# Pregnancy and craving for odd mixtures of foods **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 4, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-craving-for-odd-mixtures-of-foods/649312 "2013-02-04T15:21:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-craving-for-odd-mixtures-of-foods/649312/1 "2013-02-04T15:21:50Z")
Is there any physiological basis for this or is it a self-fulfilling myth, ie women expect to have weird tastes when pregnant therefore they do? Do _all_ pregnant women have these changes in taste? What’s the earliest reference to such behavior? Does it pre-date the 20th century? Do women of Third World countries act in a similar fashion or is this purely a Western thing, perhaps a product of the huge range of foods available to women of the West? (Difficult to have strange yearnings when all that you’ve known is a basic subsistence diet.) ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-craving-for-odd-mixtures-of-foods/649312/2 "2013-02-04T15:28:24Z")
I saw a documentary once (sorry,my google-fu failed on this one) inwhich it was shown that Gorilla troops would all follow the pregnant females to a special clay outcropping, where the pregnant ones would consume handfuls of the clay. Females who had been there before were shown to eat it only when pregnant. In searching for that, I found the below, which quotes a similar phenomenon in humans: > **[Would You Like a Side of Dirt with That?](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/would-you-like-side-dirt-eating-soil/)** > > New findings suggest that ingesting soil is adaptive, not necessarily pathological > [@](#): > > Geophagia was a frequent practice in Europe until the 19th century, and some societies, such as the Tiv tribe of Nigeria, still rely on cravings for dirt as a sign of pregnancy. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-craving-for-odd-mixtures-of-foods/649312/3 "2013-02-04T15:33:27Z")
IIRC - The alleged basis is the cravings is to ensure the developing fetus gets the full mix of vitamins and minerals needed to ensure proper development. A person can exist for a long time in a vitamin or mineral deficit situation with minor issues. The embryo cannot wait, it needs the right amount of everything at the proper time. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-craving-for-odd-mixtures-of-foods/649312/4 "2013-02-04T15:37:12Z")
I had food cravings when I was pregnant, but none of them involved odd combinations of foods. They were all cravings for things I had eaten before I was pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![whc.03grady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@whc.03grady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whc.03grady)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-craving-for-odd-mixtures-of-foods/649312/5 "2013-02-04T15:57:20Z")
Like most things having to do with pregnancy and childbirth, television has more to do with the image of the pregnant woman craving watermelon topped with nacho cheese than does reality. See also: the water breaking is like dumping a pitcher of water on the floor, and screaming at the husband in the delivery room. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-craving-for-odd-mixtures-of-foods/649312/6 "2013-02-04T16:23:23Z")
> [@whc.03grady](#): > > Like most things having to do with pregnancy and childbirth, television has more to do with the image of the pregnant woman craving watermelon topped with nacho cheese than does reality. See also: the water breaking is like dumping a pitcher of water on the floor, and screaming at the husband in the delivery room. One of my wife’s co-workers was telling the guys in her office how wimpy they were. She said “why, I was working right up until my water broke”. “Yeah,” said one of the guys “but then we had to throw away that chair…” ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-craving-for-odd-mixtures-of-foods/649312/7 "2013-02-04T17:28:55Z")
I recalled that this phenomenon is known as _pica_. Here is a bit more information about it: > **[Pica: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia](https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001538.htm)** > > Pica is a pattern of eating non-food materials, such as dirt or paper. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-craving-for-odd-mixtures-of-foods/649312/8 "2013-02-04T17:47:55Z")
> [@whc.03grady](#): > > Like most things having to do with pregnancy and childbirth, television has more to do with the image of the pregnant woman craving watermelon topped with nacho cheese than does reality. It is a convenient way of showing that a character is pregnant. > [@md2000](#): > > IIRC - The alleged basis is the cravings is to ensure the developing fetus gets the full mix of vitamins and minerals needed to ensure proper development. I rather doubt this, or at least I doubt this is the only reason for food cravings. I had the normal sugar and salt cravings while I was pregnant. I seriously, _seriously_ doubt my diet is or was deficient in sugar and salt. I think sugar and salt cravings probably did serve a purpose for people in environments different than today’s First World environment, where sugar and salt were rarer. I think we still have those cravings because they were useful to our ancestors, not necessarily because we ourselves need those nutrients. ---
