What do cravings really mean?

How to decode your cravings so they don’t derail your nutrition.

Salty. Sweet. Spicy. If you’re preggers, you could be experiencing any one of these cravings, or even all three at once. Food fancies are not a one-size-fits-all phenomenon, nor do they strike all moms-to-be—they’re really mother dependent, says Allison Tannis, MS, RHN, nutritional consultant and author of The 100 Healthiest Foods to Eat During Pregnancy. Common cravings include chips and chocolate, but they can come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from a penchant for peaches to a beckoning for bacon.

So what is it about pregnancy that can throw your taste buds into a tizzy, turning one pregnant gal into a pickle person and another into a Mexican food fanatic? The answer, says Tannis, is partly due to hormonal shifts. “Sometimes your sense of smell can heighten and turn you off of certain foods. But on the other hand, sometimes your taste buds will change and a food will seem different to you,” she explains.

A craving by another other name

Not all cravings should be taken literally. If you’re having a hankering for Häagen-Dazs, don’t fool yourself into thinking that you’re doing yourself or your baby a favor by polishing off the container. “The tricky thing is actually to decode your cravings,” says Tannis. “If, for example, you’re craving ice cream, maybe your body’s telling you you’re low on calcium.” In that case, turn the urge into an opportunity to give your body the nutrients it needs by having a glass of skim milk or yogurt with berries.

Cravings can be triggered by nutrient deficiencies, but they can also be your body’s way of telling you to consume more calories. “This is especially true in the last trimester, when you truly need the extra 300 calories,” says Tannis. Of course, you don’t need to read between the lines with every fare you fancy. “If you are somebody who had [a similar] craving before pregnancy, I wouldn’t over-analyze it,” she adds. A hankering for some rocky road when you’ve always been an ice cream lover doesn’t necessarily mean you are calcium deficient—it likely just means you have a sweet tooth.

To indulge or not to indulge?

No need to feel guilty for the occasional indulgence. The odd pickle or strawberry milkshake won’t sabotage your health efforts. But if you’re finishing off an order of fries daily, you’re filling your body with sodium and saturated fat instead of the nutrients it needs most, namely folic acid to help prevent neural tube defects, iron to keep up with your increased blood volume, calcium for baby’s teeth and bones, and protein for baby’s growth. “Not all nutrients will selectively go to your child, so you need to make sure they’re there all the time,” Tannis warns. Giving in too often to the high-fat, high-calorie culprits can also lead to excess weight gain, which raises your risk of gestational diabetes and high blood pressure.