatever I happen to want, I really want it, all of a sudden, sometimes rather unpredictably. My digestion doesn't work as it usually does so my usual food consumption pattern isn't well adapted. And definitely the altered senses come into play, as I hate many of my usual favorite foods, so the stuff I want seems weird to me and those who know me.
I have no special love for dill pickles when not pregnant and find them more compelling right now, but tbh I'm almost ashamed to eat them where people can see me because it feels so cliched.
posted by potrzebie at 1:43 PM on April 7, 2019 [2 favorites]
The only cravings I experienced were tied to other obvious pregnancy conditions.
I was intensely thirsty all the time; but I also had terrible nausea and heartburn. So I craved the most quenching beverages that didn't make my stomach feel worse. (Fizzy water; small amounts of very cold beer.) I wanted crunchy cereal with cold milk, because it was easy and fast (very important, as nobody was cooking for me); cold and wet (good for the thirst) and easy to digest (good for the bad stomach.) I had a terribly sharpened sense of smell, so was averse to anything pungent (eg alliums) or nausea provoking (eg meat.) And I was so hungry in the early days of pregnancy that I would wake up in the wee hours and have to eat; and of course choose things that would help the hunger but not aggravate the various discomforts and aversions.
Ice cream from the freezer is fast, cold (soothing to a burning esophagus), has no potentially offensive smell, solves hunger because of its high fat content, requires no prep and has no acid or spice to offend a sensitive stomach. No surprise that it's a common pregnancy "craving."
posted by fingersandtoes at 3:22 PM on April 7, 2019 [3 favorites]
I was intensely thirsty all the time; but I also had terrible nausea and heartburn. So I craved the most quenching beverages that didn't make my stomach feel worse. (Fizzy water; small amounts of very cold beer.) I wanted crunchy cereal with cold milk, because it was easy and fast (very important, as nobody was cooking for me); cold and wet (good for the thirst) and easy to digest (good for the bad stomach.) I had a terribly sharpened sense of smell, so was averse to anything pungent (eg alliums) or nausea provoking (eg meat.) And I was so hungry in the early days of pregnancy that I would wake up in the wee hours and have to eat; and of course choose things that would help the hunger but not aggravate the various discomforts and aversions.
Ice cream from the freezer is fast, cold (soothing to a burning esophagus), has no potentially offensive smell, solves hunger because of its high fat content, requires no prep and has no acid or spice to offend a sensitive stomach. No surprise that it's a common pregnancy "craving."
posted by fingersandtoes at 3:22 PM on April 7, 2019 [3 favorites]
When I was pregnant with my son I had these mad cravings for chicken skin, from a rotisserie style bird, cold, preferably the day after it had been cooked. The fattier the better.
By this point in my life I'd been a vegetarian for 22 years. There was no way in the fresh hell I was eating that. Intellectually I couldn't concieve of anything more revolting and even if I'd caved it'd have come right back up again. But there you are.
posted by Jilder at 4:41 PM on April 7, 2019
By this point in my life I'd been a vegetarian for 22 years. There was no way in the fresh hell I was eating that. Intellectually I couldn't concieve of anything more revolting and even if I'd caved it'd have come right back up again. But there you are.
posted by Jilder at 4:41 PM on April 7, 2019
I certainly like apples, but I don’t like 5 a day like I did with my first pregnancy (once I could eat again). It was partly the heightened sense of smell but also I’ve never again found individual varieties SO DELICIOUS AND INTERESTING again. N=1, though.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 6:07 PM on April 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 6:07 PM on April 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
Before I knew I was pregnant with my son, I craved fresh fruit and cheese and naps after work. No big deal, as I was mostly vegetarian at the time. This evolved into wanting a great little cheeseburger with veggies for lunch from Backyard Burger about every day. My vegetarian friends delivered these to me with love. They were already getting garden burgers.
With my daughter, I craved lime slushies from Sonic, to the point where folks brought me Route 44 size to stash in the freezer, and cantaloupe, which I NEVER liked, but my daughter apparently did for over 15 years.
