Why does meat make me sick while pregnant

Causes, Common Aversions, and Coping

Food Aversion in Pregnancy: Causes, Common Aversions, and Coping

Medically reviewed by Debra Sullivan, Ph.D., MSN, R.N., CNE, COI — By Lisa C. Baker on December 18, 2018

What is a food aversion?

Sending your partner out on a midnight ice cream run? Grabbing a jar of pickles for breakfast? Food cravings are so expected during pregnancy, they’re a familiar cliché.

But what about food aversions? If you were expecting to want to eat everything in sight while pregnant, then your sudden hatred of what used to be your favorite snack might take you by surprise.

Here’s why you can’t eat some things you used to love and how you can cope with food aversions during pregnancy.

What causes food aversions during pregnancy?

Food aversions, like cravings, are possibly caused by the hormonal changes of pregnancy. The amount of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), the hormone that triggered your positive pregnancy test, doubles every few days during your first trimester.

HCG levels peak and level off at around week 11 of pregnancy. Up to that point, the rapidly rising levels may be behind symptoms such as nausea, cravings, and food aversions. However, your hormones will continue to affect your appetite throughout pregnancy.

Your food aversions could also be associated with your morning sickness. This could be because both are caused by hCG. However, it could also be because you associate morning sickness with the foods you’re eating at the time.

According to the Mayo Clinic, nausea and food aversions can both be early symptoms of pregnancy, which continue into the first trimester. These early symptoms sometimes even last throughout pregnancy.

What the research says

A literature review published in Frontiers in Psychology suggests that nausea and food aversions may be related when they occur during pregnancy. The study’s authors emphasized that this conclusion is largely based on dated studies, and more research is needed.

A review of literature in the Journal of Food and Nutrition Research asserted a relationship between food aversions and both nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.

The researchers suggested that this relationship may be caused by a bodily mechanism that protects against potentially harmful elements in certain foods. The relationship may also be the result of complex cultural and psychological reasons.

When are food aversions most likely to occur?

You’re most likely to experience food aversions during the first trimester. However, you can experience food aversions at any point during pregnancy. New aversions can also develop at any time during your pregnancy.

Most of the time, food aversions will disappear after your baby arrives. It’s also possible for aversions to continue indefinitely.

What are common food aversions during pregnancy?

During pregnancy, you can experience an aversion or a craving for any food. It’s even possible to have an aversion toward a specific food at one point during your pregnancy and to crave the same food later. However, the most common aversions are toward foods with strong smells.

Common pregnancy aversions include:

meat
eggs
milk
onions
garlic
tea and coffee
spicy foods

Some pregnant women also crave the foods listed above. Which foods you hate — or crave — during pregnancy aren’t necessarily related to your pre-pregnancy diet.

As pregnancy is wreaking havoc on your hormones, it’s common to want to eat something you used to dislike and to hate foods you used to love.

How can you cope with food aversions during pregnancy?

In most cases, it’s healthy to listen to your body during pregnancy. This means that it’s fine to avoid your aversions and eat the foods you crave — in moderation. Try not to overdo it.

A study in the journal Appetite found that giving in to cravings in a big way during pregnancy is associated with excessive weight gain.

If your aversions include foods that are important during pregnancy, make sure you’re getting those nutrients in other ways. For example, if you have an aversion to meat, eat plenty of other high-protein foods such as nuts and beans.

You can also get around aversions by “hiding” the food that you don’t want in other foods. For example, if salads make you feel sick, try putting your leafy greens in a fruit smoothie. There you won’t notice the taste or texture.

What is the takeaway?

Both food aversions and cravings are normal during pregnancy, so you usually don’t need to be concerned. However, if you’re unable to eat most foods, it could affect your baby’s growth. If this is the case, discuss weight gain with your doctor.

During pregnancy, food aversions are sometimes accompanied by cravings for ice or other nonfoods.

It’s possible for pregnant women to crave harmful things that aren’t food, such as dirt or chalk. This condition, called pica, can be a sign of an underlying medical problem. If you experience this, call your doctor.

Q&A: Nausea and morning sickness

Q:

What are some remedies for nausea and morning sickness during pregnancy?

