Succumbing to unhealthy pregnancy cravings could harm your child

When Scovia Nyangoma was two months pregnant, she craved clay soil (locally called bumba). Whenever she went to work, she carried clay that she used to buy from the streets or market. “Do you remember that feeling when you are really thirsty and you need to take water? That is how it feels. Unless you sleep and forget, you will try to get that soil at all costs, even if you have to scratch a piece off a wall,” Nyangoma says.

Nyangoma says she did not find any problem with waking up in the night to look for soil. “I would at times put it next to my bed, as I went to sleep,” she recalls.

One of the perks of being pregnant is the silent rule that should you crave ice cream at 3am or even pork at 6am, you shall fulfill your heart’s, or rather your belly’s, desire. After all, when else can a women legitimately indulge in sugary, fattening, and essentially unhealthy luxuries?

It’s just the body responding to changing nutritional needs during pregnancy, or so the argument goes. Unfortunately, sending your husband out for a midnight snack to quell a sudden urge for fried food isn’t as harmless as you might think.

On the contrary, a study presented at the recent 95th Annual Meeting of The Endocrine Society in San Fransisco, found that being exposed to a high-fat diet while in the womb, and after birth, can permanently alter brain cells that control food consumption and lead to a propensity for over-eating and an increased preference for fatty and sugary foods.

Juliana Gastao Franco and her team of researchers at the Oregon Health and Science University also found that the offspring of maternal monkeys fed a high-fat diet had increased body weight, and particularly increased body fat compared to offspring of female monkeys that were kept on a low-fed diet.

Interestingly, pregnancy cravings can sometimes be switched on or off by the craver herself. When Faith discovered she was pregnant as a student at university, she was scared of disappointing her parents.

“While I had horrible spells of nausea the whole day at campus, whenever I went home on weekends I would not throw up once, to avoid detection. The moment I stepped out of the gates, I would retch my guts out,” she remembers.

What causes pregnancy cravings?

Godfrey Alia, a gynecologist at Mulago Hospital, says that although it is a condition, sometimes pregnancy cravings are psychological.

Susan Murungi is eight months pregnant and during her first trimester, she could not do without ice cream and burgers. However, because she was gaining too much weight, her gynecologist advised her to diet.

“She told me I had to let go of the ice cream and the burgers or it would be difficult for me to lose the baby fat after birth. And because I do not want to be fat after birth, I told myself I would not take any more ice cream and I don’t,” Murungi says.

However, much as some cravings are psychological, Alia says cravings are a result of hormonal changes or lack of a certain nutrient in the body.

“Cravings may be the first indicator that there is a hormonal change in the body, signaling pregnancy,” he says. A condition he describes as Pica.

Pica or craving is the body’s attempt to obtain vitamins or minerals that are missing through normal food consumption. Pica is Latin for magpie, a bird notorious for eating almost anything.

The American Dietetics Society, on the other hand, links pica to a lack of iron in a pregnant woman.

More than three quarters, about 60%-70% of all pregnant women experience pica at some point. The most common cravings are for sweets, dairy products and salty foods, although there are also some weird cravings.

Alia says cravings can be nutritionally-based. “Cravings are a message from your body on what it needs to eat. If you are craving salty foods, it could be because your body needs more sodium as your blood volume increases. If you are craving fruit, your body might need more Vitamin C,” he says.

Some pregnant women develop strong cravings for non-food items like dirt, ashes, clay, chalk, ice, laundry starch, baking soda, soap, toothpaste, paint chips, plaster, wax, hair, coffee grinds and even cigarette butts.

The harm

Eating non-food substances is potentially harmful to both the mother and baby. Non-food substances may interfere with the nutrient absorption of healthy food substances and actually cause a deficiency.

“Pica cravings are also a concern because non-food items may contain toxic or parasitic ingredients,” Alia says.

He says when one eats soil, there is an immediate danger of exposure to worms which affect the absorption and metabolism of nutrients by the fetus.

Alia says although there is some amount of iron in the soil, it is not good for human consumption. The iron in the soil is not easily absorbed as that from meat and vegetables.

Nutrition for expectant mothers

Alia advises pregnant mothers to avoid alcohol and other alcoholic drinks during pregnancy, as these could harm the child’s growth and development.

“The embryo is weak, and its liver can't handle alcohol the way a mother's can,” he says.

He urges expectant mothers to visit their doctors very often, so as to know the right food to eat at each stage, during their pregnancy.

“A healthy diet includes proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and plenty of water. Eating a variety of foods in the proportions indicated by the doctor is a good step toward staying healthy,” he says.

Regardless of whether or not you have cravings, expectant women should remember that they are eating for two. Alia says that means striving for a balanced diet – not doubling the amount of food one eats.