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Pregnant Not Eating Food? 7 Appetite Loss Tips for Expecting Moms

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Pregnancy triggers ravenous hunger but not for everyone.

Having a bun in the oven usually leads to cravings and an increased appetite. Yet, some women feel turned off of food completely. Why? And what can you do about it?

In this article, we’re discussing why you might be pregnant, not eating, and experiencing a decreased appetite.

Most people know that pregnancy can make you furiously hungry, have weird cravings, and develop taste aversions. However, it can also impact your appetite in the opposite way. While many women experience a bigger appetite, some don’t change their eating patterns at all. Others feel their appetite has come to a sudden halt.

If you’re pregnant and not eating food, it may be concerning. When you should be eating more for the baby, why are you eating less?

Fortunately, losing your appetite can be normal during pregnancy. Although you need more nutrients for the baby, your body may go through changes while it adapts.

Your appetite will likely return. If it doesn’t or if you’re unable to eat, contact your doctor. Since your baby needs specific nutrients to develop, eating right during pregnancy is important.

If you’re pregnant, not eating food and have a reduced appetite, you’re probably wondering why. There’s a variety of reasons you may want to eat less—instead of more—during pregnancy. Scroll the list of possible causes below and see if you can relate to any.

Whether triggered by taste or smell, an aversion is a food that completely turns you off. They’re one of the biggest reasons for decreased appetite. Between 50% and 90% of pregnant women experience cravings and aversions.

The most common aversions include:

• Caffeinated drinks
• Meats
• Fish
• Eggs

Research shows that changes to food cravings and aversions usually happen in the first and third trimesters.

You might wonder why you’ve developed an aversion to a specific food. However, the answer isn’t clear. Some women believe their aversions or cravings are nature’s way of altering their diet, making it healthier for pregnancy. There is no evidence that’s true. You shouldn’t assume your diet is healthy just because you’ve listened to your aversions or cravings.

In fact, it’s possible your aversions could weaken your diet and affect your baby. For example, meats and eggs are a common aversion that can lower your protein intake. Low maternal protein can cause embryo loss, restriction of intrauterine growth, and reduced postnatal growth.

Experts say that a combination of factors likely causes your appetite and preferences to change. That could include biological, psychological, and environmental factors.

A second major reason why you might be pregnant not eating food is because of morning sickness. Up to 80% of women experience nausea and vomiting in the first trimester.

There’s a variety of reasons morning sickness may happen. Some experts believe hormones play a large role. For other women, food aversions can trigger vomiting.

In any case, if you feel sick when you eat, eating can become less appealing. If you’re afraid of vomiting, you might only eat when necessary.

Food aversions and morning sickness are normal. However, if eating less becomes a pattern, it can change your appetite in the long term.

When you eat less food, your body will begin to adjust. Over time, it will take less food to make you feel full. Instead of feeling full after a meal, eating only half may leave you stuffed.

Many people attribute this change in appetite to their “stomach shrinking.” However, your stomach doesn’t actually shrink—it just gets more sensitive to small amounts of food. If this happens, you’ll probably notice a reduced appetite as your body learns to feel full from less food.

It’s important to recognize that even though you feel full, you might not be getting enough nutrients for the baby.

Constipation is another common pregnancy symptom that can affect your appetite. If you’re unable to pass stools normally, you might avoid eating in fear that the problem will worsen. You might also be afraid of the gas pains constipation can cause.

Another reason could be that constipation reduces your appetite. If food stays in your system longer, you might feel fuller longer. When there’s not much room for new food, your body won’t send hunger cues.

While you’re expecting, the extra acid in your stomach can create numerous problems. Most commonly, women experience heartburn, AKA acid reflux or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). It can also worsen nausea and vomiting. One lesser-known impact is that it can also decrease your appetite. The excess stomach acid could be making you feel full too quickly.

We’ve covered the physical reasons why you might lose your appetite while expecting. Next, we need to consider that mental health changes could be why you’re pregnant and not eating.

Research has shown that anxiety and depression can lead to appetite changes. Pregnancy can bring about a slew of new emotions. You might experience anxiety about your health, the baby, or upcoming life changes. Pregnancy depression can also reduce your appetite.

Another psychological reason why you might be pregnant and not eating is because of body image concerns.

