What You Already Know…

"Anything in excess is bad," says Dr. Raut, "but, in pregnancy, you have to take extra precaution to make sure you eat the right thing and eat well, especially since you will crave to eat it."

Most usually, your cravings will be sweet, sour or salty. According to Dr. Raut, most pregnant women have an irresistible urge to have pickles or papads or ice creams.

Bad Idea

Remember, pickles and papads have excessive salts. If you have too much of these kinds of foods, your blood pressure could rise and it could be harmful for your baby.

Also, according to Dr. Raut, your immunity levels fall to an all time low when you are pregnant. Consequently, what would otherwise not have any effect on you, could give you severe health issues during pregnancy.

Due to your poor immune system, you could have stomach infections, which could unnecessarily become serious, causing complications in your pregnancy.

Usually, meats and fish are partially cooked in restaurants, and it is impossible to know what else goes into the dish before it is served to you. If you are a non-vegetarian, make sure you have it only at home, where you can be sure of how it is cooked.

What about Deficiencies?

You may be thinking that your craving to have certain things when you are pregnant has to do with some deficiency in your body. That, however, is a myth, says Dr. Raut.

In rare cases, however, whether pregnant or not, if you feel a craving to have mud or chalk, it just means that you have an iron or calcium deficiency.

But, in most cases, you would be given iron supplements as soon as you know you are pregnant. So, chances are, you will not have the craving for these non-food items.

What Can You Do?

Dr. Raut says, if you don't get what you want to eat at the time you want it, you will get really cranky. So, make sure you don't deprive yourself of what you want. Just don't eat it in excess.

For example, you can have normal servings when your craving pangs come about. This just means if you suddenly want to have ice cream, by all means, eat! Just don't have three or four ice cream cones at one go.

Have one cone, and if you want to eat more, then you can substitute it with a cold juicy fruit like an apple or pear.

A Tip

If you are feeling  the hunger pangs, and are desperate to eat something you know is not healthy, you could try diverting yourself by drinking some water and then going for a walk.

According to Dr. Raut, it is an excellent way to keep yourself from eating unhealthy because after a certain time, your craving will go, and you can control what you eat.