Pregnancy and cravings go hand in hand if you believe the Hollywood hype. I swear every movie that has a pregnant character has to show them eating pickles with ice cream or putting ketchup on their pasta or at a minimum they wake up their partner at 3am, sobbing about how badly they need triple filtered kombucha or whatever and they just HAVE run to the store for it right now.
In reality as many as half of all pregnant people never experience particular cravings! (I can’t imagine that. I consistently needed chicken nuggets and sour candy when I was pregnant.) It’s an ingrained part of our culture though and there are some interesting myths and truths about the feeling and what it might mean.
If you crave something sweet, your baby is a girl! If you crave bitter, salty or sour then you can expect a boy!
This one is just a myth, with no scientific evidence to support. It would be a fun hint at a baby shower for a gender reveal though.
You’re having a craving because you’re deficient in some vitamin or mineral.
This one is also a myth, but if you want to use it to explain why you’re eating peanut butter stuffed chocolate covered pretzels for the sixth time this week, go right ahead. The reality is that most of our food products contain a multitude of vitamins and minerals so it’s basically impossible to narrow it down to “If you’re craving this it’s because you need this.”
You’re going to crave foods you never liked before.
There’s some truth to this! As your hormones change your sense of taste and smell can change as well, making formerly unappealing foods seem very appetizing.
Are there other stories you’ve heard about pregnancy cravings? I’d love to hear about them and expand this article even more!
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