Why You Should Just Indulge in Your Cravings
Cravings are quite common during pregnancy. Pregnant women crave common foods such as cakes, apples, chocolate, etc. Others crave for unusual types of foods that they usually do not like.
Some researchers attribute cravings to pregnant women lacking some nutrients in their diet. Others attribute it to an increased urge to obtain minerals and vitamins. Nonetheless, it is not well known whether they come as a result of nutrient deficiency.
Is It Okay to Give in to Your Cravings?
Pregnancy health is vital because what you consume is what your baby will get. Therefore, pregnant women must be very careful with the cravings they indulge in. It is okay to indulge in your cravings. However, you must be careful that you keep unhealthy cravings at the minimal. When you give in too much into your cravings, you may do your body more harm than good.
Research shows that women who give in to their cravings have a high likelihood of gaining excessive weight during pregnancy. This excess weight may be challenging to shed off after giving birth. Pregnant women who put on too much weight have a high likelihood of developing postpartum weight retention.
Most pregnant women get food cravings while pregnant. Their cravings may stem from a need to consume a particular food, the need to ingest extra calories, or an emotive need. Nonetheless, this does not mean that having cravings is bad or that you must disregard them. Just the way emotional needs are as significant as our physical needs, you should not feel bad about your cravings or be afraid. What you must do is treat them reasonably.
Which Type of Foods Can You Indulge In?
If you have to indulge, ensure that you consume healthy foods. If you crave unhealthy foods, for instance, sweets and high-calorie foods, you must try not to overindulge to avoid putting on lots of weight and having dental issues.
As much as you can indulge in your cravings, you should not deny your body the things that it wants. Your focus should be on moderation when a cravings hit. Indulging is essential because if you do not indulge, the cravings will get worse till the time you totally overdo it.
Whenever a craving hits, instead of ignoring it, you can eat healthy foods first, then indulge later on and in small quantities. Consuming healthy foods first will signal your brain that you are full, and therefore, you won’t even have the urge to eat lots of unhealthy foods. If you crave healthy foods, indulge as much as you want, for instance, fruits and vegetables. What you need to moderate are unhealthy foods.
Some pregnant women will crave food that is actively harmful to the unborn child, for instance, raw fish that may contain bacteria. When you crave for such, whether they contain micronutrients to make you feel good, you must avoid them. Consider the substitutes which will fulfill your emotional and nutritive needs.
Cravings for a particular food can occur all through the pregnancy or until you get another craving. There isn’t much that you can do. The most significant thing is taking care of your pregnancy health by indulging in healthy cravings and little of unhealthy cravings. The cravings go away on their own. You can try to distract yourself until they decline, especially if they are unhealthy.
Conclusion
Most women experience cravings for particular foods throughout pregnancy. They survive quite well without taking any medicine to curb the cravings. What you need to keep in mind is to indulge in nutritious foods and not overindulge or eat too little.
Giving into your cravings is not wrong. If your cravings are not healthy, take a little and in moderation. What you must disregard is cravings for food that may harm your child’s well-being. When you indulge, you prevent yourself from overdoing the cravings.