Most women gain weight during pregnancy; however, it might be difficult to accept. If you’ve experienced body image issues or disordered eating before, pregnancy can trigger these concerns or make them worse.

Knowingly or unknowingly, you may be reducing your food intake to try to limit weight gain.

If you’re pregnant and not eating food, try to pinpoint the cause. When you understand why your appetite has decreased, you can brainstorm possible solutions. Consider the suggestions below.

If aversions are the reason you’re pregnant and not eating, get specific about the foods you don’t like. For example, maybe you loved spicy foods before but now anything with a kick kills your hunger. Pay attention to other types of aversions too. Perhaps a specific scent or the temperature of food is throwing you off.

If the reason you’re pregnant and not eating food is because of morning sickness, explore your options.

After you’ve pinpointed your aversions using the tip above, brainstorm new snack ideas. When you discover foods that don’t turn you off, add them to your daily staples. Make sure to stock up and keep snacks in your purse to ensure you’re frequently eating.

Need ideas? Read 33 Satisfying Pregnancy Snacks Perfect for Morning Sickness

Instead of eating big meals, break it up into more frequent, smaller meals. This trick is helpful for those experiencing morning sickness or acid reflux.

You probably can’t fully rid yourself of nausea—but you can take steps to reduce the intensity of it. Try a few anti-morning sickness tricks and see what works for you:

• Carry a pleasant scent to sniff when you smell something nauseating
• Stay hydrated
• Take B6 vitamin
• Reduce cybersickness before eating (scrolling through your phone or on the computer)
• Use deep breathing
• Take your prenatal vitamin at a different time of day

Read: 16 Best Morning Sickness Relievers to Ban Nausea

Try Our Acupressure Anti-Nausea Wristband to Alleviate Morning Sickness!

If you think constipation is affecting your appetite, take steps to get things moving again. You can free up space in your stomach and alleviate constipation by:

• Slowly increasing your fiber intake
• Drinking more water
• Exercising
• Using a poop stool (AKA squatty potty)
• Choosing the right iron supplement (or prenatal with iron)

For more tips on improving constipation, read Constipation in Pregnancy: 7 Fixes

#6 Address Your Mental Health

Pregnancy can be overwhelming and you don’t have to go through it alone. If you suspect you’re pregnant and not eating because of anxiety or depression, reach out for help. Your doctor can recommend a therapist, free community resources, or coping mechanisms.

Also look at science-backed ways to improve your mental health, including:

• Exercise
• Journaling
• Meditation
• Self-guided workbooks

Read:

• 7 Actionable Tips to Manage Panic Attacks in Pregnancy
• What’s The Difference Between Postpartum Depression and Baby Blues?
• Pregnancy Worry: 10 Practical Remedies for Anxiety During Pregnancy
• How to Prevent Postpartum Depression Before Delivery: 8 Ways
• Pregnancy Mood Swings: 9 Powerful Remedies

Thoughts about your weight and body image may be affecting your appetite. Whether these are new or old patterns of thinking, pregnancy is a good time to tackle them.

If you’re pregnant and think you may be struggling with disordered eating, talk to your doctor. They can put you in touch with a counselor, nutritionist, and/or community resources.

Talking about body image is difficult and being pregnant can double the shame. Try to remember that other women struggle with disordered eating when pregnant. Along with advice from your healthcare provider, consider joining a support group for moms-to-be with eating disorders.

If you’re pregnant, not eating food, and wondering why, there’s a few possible causes. Nausea, constipation, extra stomach acid, and mental health problems can all contribute to changes. To increase your appetite, use the tips above. If your appetite doesn’t go back to normal, contact your doctor. Remember that your baby needs nutrients to develop properly, so eating right is extra important during pregnancy.

P.S. If nausea is causing a lack of appetite, try an acupressure wristband. They’re designed to press your P6 acupressure point, alleviating feelings of sickness.

Is Morning Sickness Wrecking Your Appetite? Try Our Anti-Nausea Wristband!

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The cause of pregnancy whimsical nutrition: it's not because their body lacks something

• Veronica Greenwood
• BBC Future

25 July 2020

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Image copyright Getty Images

What's behind pregnancy's weird eating habits? Most likely, not at all what we are used to thinking about.

We have all heard stories a thousand times about a pregnant woman who, in the middle of the night, wanted a pickled cucumber with ice cream so much that she sent her husband in search of the desired products. Or who passionately wants chocolate - but not any, namely one that cannot be found in stores nearby. nine0011

However, why "heard"? Perhaps you yourself experienced an inexplicable desire to eat something special when you were pregnant.

