Pregnancy food aversions... page

[spinningtales]

I am 15 weeks pregnant and can't stand the sight, smell, taste or texture of meat and most veggies. I have been living on pasta, rice, fruit and sometimes eggs. I feel like hell. I know my protein intake is way too low, and my carb intake is too high. I was eating primal for a year before I became pregnant, but it seems like it has all flown out the window. Does anyone have any tips for overcoming pregnancy food aversions? I feel like I am starving.

[AyaPapaya]

Is there anything you're eating that doesn't make you feel awful? Aversions will fade, and you're most likely at the worst point for those right now. But pasta, cereal, rice, whatever it is...IMO, if it sounds even remotely appealing, eat it. You need overall strength more than you need a specifically tailored meal plan at this point.

A year ago I was in this exact place...except that almost everything I tried to eat came back up (even what sounded appetizing). I would be suprised if I kept down more than 500 calories a day, for 6 months. I felt awful every day, but in spite of her in-utero diet of peanut butter sandwiches and the off piece of fruit, my kid is now a super healthy 5 month old (and pretty awesome in general). Of course, now she's living on wheat-free breastmilk...that probably has something to do with it.

[J. Stanton]

I have been living on pasta, rice, fruit and sometimes eggs. I feel like hell.

The two are connected.

Aversion to strong and bitter tastes is very common during pregnancy: look to the blandest foods possible. I'm not a huge fan of the potato brigade that's taken over here recently, but potatoes are a much more nutritious source of starch for you than pasta, or even rice. Baked or mashed, with plenty of pastured butter and/or sour cream.

Aversion to high-protein foods is also common: suck it up and eat a few. Don't go overboard -- excess protein isn't good at this stage of pregnancy AFAIK -- but you'll feel much better if you get some in your diet. Bland white fish, like baked Dover sole in butter, may be a good option for you.

Keep eating those eggs, as the yolks are one of your few sources of nutrition right now!

Remember to get some omega-3s in there: supplement a bit if you have to.

[lemontwisst]

I can't relate at all, but there was a post on the blog about this back in the fall... Dear Mark: First Trimester Frustration, Liver Dosage, and NY Times Barefoot Piece | Mark's Daily Apple

Hopefully you will find some of Mark's suggestions useful - best of luck!

[NZ primal Gwamma]

I can so relate to this. During my fifth pregnancy I couldn't stand cooking meat, let alone eating the damned stuff - however a huge bowl of mashed potatos with butter and salt - brilliant...................

[zoebird]

I agree about potatoes, eating what you can outside of that.

Heck, if you have to have breakfast 3x a day (hash browns, eggs, etc), then do.

[spinningtales]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I am just so frustrated. I did eat some sweet and sour chicken tonight, and hard boiled eggs for lunch. I think my tummy might be starting to come around a little bit. Most of the time when I eat pasta, I also eat grass-fed butter and some sort of vegetable-- even if it is just my homemade tomato sauce. Sometimes I throw in artichoke hearts or some spinach if I can handle it that day. So I am really *trying* to get something in there that isn't empty gluten carbs.

I can hardly even stand eggs, but they are more tolerable than meat at the moment. Potatoes were okay until I got sick after eating them, now, not so much. Hopefully I can get back to those sometime soon. I have been buying sweet potato fries to eat on occasion though.

I am off to read what Mark has to say. Thank you for the link!

[gjfatkri]

what you can outside of that.

[meeshar]

My first pregnancy (obese, pre-gastric bypass, CW diet heavily based on ramen and hamburger helper) I craved protein like mad. I wanted steak like nobody's business. Turns out that I had low iron. Second pregnancy nearly a decade later (post-bypass, low carb and more whole foods but not primal yet) I was a carboholic. I craved, ate, and strangely tolerated carbs when if I weren't pregnant I'd be getting sick and carrying around my blood sugar monitor if I ate that way. My OB mentioned that the placenta aids in glucose tolerance, not sure what the science is behind that though. I did eventually go anemic toward the end of pregnancy, but that's also when I started wanting meat again. On a funny note, a few days after she was born I had a meal I ate all of the time when I was pregnant, and had reactive hypoglycemia for the first time in 9 months. The body is such a strange thing!

I'd eat what you can tolerate, our bodies are surprisingly good at telling us what we need when we're pregnant. Maybe switch the pasta with gluten free rice pasta? I like DeBoles. Potatoes are good too, during my carboholic pregnancy I was known to toss a potato in the microwave and drown it in butter for a *snack*. I only gained 12 lbs. which still amazes me--came home from the hospital weighing less than before I got pregnant!

[banananutmuffin]

I've been "off" bacon this pregnancy, which is odd for me, and a little bit off eggs, too. But now I'm able to eat meat more now than I did during the first tri, thank goodness.

For me, when I had food aversions, I started eating a lot more seafood, specifically mild, white fish like haddock or cod. I find that easier to stomach than other types of meat.

I also found eggs prepared a certain way--deviled or egg salad--were easier to stomach than scrambled or fried.

And I ate a lot of soups. Mostly veggie soups with some meat thrown into them, and sometimes added some cooked rice or potatoes if I wanted the carbs. For some reason soups made it easier to eat meat.

Don't forget about nuts! Almonds and walnuts with a slice of cheese were a savior for me during morning sickness months.