Pregnancy Nutrition:Sweet & Chocolate Cravings During Pregnancy and an Insatiable Appetite…

What it means, the hidden warning and what to do about it

One thing us women all have in common is our love of chocolate, sugary things and often wine too! We love these things so much we even get cravings for chocolate, sugar and wine, particularly around the time of our periods, or during pregnancy.

Now some will tell you, it’s purely a comfort thing  and while it is true that chocolate, sugar and wine do stimulate the release of endorphins (natural feel-good chemicals and painkillers), there’s a much bigger truth behind our pregnancy food cravings for these particular things.

Yesterday in The 9 Month Club Community I came across what would seem to be a completely normal post about sweet and chocolate cravings during pregnancy and a huge appetite to boot, but it instantly set off the alarm bells in my head.

Kaisa is currently nearing the end of her first trimester and wrote,

“Ladies,

I’m so stinking hungry! I even wake up in the middle of the night hungry… And I’m craving chocolate and sweets like there is no tomorrow…

Did you go through phases with more hunger? This is new in the last 10 days or so”

Sound familiar?

This is something that nearly every pregnant women goes through at some point during pregnancy and most of us deal with it by trying to control the hunger, but what we are all failing to recognise is that our bodies and babies are trying to tell us that something is wrong!

Now Kaisa has been on The Pregnancy Elimination Diet for a few weeks now so I know for sure that her sugar cravings are not down to a physical sugar addiction. This combined with the fact she is craving chocolate in particular plus she has a huge appetite all shout out something loud and clear!

Her body is crying out for certain things to help feed and develop her baby that she is not providing! This could be down to two things:

1) Nutrient Deficiency

If your body is lacking certain nutrients it will try and get those nutrients any way it can and the fastest and easiest way to get them is through food. So your body will tell you to eat. And eat. And eat. Until it gets what it needs. But unfortunatley if the food you eat doesn’t provide the nutrients your body is lacking, then you will find you have an insatiable appetite and you will want to eat all the time.

2) Hormone imbalance

Hormones play a big part in regulating your appetite and this is a major factor in controlling pregnancy weight gain. Hormone regulation occurs during sleep. Pregnant women need a lot more sleep than non-pregnant women but the tendency these days is to squash pregnancy into an already hectic life – not adjust your lifestyle to fit around the pregnancy.

Melatonin production is at its peak between 10pm and 2am and if you miss out on this critical period, it will throw the subsequent stages of hormone production and regulation completely out of kilter. As a result, levels of Leptin and Prolactin will be higher than they should be during the waking part of your day, stimulating the body to crave carbs and sugar and if your hormones say eat, you HAVE to eat! It’s an automatic reflex that your body just can’t ignore!

Chocolate cravings during pregnancy

Chocolate cravings during pregnancy or around the time of your period is often a sign that your body is in dire need of magnesium and iron.

Magnesium helps your body to form bone, protein and fatty acids. It also relaxes your muscles and helps with blood clotting, (which can be useful if you suffer from leg cramps). Magnesium supplementation during pregnancy can also prevent premature contractions and is found to reduce the risk of low birthweight and premature babies.

Magnesium rich foods include pumpkin, squash, halibut, cooked spinach and black beans, but if you are deficient its a good idea to supplement with 200mg per day in tablet form. (RDA)

Iron is an important element as we need iron to make red blood cells and to transport oxygen around the body. If we are deficient in iron we cannot make new cells and our organs would be starved of oxygen. Iron deficiency is characterised by fatigue because the body is, literally, being starved of oxygen.

Pregnant women are routinely checked for aneamia (iron deficiency) during pregnancy so you should not supplement your pregnancy diet with iron unless prescribed by your pregnancy professional, (it is possible to have too much iron which then becomes toxic).

However, if you do need to suppplement your iron intake it is worth knowing which pregnancy supplements are going to be best for you and your baby. Ferrous sulphate and ferrous gluconate are the types of iron typically prescribed mediaclly but these inorganic iron sources are poorly absorbed and can cause constipation and black stools, indicating that the iron is not being absorbed by the body.

Chelated forms of iron (combined with amino acids) are absorbed much better.

Iron supplements should also be taken with Vitamin C. If Vitamin C is not present, iron cannot be absorbed, so also take a high stregth vitamin C supplement at the same time.

Cravings sweet things or alcohol during pregnancy

Another common pregnancy food craving is the need to eat something sweet or the craving for alcohol. The craving for a glass of wine can be surprising for a lot of pregnant women but it doesn’t mean you’re an alcoholic!

In fact, the main component in wine or alcohol is SUGAR! So if you are depriving your body of sugar in other parts of your diet, your logical brain will tell you that alcohol is the key. It’s an instant hit of sugar that is quickly metabolised and will give you the sugar rush your body is craving.

What it means…

1)      You have a sugar dependency. Your pregnancy diet needs an overhaul. The only way to free yourself from sugar addiction is to not have any sugar in your diet for 30 days to allow the body to detox.

Sugar is corrosive and harmful at the best of times but even more so in pregnancy , so base your diet on clean foods that are untampered with and not denatured by manufacturing or processing.

2)      If you already follow a clean food pregnancy diet, then it could be you are not eating enough complex carbohydrates. Pregnancy is not a time to follow a low carb diet, so balance your meals with complex grains like quinoa, brown rice, buckwheat and oats as well as root vegetables like sweet potatoes.

Now is the ideal time to find out your Metabolic Type so that you can eat to your body’s individual needs.

3)      You need sleep. Hormone regulation, body repair and regeneration all happen whilst you sleep. If you don’t get enough sleep your body is constantly playing catch-up. Your hormones are all over the place and your body is desperate for a quick energy fix to cope with everything that is going on

What You Should Do Next

The only way to be sure of what is going on with your body is to look for a pattern. So start a journal and write down all of these things:

Food – meals and snacks, what you are eating, when you are eating and how you feel before and after eating.

Water – how much are you drinking and what times? A thirst for water can also be confused as hunger.

Sleep – times, how long (to the nearest minute) your quality of sleep and how you feel when you wake up. Even if you do get 8 hours, if your sleep was disturbed you will still be sleep deficient.

Activity – when, what and how often. Exercise helps balance hormones and regulates your metabolism

Stress – note down how you feel on a scale of 1 -10 at various points during the day. Start with morning, afternoon and before bed.

Once you have 7 days worth of journals you will start to see a definite pattern that will point to what your body is crying out for, so now all you have to do is fill that need!

For help with your pregnancy food cravings and pregnancy nutrition sign up to The 9 Month Club Free Pregnancy Community

P.S. have you taken advantage of the Free Pregnancy Fitness Coaching Trial yet? It’s 14 days of free coaching on pregnancy diet and exercise and pregnancy wellbeing. Sign up at 14 Days to Pregnancy Fitness

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