Anonymous patient

A:

Morning sickness is common during pregnancy but it usually resolves after the first trimester. There is no cure for morning sickness but there are recommendations that could make morning sickness tolerable. Try to set your alarm a little early in the morning so that you can give yourself plenty of time to wake up and move slowly getting out of bed. Place some saltine crackers on your nightstand so that you can eat them upon sitting up in bed. During the day eat small meals and avoid any spicy or greasy food. There are some products you can buy to help, for example Preggie Pop Drops, which are drug free; Sea-Bands, which use acupressure pulse points to help you fight nausea; and candy drops that contain ginger and lemon to sooth the stomach.

Debra Sullivan, PhD, MSN, RN, CNE, COIAnswers represent the opinions of our medical experts. All content is strictly informational and should not be considered medical advice.

Last medically reviewed on December 19, 2018

Parenthood
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Health

How we reviewed this article:

Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. We avoid using tertiary references. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (2016). Your pregnancy and childbirth: Month to month. Washington, D.C.: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2017). First trimester pregnancy: what to expect.
mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/pregnancy-week-by-week/in-depth/pregnancy/art-20047208
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2017). Symptoms of pregnancy: What happens first.
mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/getting-pregnant/in-depth/symptoms-of-pregnancy/art-20043853
Orloff NC, et al. (2014). Pickles and ice cream! Food cravings in pregnancy: Hypotheses, preliminary evidence, and directions for future research. DOI:
10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01076
Orloff NC, et al. (2016). Food cravings in pregnancy: Preliminary evidence for a role in excess gestational weight gain. DOI:
10.1016/j.appet.2016.04.040
Pregnancy: Nutrition. (2018).
my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/12593-pregnancy
Schactman, TR, et al. (2016). Psychological factors in food aversions, nausea, and vomiting during pregnancy. DOI:
10.12691/jfnr-4-10-8

Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

Current Version

Dec 19, 2018

Written By

Lisa C. Baker

Edited By

Kara Williams

Medically Reviewed By

Debra Sullivan, PhD, MSN, RN, CNE, COI

Share this article

Medically reviewed by Debra Sullivan, Ph.D., MSN, R.N., CNE, COI — By Lisa C. Baker on December 18, 2018

Causes, Common Aversions, and Coping

Food Aversion in Pregnancy: Causes, Common Aversions, and Coping

Medically reviewed by Debra Sullivan, Ph.D., MSN, R.N., CNE, COI — By Lisa C. Baker on December 18, 2018

What is a food aversion?

Sending your partner out on a midnight ice cream run? Grabbing a jar of pickles for breakfast? Food cravings are so expected during pregnancy, they’re a familiar cliché.

But what about food aversions? If you were expecting to want to eat everything in sight while pregnant, then your sudden hatred of what used to be your favorite snack might take you by surprise.

Here’s why you can’t eat some things you used to love and how you can cope with food aversions during pregnancy.

What causes food aversions during pregnancy?

What the research says

A review of literature in the Journal of Food and Nutrition Research asserted a relationship between food aversions and both nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.

When are food aversions most likely to occur?

Most of the time, food aversions will disappear after your baby arrives. It’s also possible for aversions to continue indefinitely.

What are common food aversions during pregnancy?

Common pregnancy aversions include:

meat
eggs
milk
onions
garlic
tea and coffee
spicy foods

Some pregnant women also crave the foods listed above. Which foods you hate — or crave — during pregnancy aren’t necessarily related to your pre-pregnancy diet.

As pregnancy is wreaking havoc on your hormones, it’s common to want to eat something you used to dislike and to hate foods you used to love.

How can you cope with food aversions during pregnancy?

In most cases, it’s healthy to listen to your body during pregnancy. This means that it’s fine to avoid your aversions and eat the foods you crave — in moderation. Try not to overdo it.

A study in the journal Appetite found that giving in to cravings in a big way during pregnancy is associated with excessive weight gain.

What is the takeaway?

During pregnancy, food aversions are sometimes accompanied by cravings for ice or other nonfoods.

Q&A: Nausea and morning sickness

Q:

What are some remedies for nausea and morning sickness during pregnancy?

Anonymous patient

A:

Debra Sullivan, PhD, MSN, RN, CNE, COIAnswers represent the opinions of our medical experts. All content is strictly informational and should not be considered medical advice.

