Why do pregnant women crave such strage things?

Question

I've heard ice, the smell of shoes, jell-O...

I've never known why.

Answer 1

There is a rare condition called PICA that can cause people to crave strange things that are not food substances like paste or chalk. No one knows why..... Children, pregnant women and sometimes people who are mentally deficient get this condition.

Pica is a medical condition typically defined as the persistent eating of non-food items for a period of at least one month. People with pica crave and eat materials such as dirt, clay, chalk, lead chips, laundry starch, dishwashing soap, chalk, burnt matches, and many other non-food substances. Some of these substances are poisonous.

Answer 2

Depends on what it is. Ice is a sign of an iron difficiancy. The smell of shoes... could be iron but I'd say there's something else she's lacking. Hormones control a woman a lot when she is pregnant and while one woman craves veggies or steak another will want ice cream and pie. A lot of times a woman craves something she is lacking such as meat as a protein or lettuce and salads. I always craved salads and would throw up if I thought of eating meat. And then there were the hostess cherry pies- I'd have one of those a day. When I craved ice though my dr. prescribed iron suppliments for me.

Answer 3

My OB doc told me when I was pregnant with my first son that craving is all in someones head.He said it is a excuse for a woman to eat like a pig.I did not believe him but after 6 kids and I can I never craved a thing.So either he was right or he put a curse on me.I dont believe in curses so Im saying he was 100% right.

Answer 4

I've never heard of the shoes but...my doctor said that cravings are a way that your body is letting you know something that your system needs such as icecream/dairy...and so on.

Answer 5

Cravings are the body's way of telling a woman that she is deficient in some vitamin or mineral. The ice for example is the most common and it means a calcium deficiency, also common in pregnant women. The others I don't know exactly what they mean, but pica, when women crave non food items like starch or clay it's a mineral deficiency like potassium or iron.

Answer 6

the reason women crave these things is the bodys way of saying your lacking something i craved oranges so in turn i needed v-c as far as ice that is a tell tale sign that you need iron the smell of shoes thats messed up and probably someone wanting attention hope i was helpfull

Answer 7

Whoa! that's some set of cravings your mom had! women people who crave atypical, non-nutrition products oftentimes have some sort of nutritional deficiency. My mom ate laundry starch. (it used to return in a container) I only craved oranges with my first being pregnant. I ate 4-6 every day! and with my 2nd being pregnant I only needed clean peaches,every day. no longer something too extraordinary.

Answer 8

well the changes going on with a woman's body causes her to crave things that you normally wouldn't crave. salty foods, ice, all kinds of things.. some times the body craves things that they need nutritionally like oranges.. body needs vitamin c.. i crave milk all the time.. hey, it does a body good right?! heheh it's totally normal and i would actually try doing a search on the net here for more information on cravings durring pregnancy.. :D

Answer 9

It happened to some pg women but not all. It is a norm given the change of hormones within the body. It will soon go away after the delivery.

Answer 10

I think it's just the babbies way of saying this is the things that contain the vitamins and minerals i need to grow,but some things aren't always edible. :)