In both cases, I could not hold down any amount of beer or wine or any other alcohol before I even knew I was pregnant. I believe this was a fine thing for my body to do. Along with all the other things.
posted by lilywing13 at 7:51 PM on April 7, 2019
With my daughter, I craved lime slushies from Sonic, to the point where folks brought me Route 44 size to stash in the freezer, and cantaloupe, which I NEVER liked, but my daughter apparently did for over 15 years.
In both cases, I could not hold down any amount of beer or wine or any other alcohol before I even knew I was pregnant. I believe this was a fine thing for my body to do. Along with all the other things.
posted by lilywing13 at 7:51 PM on April 7, 2019
Response by poster: The source for the dish soap craving story
The idea of pregnancy giving license to women to be more free to express what they want to eat without judgement and have it be fulfilled doesn't make sense when you're talking about weird/dangerous flavour combos, or like all the people here who are vegetarian but craved meat. The idea of "this is what my body could hold down after morning sickness" makes some sense, but not for the more bizarre combos.
I'm not sure if I conveyed it in my question adequately, but I'm curious to know why pregnancy cravings take the shape that they do - like, why dish soap (sorry to harp on dish soap) and not something else that's pink like dragonfruit?
posted by divabat at 8:24 PM on April 7, 2019
The idea of pregnancy giving license to women to be more free to express what they want to eat without judgement and have it be fulfilled doesn't make sense when you're talking about weird/dangerous flavour combos, or like all the people here who are vegetarian but craved meat. The idea of "this is what my body could hold down after morning sickness" makes some sense, but not for the more bizarre combos.
I'm not sure if I conveyed it in my question adequately, but I'm curious to know why pregnancy cravings take the shape that they do - like, why dish soap (sorry to harp on dish soap) and not something else that's pink like dragonfruit?
posted by divabat at 8:24 PM on April 7, 2019
I think people are responding to the question with anecdotes and theories about food cravings because cravings to eat non-food items are classified medically as pica, not craving. Doctors discourage pregnant women from thinking of a craving to eat a non-food item as a craving to discourage them from getting caught up in the discourse around listening to your body's needs during pregnancy and ingesting something unhealthy or poisonous because "your body knows what it needs".
There are some common pica cravings like chalk or dirt that may be down to calcium or iron deficiency, but that doesn't mean eating chalk or dirt is the best way to get calcium or iron. Pregnant women are encouraged to bring up pica with their doctor, and not consider it a normal pregnancy craving.
posted by potrzebie at 8:49 PM on April 7, 2019
There are some common pica cravings like chalk or dirt that may be down to calcium or iron deficiency, but that doesn't mean eating chalk or dirt is the best way to get calcium or iron. Pregnant women are encouraged to bring up pica with their doctor, and not consider it a normal pregnancy craving.
posted by potrzebie at 8:49 PM on April 7, 2019
I'm not sure if I conveyed it in my question adequately, but I'm curious to know why pregnancy cravings take the shape that they do - like, why dish soap (sorry to harp on dish soap) and not something else that's pink like dragonfruit?
I think you're reading too much into a clickbait-y article from Buzzfeed. The reason that putting dish soap on a cheeseburger is mentioned there is because it sounds super gross and is actually pretty unusual as a craving. I wouldn't read into that that dish soap as a craving is more likely than craving dragonfruit or something else pink. Definitely not data, but even among women who talked about pregnancy cravings the most common things that people said they craved were not dish soap or anything particularly weird, but foods on the more indulgent end of the spectrum like milkshakes, hamburgers and french fries.
posted by peacheater at 5:35 AM on April 8, 2019 [2 favorites]
I think you're reading too much into a clickbait-y article from Buzzfeed. The reason that putting dish soap on a cheeseburger is mentioned there is because it sounds super gross and is actually pretty unusual as a craving. I wouldn't read into that that dish soap as a craving is more likely than craving dragonfruit or something else pink. Definitely not data, but even among women who talked about pregnancy cravings the most common things that people said they craved were not dish soap or anything particularly weird, but foods on the more indulgent end of the spectrum like milkshakes, hamburgers and french fries.
posted by peacheater at 5:35 AM on April 8, 2019 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Long answer: Pickles and ice cream! Food cravings in pregnancy: hypotheses, preliminary evidence, and directions for future research.
Cravings for non-food things (like dish soap) has its own name: pica.
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 5:43 AM on April 7, 2019 [2 favorites]