Weird Pregnancy Symptoms - Food Obsessions, Sudden Aversions and Pica

It starts off when you're pregnant, gets worse when you have your first baby and progresses into pure madness as your family grows. One of the realities of motherhood is that from the instant you find out you're pregnant, (sometimes it happens even before you know you're pregnant) your hormones and your instinct will take over your body and your sanity, and your perception of the world around you will change forever.

Here is a fun list of things you will never suspect would happen to you, before you have gone through them.

Medical recommendations during pregnancy
During your first prenatal checkup your doctor will tell you that you should stay away from smoke and alcohol, avoid shell fish and sushi and cut out on your caffeine intake - seems pretty straight forward right?

The doctor's recommendations are based on medical studies that prove that these foods are potentially harmful for your baby. Some other foods like oranges and greasy junk foods will make your pregnancy symptoms like nausea during the first trimester, and heart burn as your pregnancy progresses, much worse, but what about those real weird crazy, totally unexplainable, food cravings that wake you up at three in the morning or your heightened sense of smell that keeps you away from things you generally love to do.

Food obsessions
It is a common cliche that pregnant women crave pickles and mayo, but no one ever told me that when I was expecting my first child my taste buds would go berserk and I would end up eating tons of ... Capers! I hope you know what I mean, those tiny green buds in brine that taste delicious if you mix them up in a Mediterranean salad, but that will taste totally odd if you eat spoonful after spoonful straight from the jar!

Many pregnant women seem to have this tendency to eat crazy foods that don't make sense to normal people, but that suddenly become irresistible to women bombarded by insane levels of progesterone and God -knows- what, other pregnancy hormone circulating in their systems.

Heightened sense of smell
Another weird pregnancy symptom is a heightened sense of smell that makes you hate things you usually loved doing like cooking, and fall in love with activities that seem totally insane like shopping for carpets

Let me explain this sudden aversion to cooking during pregnancy. One of my absolute pleasures in life is entertaining and preparing big meals for family and friends. When I got married I would spend hours in the kitchen experimenting with food and I loved every minute of it. Then baby came along and everything changed .

Fridge smells, raw meat and yogurt

• My fridge suddenly started smelling disgusting, even though I frequently cleaned it, sometimes even using a mixture of vinegar and lemon juice to kill the smells and bacteria.

• Cooking raw meat became impossible - I could still eat cooked meat, but the smell of defrosted meat was so revolting, I often had to leave the kitchen.

• Same thing happened with some dairy products like Gorgonzola cheese, yogurt and butter - all foods I usually ate and had no problem with.

Now can you imagine how a foodie who loves to cook and has these sudden aversions , feels?

Now let me delve into the carpet thing.

A scientific explanation
The increased sense of taste and smell, many women experience during pregnancy usually materializes after the third or fourth month and usually subsides once the baby is born.

In rational scientific terms, nature helps the mother stay away from things which might potentially harm the growing baby if she ingests them or comes in close contact with them.

Thus raw uncooked meat, (which is technically dead meat) might contain harmful bacteria, cheese and yogurt are made from cultures that also contain bacteria and our instinct recognizes them as potentially harmful and thus creates an aversion for it and so on.

The inverse explanation is given for sudden for cravings - a pregnant woman who has a nutritional deficiency will start craving foods which contain the vitamins, minerals or proteins she needs, but sometimes our senses are so over loaded with hormones and increased blood supply that makes us more sensitive to everything around us, that we go in over drive, if you allow me the term, and here comes the carpet thing.

Pica and Carpets explained
Smells that we are usually fairly indifferent to, like that funny smell new leather and new carpets have, the smell of particular herbs like basil, or certain brands of soap or perfume, suddenly have an overwhelming effect on our nose. Thus don't be alarmed if you suddenly find that you can't stand the coconut shampoo you used for years or your favorite perfume. Same thing goes for a sudden fondness for things you never really cared about.

Though I have never experienced it personally, I have often heard of women who suddenly adored washing their clothes because they fell in love with the smell of laundry detergent or the smell of new upholstery and carpets suddenly became irresistible.

About Pica
In extreme cases the scientific term of this sudden crazy obsession is called Pica - a medical disorder characterized by an appetite for substances which are largely non- nutritive. The condition's name is the Latin name for the magpie bird which is said to eat anything.

Examples I found during my research include ingesting metals such as coins, coal, soap and paper. Here comes the disgusting part - some other examples I found include ingesting soil, mucus and even... feces!!! ICCCCHHHH!!!

An abnormal appetite for things which can considered foods, but that we don't usually eat in it's raw state is also mentioned. Examples here are flour, raw potato and raw rice, starch, ice- cubes and salt (I think I had the salt thing).

A serious medical disorder
Pica is considered a medical disorder and can have a very harmful effect on your health and your child's. If you suddenly experience an intense craving associated with pica, consult your doctor immediately. Treatment for Pica varies according to the severity of the patient's symptoms. The initial approach involves screening for mineral and nutritional deficiencies and usually focuses on a psychosocial and environmental approach.

When I further researched this topic I found that few studies have been conducted to measure the prevalence of pica in various populations.

Studies conducted on pregnant women in the 1990s found a rate of 8.1% for pregnant African American women in the US and 8.8% for pregnant women in Saudi Arabia.

Rates of 63.7% and 74% were prevalent in two different populations in developing African countries, which hints to the link between pica and malnutrition.

Works cited

"Pica disorder" Wikipedia.

"Eating disorder Pica" Cynthia Ellis emedicine.com

"Pregnancy and Pica - non food cravings" American Pregnancy.org

"Harmful Cravings - Dangerous Foods in Pregnancy" Robin Weiss About.com