pica

Food cravings in pregnancy are common, but so are food aversions.
Referred to by researchers as “taste aversions,” these are
often-dramatic feelings of disgust toward particular foods, tastes and
food smells.

We all know that pregnant women sometimes get very strange food cravings. During your pregnancy, you might crave foods you have never even liked before. These cravings are caused by the changes that your body is going through.

Nutrition is quickly becoming recognized as one of the most important
ways to prevent pregnancy complications (both fetal and maternal). The foods pregnant women eat set the stage for growth and development during pregnancy.

Pica is the practice of craving substances with little or no nutritional value. No, we are not talking about ice cream! Most pica cravings involve non-food substances such as dirt or chalk. The word pica is Latin for magpie which is a bird notorious for eating almost anything.