**Author:** ![Lightlystarched](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Lightlystarched](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightlystarched)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-craving-for-odd-mixtures-of-foods/649312/9 "2013-02-04T18:08:51Z")
I really craved calves’ liver with my first pregnancy. Well, that and strawberry shakes. But the liver - I’d go out every Friday night for a local restaurant’s liver and onions special. I still like to eat it, but I haven’t craved it like that since. I have been borderline anemic my whole life, so I figured the baby needed iron or folic acid or something. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-craving-for-odd-mixtures-of-foods/649312/10 "2013-02-04T18:11:37Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > It is a convenient way of showing that a character is pregnant.. Remember in the 60’s the “TV shorthand” for “oops, I’m pregnant” was fainting. IIRC I saw this on My 3 Sons and Bewitched. Nowadays, the shorthand is morning sickness? [/QUOTE] I rather doubt this, or at least I doubt this is the only reason for food cravings. I had the normal sugar and salt cravings while I was pregnant. I seriously, _seriously_ doubt my diet is or was deficient in sugar and salt. I think sugar and salt cravings probably did serve a purpose for people in environments different than today’s First World environment, where sugar and salt were rarer. I think we still have those cravings because they were useful to our ancestors, not necessarily because we ourselves need those nutrients. [/QUOTE] Yes, the suggestion was not that the body takes note of what’s missing and craves it - just that the appetite by evolution says “eat a wide variety of things” simply to ensure a variety of different nutrients. probably not as relevant in a modern culture where we do eat a huge variety, by any ancient standard. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-craving-for-odd-mixtures-of-foods/649312/11 "2013-02-04T23:52:02Z")
As it is part of the plot of [Rapunzel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapunzel), as in the 1812 Brothers Grimm collection, pregnant women having food cravings is not a modern invention. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-craving-for-odd-mixtures-of-foods/649312/12 "2013-02-05T16:47:30Z")
IIRC, pregnant women’s cravings are discussed in the Talmud (codified around the sixth-seventh century CE from earlier texts), although I don’t think any weird mixtures are mentioned. So the idea goes pretty far back. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-craving-for-odd-mixtures-of-foods/649312/13 "2013-02-05T16:58:38Z")
Not a combination, but the Cherry Tree Carol, which is probably fifteenth-century, shows Mary having a craving for cherries when she’s pregnant with Jesus. On both pregnancies I’ve had an ongoing craving for mandarins, but I don’t know anyone who’s ever craved weird mixtures. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-craving-for-odd-mixtures-of-foods/649312/14 "2013-02-05T17:51:31Z")
I’m pregnant, and the other day I ate a pickled banana pepper, and it was _so good_. It was a transcendent experience. I immediately wanted more picked peppers. I also want ice cream. Apparently ice cream is the number one craving reported by pregnant women. I basically always want ice cream. So of course, I asked my fiancé to stop by the store and grab some Ben and Jerry’s and pickled peppers. Not to eat together, of course. I then laughed- I actually did ask him for ice cream and pickles! So that’s my guess- the odd combos are really two separate food cravings. What’s really odd is the food aversions. Pretty much immediately after I got pregnant, by sense of smell and taste changed. It became more intense, but it also kind of shifted in an odd way. I can’t for the life of me choke down chicken. It now smells like rotten death. Utterly bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![RickG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rickg/32/5174_2.png) [@RickG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickG)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-craving-for-odd-mixtures-of-foods/649312/15 "2013-02-05T18:20:32Z")
> [@GilaB](#): > > IIRC, pregnant women’s cravings are discussed in the Talmud (codified around the sixth-seventh century CE from earlier texts), although I don’t think any weird mixtures are mentioned. So the idea goes pretty far back. Speaking of which, my wife had one memorable food craving with our first kid: charoset, the apple/wine/nut mixture typically eaten at the Passover seder. The craving was about 4 months out of season, but I dutifully went to the store for some Manischewitz so I could make her a batch. She also had near-orgasmic reactions to the smell of wood chip mulch. I had to physically restrain her from rolling around in some landscaping at one point. ---
**Author:** ![MsBatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@MsBatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsBatt)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnancy-and-craving-for-odd-mixtures-of-foods/649312/16 "2013-02-07T01:49:09Z")
I think any time your hormones get out of whack you’re liable to have strange cravings. When I went through menopause I developed a serious craving for pickles, deviled eggs, and cole slaw.