Dr. Noah Sterling
speaker
5 appearances
1 recordings
1 series
first heard Apr 2025
last heard Apr 2025
Dr. Noah Sterling’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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I'm Dr. Stirling. Let's talk about food cravings and aversions during pregnancy, which affect between 50 to 90% of pregnant individuals. While we know that hormonal changes create the conditions for cravings and aversions, two main theories attempt to explain why they occur. The first is the nutritional deficiency theory.
This widely held explanation suggests that cravings are your body's way of addressing specific nutritional needs. For example, craving ice cream might indicate a need for calcium or meat cravings could signal protein or iron deficiency. While this theory is intuitive and certainly popular, scientific evidence supporting it remains inconclusive. There's actually no clinical data to support it.
The second explanation is the evolutionary protection theory. This theory proposes that food aversions and cravings may serve as a protective mechanism to prevent the consumption of potentially harmful substances in pregnancy. Foods commonly avoided during pregnancy often have strong smells and include eggs, meat, fish, and spicy foods.
One of the most interesting types of pregnancy cravings is pica, the craving for non-food substances. Pica occurs in approximately 28% of pregnancies globally and manifests in three main types, geophagy, craving soil or clay, amylophagy, craving raw starches like flour, and pagophagy, craving ice. Pica, especially craving ice, shows compelling evidence of association with iron deficiency.
Similar connections exist between other forms of pica and deficiencies in zinc and calcium. If you're experiencing unusual cravings, especially for non-food items, discuss them with your healthcare provider. While most pregnancy cravings are normal and temporary, pica behaviors warrant medical attention to address potential deficiencies and avoid risks.
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