While pretty much everyone has had a food craving for that weirdly specific thing - right now, I'm going through a chicken escalope, pesto, spinach and mozzarella panini phase - pregnancy cravings are in a whole league of their own.
Scientists don't have a consensus on one specific cause of pregnancy cravings, but there are a few theories. Some research suggests that Neuropeptide Y, a substance responsible for appetite signals, could be increased through hormone changes during pregnancy. However, other researchers have found that pregnancy cravings may be largely psychological.
Whatever the cause, we've all heard some pretty odd cravings. Here are seven women with the strangest, strongest, and most memorable pregnancy cravings.
1. Lauren, 33"Pickle sandwiches, with the pickles as the "bread" with tuna or chicken salad inside, or regular sandwiches filled with pickles, cheese, and mayonnaise. Trader Joe’s also has pickle flavored chips which I am obsessed with right now."
2. Bailey, 29"Soft pretzels dipped in honey, and sauerkraut on anything, even though it's a food I usually have a huge aversion to! I even put sauerkraut on pizza. Thinking about it now, makes me nauseous."
3. Lauren, 29"Undiluted lime juice, straight out of the frozen concentrate can. My husband would bring home a few frozen concentrate cans each week and I would blend it up in a blender - without even diluting it and drink it just like juice or eat it with a spoon straight out of the freezer."
4. Amber, 31"Hot Cheetos dipped in yogurt. I typically ate strawberry yogurt because it tasted tangy to me. The funny thing is now I can't eat either one of them because I became allergic to the ingredients after my second pregnancy."
5. Chelsea, 29"I came home from work and my husband caught me putting hot sauce on a spoonful of peanut butter. It ended up tasting terrible, but all day long I thought about it and had to try it. A few days later I found out I was pregnant!"
6. Nicole, 29"I had the most bizarre craving during pregnancy - sand. Like, straight from the beach, sand. I just wanted to grind salt between my teeth. It was so odd, I told my doctor and their only advice was 'don't do it.' Also, any earthy smells were euphoric...like the smell of fresh air or dirt."
7. Terri, 29"When I was pregnant I couldn't get enough mango. I literally ate 2 –4 mangos a day. I was addicted. When we didn't have any mangoes at home late at night, I remember going to my nearest Wawa hoping to score mango. I definitely preferred fresh mango, but when it was out of season and hard to find, I settled for mango-flavored drinks, canned mango, mango desserts, etc."
I don't know about you, but seeing all this deliciously weird food listed has made me incredibly hungry - and I'm not even pregnant. I'm going to get really a weird look from the sandwich guy at lunch today.
