Pregnant women often have strange food cravings and aversions, and also go in for eating perversions or pica.
According to Krause (2000), pica is defined as "a compulsion for persistent ingestion of unsuitable substances that have very little or no nutritional value".
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Why does it happen and, more importantly, what can you do to prevent the cravings for inedible substances?
Food cravings and aversions
Pregnant women are known for waking up in the middle of the night and sending their husbands out to buy a variety of strange, exotic foods such as pickled herrings, strawberries or large chocolate cakes. No one knows why this happens, but generally these eating aberrations are not harmful if not practised to excess.
Most women make changes to their diet when they fall pregnant. Some changes are for the better and are based on advice from their medical doctors or dieticians. Women who may have been eating a diet based on 'junk food' may decide to make a change for the better by eating a balanced diet rich in protective nutrients for the sake of their babies.
Despite the fact that we are now living in the 21st century, many women still adhere to old-fashioned beliefs when it comes to eating during pregnancy. They avoid foods like eggs, meat, milk, pork and liver, to name but a few. Such avoidances are of course detrimental to the health of both the mother and child.
Whenever possible, a pregnant woman should seek advice from her doctor or dietician if she is practising an illogical eating habit. Ask the experts if eggs are harmful during pregnancy (they are NOT!) and start eating these foods again if you have been given sensible advice.
Just because your grandmother or a tribal tradition bans pregnant women from eating eggs, does not mean that this practice is either sensible or healthy.
Avoiding 'excessive weight gain'
Many women erroneously believe that they should avoid gaining any weight during pregnancy in the mistaken belief that a small, underweight baby will be easier to deliver. This is a fallacy.
You need to gain a certain amount of weight during pregnancy to ensure that your baby develops properly. If you start your pregnancy with a normal body weight, then it is important to allow your body and the developing foetus and placenta to increase in weight by 11,5 to 16 kg.
Underweight babies are more prone to foetal death and developmental setbacks than normal weight babies. So while it is important not to gorge while you are pregnant and gain 20 or 30 kg, a moderate gain of about 16 kg will ensure that your baby has the best chance in life.
Pregnancy is not the time to be figure-conscious. Once the baby is born you will lose weight during the birth and shed the last few kilos if you eat a sensible diet, breastfeed your baby, and go for walks every day.
Pica
Pica or "perverted eating" is a strange phenomenon where pregnant women start eating totally unsuitable and non-nutritious items on a regular basis.
Examples include so-called geophagia, which is characterised by eating soil or clay, or amylophagia, where women eat vast quantities of starch, including laundry starch. Other non-food substances such as ice, paper, burnt matches, stones, charcoal, soot, cigarette ash, antacid tablets, milk of magnesia, baking soda or bicarb, and coffee grounds, may also be eaten regularly and in excessive amounts.
This bizarre eating behaviour is of course highly detrimental to the health of the mother and child, and can in some instances be very dangerous (e.g. eating stones can damage the teeth).
The most serious consequences of pica are:
replacement of nutritious foods by non-food items leading to deficiencies and malnutrition;
obesity caused by ingestion of massive quantities of starch or sugar;
exposure to toxic compounds such as heavy metals (e.g. lead in paint) which can poison the infant and the mother;
interference with the absorption of essential minerals, especially iron, calcium and zinc;
intestinal obstruction if large quantities of clay or starch are eaten.
Possible causes of pica
Scientists are still not sure why pregnant women indulge in these aberrant eating behaviours. One theory suggests that eating non-food items may counteract nausea and vomiting. While it is well known that eating a dry biscuit or rusk before getting up in the morning, or sucking a lemon, or a piece of ice, can relieve nausea, there is no evidence that eating vast quantities of ice or paper or other non-digestible items will control nausea and prevent vomiting.
Another hypothesis states that pregnant women start eating soil or starch because they have an inherent deficiency of certain nutrients. This theory is based on the finding that people of all ages who suffer from severe iron-deficiency tend to indulge in pica.
In certain parts of the world where people eat very deficient diets based on a single staple food such as maize or wheat, pica is relatively common in the undernourished, iron-deficient population. However, most western women who are under the care of a doctor, gynaecologist, dietician, or clinic, should not develop deficiencies of iron, calcium or any other nutrient.
There are also other nutritionists who believe that pica is due to superstitions and customs passed from mother to daughter and that it does not have a physiological basis at all.
What to do about pica
If you suffer from pica, it is important to tell your doctor, dietician, or clinic sister about this aberration. You need to stop eating chalk, laundry starch, ice, charcoal, cigarette ash, paint, soil or any other non-food item.
Discuss the problem of deficiencies with your doctor, clinic sister, and/or dietician. They will arrange for blood tests to determine if you are iron-deficient or lacking in any other nutrient, so that you can supplement your diet with the missing vitamins or minerals.
It may take a great deal of discipline to stop eating these weird items, but especially if you are pregnant, it is vital to stop harming yourself and your unborn child by eating non-food, potentially harmful and poisonous items. – (Dr Ingrid van Heerden, DietDoc)
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