Food Cravings during Pregnancy

What you may crave for during Pregnancy?

It is normal to experience food cravings during pregnancy, however, giving in to cravings should be balanced. This is because many of these cravings can be for:

• chocolate
• sugary items such as sweets, ice cream and cookies
• salty snack food.

None of these are health foods and thus, their consumption should be in moderation.

Cope with Food Cravings during Pregnancy

Occasional indulgence in food cravings does not harm yours and your baby’s health. Here we have discussed how to deal with food cravings during pregnancy.

• To cope with midmorning cravings, eat a good and healthy breakfast. One option for nutritious breakfast would be yoghurt/fruit juice, fresh fruit and whole grain bread with jam/butter.
• For your lunch and dinner, stick to consuming a well balanced diet. Your diet should be a combination of protein, low fat dairy products, grains, bright-coloured vegetables and fruits.
• Exercise daily as it is an excellent way of motivating yourself to eating healthy.
• During stress and tough times, you may have more temptations to comfort yourself with sugary and junk food items. Thus, try to keep yourself calm, avoid taking stress and unburden yourself by talking to someone close throughout your pregnancy.
• Know the substitutes of the unhealthy foods your crave for . Try frozen yogurt in place of ice cream. Take baked chips instead of oily snacks.  Eat whole grains crackers instead of cookies.

How to Curb Food Cravings

• Green tea is a rich source of various antioxidants and vitamins that your body needs during pregnancy. Drinking a cup of green tea helps if curbing your craving becomes difficult.
• If you crave for high calcium dairy products, include more soy milk in your daily diet. It will  curb your cravings as well as help your baby to develop strong teeth, nails and bones.
• Ask your doctor about taking B-complex vitamins.  Deficiency of this vitamin can affect your hunger. Thus, vitamin B will  curb your frequent hunger pangs. In addition, this vitamin is also necessary for increasing the metabolism of simple sugars and carbohydrates to prevent yourself from gestational diabetes and gaining unwanted weight.
• For keeping your sweet tooth satisfied,  take raw honey, fruits or frozen yoghurts and stay away from artifically sweetened items such as chocolates and ice creams. Intake of artifical sweeteners may result in increased craving for various oily and fried foods. Read labels of packaged items to know the sugar content.
• The key to curb food carvings is to eat them in moderation. Gorging on excess of ice cream, fried foods or chocolate may lead to gestational diabetes. Thus, it is better to eat the foods you crave  in moderation. This will curb your desire to an extent, and  will not be harmful for your health and baby’s well-being.

Read more articles on During Pregnancy.