Overview
If you’re concerned that you might have food aversion during pregnancy, it’s time to talk to your health care provider about it. To get an accurate assessment, you’ll need to discuss your food environment with your health care provider, and a two-step test may help confirm the diagnosis. The first step is to ask yourself, “Have I avoided or cut down on food lately because I’m concerned I might have food aversion during pregnancy?”
The second step is to ask a trusted friend or family member to taste something in your food group to see if they feel the same way. If the friend/family member gives you a strong negative reaction, you may have food aversion during pregnancy.
What do you know about food aversion?
“Food aversion” is the opposite of “Food elation,” the greatest emotion associated with food. It is especially known during pregnancy. It is completely different from the concept of food cravings. Food craving is the wanting of certain food but food aversion is not wanting the food sometimes it might be the food you used to like the most. Food aversion is the idea that a person has a natural aversion to eating food.
The food aversion term is an umbrella term for a number of different ideas about the self that happen to be expressed by people of all ages. It is important to realize that this is not a psychological disorder of some sort and that eating is perfectly normal and natural. Another way to look at food aversion is that it is an emotional response to thinking about food.
Learning about your food aversions can help you understand where they might come from. If your partner isn’t as active as you were before, you might have to decide between comforting her with your words or allowing her to set the pace for dinner. If you find yourself increasingly afraid of your own body, then eating in a low-energy state might not be the smartest choice. During pregnancy, some women can feel both huge and light.
Your body is shifting, but the emotions aren’t what you’re used to. Regardless of how you feel, it’s important to take a breath, acknowledge what you’re feeling, and find the food you’ll be eating, no matter how big or small. It can be a little unnerving to think about packing a suitcase full of staples, but you might be surprised by what you come up with.
Causes of food aversions during pregnancy
Some eating disorders include anorexia nervosa (anorexia) and bulimia.
Appetite or eating problems: People can have a problem with their food intake because it causes their body to react to it. For instance, when food is associated with a situation in which someone is stressed or uncomfortable, or when there is a particular food you are not used to eating, or when there is a food you dislike.
Scientists are still working to understand the causes of food aversions during pregnancy. However, some research suggests that an infection could trigger food aversions in your body.
Food aversions are most common in your stomach. Your stomach is home to your firstborn, who might develop a food allergy if you have an infected mother. The chances are slightly lower if your firstborn is male.
Researchers think this might be part of why we develop cravings. While women in the first trimester of pregnancy may crave sugar. By second trimester, the cravings grow stronger.
Serotonin
Serotonin is involved in feelings of well-being, including being happy and comfortable. It may also increase or decrease sleep patterns and alertness in pregnancy. One theory is that pregnant women have a smaller supply of serotonin, which might influence the brain’s ability to regulate moods. Researchers still aren’t sure if some women experience cravings because of physical changes in their brains, changes caused by pregnancy or both.
Poor sleep
Sleep problems can also occur during pregnancy. Pregnancy may increase your risk of feeling restless or feeling less tired in the evening. More research is needed to learn if there’s any connection between a lack of sleep and these types of mental health problems, but it’s probably an important link to understand.
Every mom knows that she can be very tired during the first few weeks and months of a baby’s life. But can you pinpoint the exact cause for some of your mom’s fatigue? Not all problems with the brain and muscles cause fatigue. Your mother’s brain might suffer from low oxygen and calcium levels, causing your body to produce less of these substances.
When you’re pregnant, your body may experience several changes. First, your body may produce less oxygen. This change makes you feel like you’re breathing faster, as your lungs squeeze to remove excess oxygen from your blood. This lack of oxygen in your blood may have other symptoms, like headaches, nausea or tiredness. Hormonal changes may also take place. Cravings for sugar may increase. Another part of the body might change too. Your uterus may increase in size.
This changes your reproductive organs and may reduce the space for blood in your womb. Or your breasts may grow, making them harder and harder to nurse. Finally, pregnancy may affect your brain too. Achy muscles and bones may also make you feel tired.
Common Aversions
Fat-laden foods may be a big no-no when you’re pregnant and chock full of healthy nutrients — or they could be a popular treat you love to enjoy before and after.
But more important, eating certain foods will affect how much and how much protein your baby gets. So if you tend to avoid a lot of dairy and like to eat nuts, you may actually be getting more protein and calcium than you expect. Unfortunately, at the time of conception, you’re not able to tell how much protein you’re getting from your diet or from your partner.
Your partner may have known about your dairy-free diet, but he or she may not have fully disclosed his or her own preference for that food type. Be careful to check with your partner if you’re concerned about this. Nuts and whey are the most common foods your partner may avoid during pregnancy, and your partner may try to appease your sensitive cravings by adding them to your repertoire of foods.
When do food aversions occur?
Food aversions that can occur are related to a woman’s weight gain in the first few months of pregnancy. Even though your fetal brain isn’t very active, it is still developing, and just like the rest of your body, the brain reacts to any changes in hormones. Your fears of strange tastes and textures could develop into a full-blown aversion to foods during pregnancy. However, it’s more likely you will experience .
Aversions to foods related to weight gain during pregnancy include tetracycline, a blood pressure medication, citrus fruits, energy drinks, sugar, and tea. Different foods can cause aversions in different ways. For example, depending on the food, aversions to sweet foods can happen because of sweetness itself, or because the food has a chemical you’re allergic to. Aversions to foods like broccoli, corn, onions, garlic, and green vegetables are common during pregnancy and help to safeguard your child’s health.
The best solution is to reduce your body weight, and then find foods that are high in nutrients and low in calories. Weight Gain If you gain a lot of weight during pregnancy, this can cause problems. One risk for heavier women is an increased risk of preterm labor, and when trying to conceive. Another risk is an increased risk of miscarriage, low birth weight, or a small baby.
How to cope with aversions?
If you are experiencing an adverse reaction, it is important to continue your existing medication because it may bring down your food or drink aversion (or your overall health) in the long term. Before you go about trying to swap some of your food for baby’s and vice versa, you may find it helpful to think about how you could react to food aversions in both situations.
Adverse reactions to medication often begin within hours, weeks or even months after first starting medication. Most women get over their initial aversion to food or drink. But, for some women, the experience of aversion is so significant that it can last years.
Don’t eat at all in an aversive situation: If you are a pregnant woman and have to meet someone who is about to do something that you think is potentially a negative experience for you, or if you have to go somewhere with someone who is at all unlikely to tolerate your food preferences, then do not do the initial approach. You might put a restraint on yourself, but it is not advisable to abandon the fight altogether. Talk with a friend or partner about what might work if you are so uncomfortable that you can’t bite down on your food or avoid the person.
Bottom line
Even if you’re trying to eat well during pregnancy, you should still make sure you stay active, which is essential if you want to give your baby all the nutrients they’re used to. However, there are other ways of avoiding foods that can cause weight gain, so that you’ll be able to eat the same foods in small quantities without becoming ravenous. However, much later in life, these aversions are generally non problematic. But, one cravings that seems to be a lifelong problem for some people is for soy products. It is true that some people who do not eat or drink soy find that they react more strongly to soy than to other foodstuffs.
Sirisha B