Last medically reviewed on December 19, 2018

Parenthood
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Health

How we reviewed this article:

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (2016). Your pregnancy and childbirth: Month to month. Washington, D.C.: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2017). First trimester pregnancy: what to expect.
mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/pregnancy-week-by-week/in-depth/pregnancy/art-20047208
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2017). Symptoms of pregnancy: What happens first.
mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/getting-pregnant/in-depth/symptoms-of-pregnancy/art-20043853
Orloff NC, et al. (2014). Pickles and ice cream! Food cravings in pregnancy: Hypotheses, preliminary evidence, and directions for future research. DOI:
10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01076
Orloff NC, et al. (2016). Food cravings in pregnancy: Preliminary evidence for a role in excess gestational weight gain. DOI:
10.1016/j.appet.2016.04.040
Pregnancy: Nutrition. (2018).
my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/12593-pregnancy
Schactman, TR, et al. (2016). Psychological factors in food aversions, nausea, and vomiting during pregnancy. DOI:
10.12691/jfnr-4-10-8

Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

Current Version

Dec 19, 2018

Written By

Lisa C. Baker

Edited By

Kara Williams

Medically Reviewed By

Debra Sullivan, PhD, MSN, RN, CNE, COI

Share this article

Medically reviewed by Debra Sullivan, Ph.D., MSN, R.N., CNE, COI — By Lisa C. Baker on December 18, 2018

Toxicosis of the first half of pregnancy

Gynecology

Many women complain of nausea and other ailments - intolerance to odors, certain foods from the very first weeks after conception, and each expectant mother manifests them differently. In medical language, these phenomena are collectively called "toxicosis". During pregnancy, this phenomenon is quite common, and more often toxicosis is observed in women who are preparing to become a mother for the first time. At the beginning of pregnancy, toxicosis, as a rule, is short-lived and less dangerous than toxicosis (or preeclampsia) in the second half of pregnancy.

What causes toxicosis?

After conception has occurred, the placenta begins to develop along with the fetus, which is formed by about 16 weeks. Until this period, she is not able to fully protect the woman's body from the metabolic products secreted by the child, and they enter the mother's blood, causing intoxication, which is the main cause of toxicosis. Another cause of toxicosis is hormonal changes that occur in the female body during pregnancy: the centers of smell and touch, those parts of the larynx that are responsible for the gag reflex, become more sensitive and excitable. Because of this, vomiting, nausea or disgust arise, caused by certain tastes and smells that do not affect the woman in her usual state.

According to obstetrician-gynecologists, a woman's reaction to these changes largely depends on hereditary factors: if the mother of a pregnant woman did not experience acute attacks of toxicosis, then her daughter is likely to endure the pregnancy just as easily. There is also a reasonable opinion that the toxicosis of the first half of pregnancy, as it were, informs the woman that her hormonal background is changing, and everything in her body is going naturally, as nature intended.

Doctors recommend patiently enduring the signs of toxicosis in the first weeks of pregnancy. If bouts of vomiting do not make it possible to live normally, then our obstetrician-gynecologist will prescribe you mild herbal preparations that will alleviate your condition by reducing intoxication, and at the same time will not harm the unborn baby. After 14-16 weeks, your condition should be completely normal. And until that time, if toxicosis is not too acute, you can try to use folk remedies. For example, some women start the morning with breakfast in bed. After refreshing, they cease to feel nausea. Salted crackers help others, sweet hot tea helps the third, water acidified with lemon helps the fourth ...

And it is also desirable that your family members understand your condition and “get into position”. If a pregnant woman is irritated by the pungent smell of men's toilet water, the man should stop using it. Or if the cause of nausea is food with a strong flavor (coffee, garlic, onions, various sauces), the family should temporarily eliminate these foods from the diet. It is good if the expectant mother is not overloaded with work, lives in an atmosphere of harmony, universal love, eats right, sleeps enough, moves enough and spends the prescribed number of hours in the fresh air. Try at least a little closer to this ideal - for the sake of your child. And in your career, you will definitely catch up later, when your wonderful baby is born!

Of course, toxicosis is an unpleasant phenomenon, but still temporary. And it does not go to any comparison with the joy of motherhood. Therefore, in no case do not think badly about the unborn child, when you are just sick in the morning. Better imagine how wonderful, sweet, soft and tender your baby will be when he is born!

Cause of pregnancy food whims: it's not because their body lacks something

Veronica Greenwood
BBC Future

July 25, 2020

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.

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.

After all, 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.

However, when you look at the scientific research on this phenomenon, things are 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.

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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.

In fact, women who reported cravings for food gained much more weight than is considered healthy during pregnancy because of it, 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.

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

Image caption,

Eating whims 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 wanted something to eat .

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

Others have 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.

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 been found to be associated 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.

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.

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.

"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, for example, 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.

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 Horms 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.
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