Often they try to explain this by saying that the food whims of pregnant women occur due to the fact that their body (or the body of a developing fetus) suddenly needed certain nutrients, and there is even something attractive, touching in such an explanation.

In the end, bearing a child is a difficult, long, not always pleasant and sometimes mysterious process. And if a burning desire to urgently eat a burger, or even two, has such a good reason - well, so be it. nine0011

However, if you look at the scientific studies of this phenomenon, everything turns out to be much more complex and fascinating.

Researchers have found that the food whims of pregnancy (as a concept) did not exist in all cultures.

And in those non-English speaking countries where pregnant women sometimes report their sudden food cravings, they want something completely different than, for example, women in the US and the UK. For example, in Japan, most often they want such a prosaic thing as rice. nine0011

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Going further, studies that have tried to find out whether the body gets the special nutrients it needs from the foods that pregnant women most often want to eat have found no evidence of this. nine0011

In fact, women who reported cravings for food ended up gaining much more weight than is considered healthy during pregnancy as a result, which could lead to more complications.

This, however, does not mean that women invent all their desires. And the fact that the reasons for their whims are completely different, they are not dictated by biochemical need.

Understanding why people suddenly crave certain foods in the first place can help, says Julia Hormes, a professor of psychology at the State University of New York at Albany, who studies food cravings in a variety of ways. nine0011

For example, she says that about 50% of women in the US report craving chocolate during the week leading up to their period.

The scientists decided to investigate whether this craving is due to certain nutrients in chocolate that are important for menstruation, or whether it reflects hormonal changes.

Image copyright, Getty Images

Food cravings may be related to the psychology or cultural traditions of a particular society

In one experiment, a psychologist gave women a box and asked them to eat its contents when they suddenly felt like eating something . nine0011

Some of the boxes contained milk chocolate, which had all the usual chocolate ingredients and also had a nice melt-in-the-mouth sweetness.

In others, white chocolate that does not contain cocoa solids (which give milk and dark chocolate its dark color) but still has a pleasant texture.

Third, cocoa candies with all the nutrients of cocoa, but without the mouthfeel that chocolate does. nine0011

It turned out that white chocolate had the greatest success in satisfying desires, which suggests that whims are not spurred on by any particularly useful cocoa ingredients.

Other studies of "chocolate whims" have not found an association with hormone levels.

In fact, even during menopause, women continued to feel the desire to eat chocolate, Horms emphasizes, they simply began to attribute it to other reasons.

All this brings us to the conclusion that the source of food vagaries is in psychology or in cultural traditions. A craving for a cookie, a chocolate bar, or a bag of chips can start as a simple thought and then grow bigger and bigger, becoming an obsession that is hard to resist. nine0011

At the same time, thoughts of something delicious can coexist with feelings of guilt.

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  In particular, if you hold yourself back for a long time and a barrier has already formed in your head (you are not allowed to eat this food!), it will be extremely difficult to resist and not lose control of your desires when you reach for a forbidden treat.

  And then, after eating a piece of cake, instead of feeling satisfied and doing something else, you eat three more pieces.

  Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that women during pregnancy can limit themselves to certain foods - either by following a healthier diet or following the recommendations of a doctor. nine0011

  Image copyright, Getty Images

  Image caption,

  Eating a piece of chocolate regularly can keep you from falling into uncontrollable devouring of tiles

  All of these circumstances give rise - at least in some countries of the world - to situations in which food cravings are more frequent and more likely to occur and are harder to control, which can lead to, say, weight gain.

  In addition, during pregnancy, a woman's whims in eating are not customary to condemn. nine0011

  "There are certain moments and situations in our culture where women are not judged for eating foods that are normally supposed to be avoided," says Horms. "PMS and pregnancy are considered such situations in society."

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  Understanding what leads to a craving to eat something can prevent the transition from just thinking about cake to eating cake, Hormes emphasizes. nine0011

  One way is to use distractions, both visual and, for example, olfactory. The other is, with the help of self-contemplation and awareness achieved in meditation, to recognize the presence of desire and let it go, let it go.

  Professor Hormes also recommends that if you have a craving for chocolate, for example, buy a very high quality bar and eat a couple of pieces every day, thus preventing the food whim from turning into an obsession and subjugating you.

