Welcome back to episode 380, where we are going to try so hard to not be the longest podcast. (0:40)
For those who are listening to this in America - happy Thanksgiving!
Stacy hopes that everyone had a wonderful holiday with your family.
This was Sarah's first Thanksgiving as an American.
Stacy saw Frozen 2 and recommends it to others; she really enjoyed it.
This week's episode is about food cravings while you are pregnant.
 
Listener's Question
Here is a question that Stacy and Sarah received that sparked the topic for this week's show (5:11):
Since becoming pregnant, I have felt nauseous all day, every day, and the thought of food has been unappealing.
All of my regular Paleo foods, which I loved eating before, seem revolting.
I am craving food that is sweet like juice and fruit, which is not something I ate a lot of before.
I also crave bread and fast food. I am loving the salty and greasy foods and so far have found Paleo substitutions, but I know that is not healthy either.
Do you have any suggestions on what to do?
Should I just give up the paleo lifestyle for my pregnancy and get back into it afterward?
I fear to gain back the 100lbs I lost over the past two years.
Thanks so much! I love your podcast it taught me all about paleo. I had no idea what it was before you guys!
Stacy said kudos to this listener.
Neither Stacy or Sarah were Paleo while pregnant.
For Stacy, she found Paleo through a breastfeeding perspective, but not a pregnancy perspective.
Stacy feels that there are things you can do to steer yourself to a healthier option.
Remember, there is nothing healthy about looking back and having guilt about what you did or did not do during your pregnancies.
Do not let perfection be the enemy of good.
Sarah and Stacy want to talk about how you can do the best you can while maintaining quality of life.
It doesn't serve us well to live with absolutes and ultimatums.
Sarah brought up the way the 80/20 rule can be utilized here.
In order to maintain this for the rest of your life, the goal is to make the best choice as often as you can.
The goal is to maintain a healthy relationship with food, and yourself.
Sarah talked about the gray area foods.
When we assign intent to food it opens up the door for our food choices to be stressful.
Food is meant to nourish our bodies, and our diet template should inform us as to what eating style works best for us as an individual.
Sarah's goal is nutrient sufficiency, and she knows which foods her body does not tolerate.
Other than avoiding foods that will make her ill, Sarah is looking at foods for their nutritional value.
Thinking of diet in terms of 'what does my body need' and are my food choices meeting those needs - allows for a level of flexibility.
This flexibility allows us to get away from that mindset of labeling food as good or bad and getting fanatical about the foods we are eating.
 
Stacy's Pregnancy Cravings Story
When Stacy was pregnant, she very much craved fast food. (15:30)
Food from Taco Bell with beans was the thing she craved most.
While out one day, Stacy told Matt that she needed a bean burrito.
Ten minutes had passed by and she still didn't have her burrito, so Stacy yelled at Matt that she was going to die and that he didn't understand what was happening.
Stacy tells listeners this story to convey just how very real pregnancy cravings are.
In the case of pregnancy, something happens that takes over the normal part of who you are and become intensified.
 
The Science
There are some interesting hypotheses and bits of data that will help to explain the strong cravings that some pregnant women do have. (19:28)
Between 60 and 90% of women experience a strong level of cravings.
What foods women are cravings tend to be culturally influenced.
Stacy and Sarah shared a bit about how their cravings varied from pregnancy to pregnancy.
There was a study in Tanzania where they looked at what pregnant women were craving and found that a 1/4 was meat, a 1/4 was mangoes, a 1