For some, the symbolic epitome of pregnancy, about which countless jokes have been made, especially about the men who go to great lengths to satisfy the cravings of their pregnant partners, even going out in the middle of the night in search of the desired one. Almost every pregnant woman will be able to confirm that she has been asked about her cravings during the course of her pregnancy.
For others, this is a mere exaggeration, or even a questionable phenomenon, because they have never experienced any cravings during their entire pregnancy, or that of a partner or acquaintance, or have been plagued by nausea that basically masked any feeling of hunger.
Is it a myth or do cravings for certain foods during pregnancy really exist?
As with many other things, every pregnant woman can be afflicted by it, but this does not have to be the case. Around 85 per cent of all pregnant women are familiar with this phenomenon.
Studies have shown that when cravings do occur, they usually focus on one of the four flavours sweet, salty, sour or bitter, plus spicy.
According to studies, sweets are the clear favourite of 40 percent of pregnant women. This is usually followed by savoury, spicy and only then sour or bitter foods.
Experts are not yet in agreement as to whether the cravings are simply due to the change in hormones or whether there may be other reasons. One indication for the former theory would at least be that many women's cravings stop abruptly with the birth of the baby and their eating behaviour normalises.
Another sign of this seems to be the very extreme cravings in which the strangest combinations of foods are suddenly chosen as absolute favourites and must-haves. Examples range from jam sandwiches with egg, to sauces without garnishes, to extremely large quantities of just one particular food.
Other opinions, particularly held by nutritionists, are that pregnant women get signals from their body with cravings to compensate for nutrient deficiencies. This makes perfect sense, as it is possible that this is a particularly well-developed protective mechanism during pregnancy to ensure that the baby is optimally nourished and that the mother does not suffer from severe deficiency symptoms. Nevertheless, critics doubt this, as it is not always a question of cravings for sensible foods, namely those that would cover high quantities of the nutrient that is allegedly deficient in the mother.
Nevertheless, the desire for chocolate, for example, can be linked to a vitamin B deficiency, or ice cream to calcium.
However, people who have learnt to listen to their body will also be aware of such signs that they need to feed it certain things, especially if their organism and digestive system have not lost this ability due to a generally poor diet. So it may be normal that hunger for red meat means that the body needs protein or iron, or vitamin C from citrus fruits, etc.
Both during pregnancy and in a normal state, it is particularly important to maintain a good, healthy balance in your diet. Above all, this prevents a vicious circle of frustration and desire, which does not mean that you should not give in to cravings from time to time.