  As for food whims during pregnancy, the cultural factor can play an additional role here: pregnancy for a woman is a very stressful time, and it can be difficult to go through it without someone's help.

  A study of Tanzanian women who reported their cravings for meat, fish, grains, fruits and vegetables to scientists showed that when a woman got what she wanted, she perceived it as a sign of support from her husband and family. nine0011

  Indeed, it takes a lot of dedication to bring pickles to your pregnant wife at two in the morning, which proves that a person really cares about his wife.

  While pickles are great on their own, the fact that your loved one brought them to you and was thinking of you adds value to them.

  --

  You can read the original English version of this article at BBC Future .

  description, features, recommendations, contraindications, what you need to know organism. Because of what this happens, how it affects the child and how to fix it, we will tell in this article.

  Contents of the article

  Why don't you want to eat?

  In the early stages, the reason lies primarily in toxicosis - due to frequent nausea and vomiting, the desire to even look at food simply disappears. And this, in turn, is due to hormonal changes in the body, in particular, a sharp increase in the hormone chorionic gonadotropin. A high level of progesterone and fluid retention slows down the work of the digestive tract, which has the same effect. nine0011

  In the second trimester, there is no desire to eat because of the pressure of the uterus on the intestines, which provokes constipation. Lack of appetite during pregnancy in the third trimester is primarily due to the pressure of the fetus on the stomach. Among other reasons:

  • increased sense of smell and, as a result, aversion to food due to smells;
  • psychological factors: depression, stress, long stay in a bad mood;
  • exacerbation of chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver and kidneys; nine0004
  • iron deficiency anemia, in which the need for the fetus in the construction of the circulatory system with insufficient intake of iron-containing products by the mother is replenished from the reserves of her body.

  Should I be worried?

  At the initial stages of gestation, the laying of organs and systems occurs, the fetus practically does not gain weight. If during this period the numbers on the scales do not increase, there is no need to worry, the main thing is a complete and balanced diet, which is necessary in the first months. nine0011

  In the future, the number of calories consumed should increase. A short decrease in appetite is not dangerous, but if it lasts for a long time, it is fraught with consequences. Very rarely (approximately 1 time in 1000 cases) there is indomitable vomiting - the body throws up food eaten in the later stages for a long time. The female body is subjected to dehydration and disruption of the functioning of the liver, and the fetus does not receive vital nutrients, which threatens its death. In order to avoid such an outcome, the expectant mother is hospitalized, glucose, water and electrolytes are administered intravenously. nine0011

  Important: pregnant women should gain, not lose weight. If the second option is observed, it is necessary to inform the doctor about it. He will prescribe blood and urine tests, ultrasound diagnostics to study the danger of possible risks. You have to keep your finger on the pulse and take action.

  How to return the normal feeling of hunger?

  In most cases, appetite can be restored during pregnancy in the 3rd trimester without drugs. To get rid of nausea, it is necessary to follow the normal diet of pregnant women with fractional meals: eat little, but often - up to 7 times a day, moreover, at the same time. This develops a habit, which means that the body itself will give the necessary signal. The first time you should have breakfast without getting out of bed: 15 minutes before getting up, have a snack with biscuit cookies or fruit. The daily menu should be dominated by foods high in protein and green vegetables. nine0011

  The second rule is water. You need to drink a lot, especially when vomiting. The temperature of the liquid is also important: cool drinks prevent nausea, while warm and hot, on the contrary, aggravate the condition. If you feel sick for a long time, resorption of lemon and ginger will help.

  In general, you need to spend more time in the open air, ventilate the room more often, devote more time to sleep and daytime rest, avoid emotional upheavals and stress. When there is no appetite during pregnancy in the third trimester, yoga classes and visiting the pool have a beneficial effect, because physical activity requires energy, and therefore, there is a need to replenish the reserves of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and amino acids. In addition, sport is a guarantee of excellent mood and well-being. nine0011

  Psychologists also recommend changing the emotional background in case of such problems, this can be achieved by wearing bright colors and light make-up. And nutritionists say that the desire to eat is stimulated by warm colors, such as orange, beautiful table setting and delicious food. During pregnancy, it is a good habit to eat “for company”, so meet friends more often, actively communicate with other expectant mothers.

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