By : Komal Thakur (Pharmacist, Naturopath, Health & Fitness Enthusiast)

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Pregnancy cravings- the perfect snack

An extremely powerful desire for something is craving. When it comes to food, craving is something that we experience every single day. Now imagine this craving being tenfold. That is how pregnancy cravings work. Why do these cravings happen? When our body lacks something, cravings help us identify correctly the specific nutrition that is missing in the body. Ever craved chocolate real bad? That is probably your body indicating that your sugar levels are down or maybe you are low on B vitamins. Chocolate or cocoa has these vitamins in minute quantities, however, your body identifies this correctly from the memory stored. Cravings can also occur when you associate food with certain emotions it triggers, but majorly it is biological.

Coming back to pregnancy cravings. Why do these cravings occur and how are they early indicators of pregnancy? It has been established that a woman experiences maximum cravings in the first trimester and they continue till the baby is born. These cravings like any other cravings occur due to deficiency. Since the fetus requires additional nutrition, it is supplied by the mother’s body leading to cravings. All the nutrition is being pumped up to the fetus being developed and hence specific cravings, especially the cravings for sour food are an early indication of pregnancy. Sour foods are high in salt and hence this craving, due to the salt imbalance in the body. A friend of mine would constantly crave pickles, and from what I knew she hated pickles otherwise. This was indeed an experience on its own.

The sense of smell and taste becomes heightened during pregnancy. This is an evolutionary trait developed by females to protect the baby. Due to this, there is a strong aversion to certain kinds of foods and a strong liking for foods that a woman would have disliked otherwise. As surprising as it may be, every woman has different cravings. But the most common craving still would be the craving for sour, spicy, or salty food. Do not be surprised if you suddenly feel like eating a veg kolhapuri at 3 am. It certainly is not your baby that is asking for it, it is your own body’s need for salt and spice. Salt in the body also leads to dehydration which leads to a higher intake of water. So to avoid this whole cycle, on an average 1 to 2 liters of water intake is a must to reduce the unnecessary cravings too.

A very common myth is that you must eat what your body craves in pregnancy because your baby is demanding it. Well, you could indulge in it minimally. It is important to also watch for your and your baby’s health. Pickles and burgers would barely provide you any nutritional value so how about balancing these two out? Is it possible to satisfy your cravings healthily with some perfect savory snacks? How about you eat that pickle but accompany it with something that will add some nutrition too? Sounds interesting!

Specifically for these pregnancy cravings, GRD bix has come up with two specific savory flavors. These diskettes can not only be an easy way to shut those cravings anytime, anywhere but are packed with the necessary nutrition that is good for you and the baby. Along with getting this nutrition, there is no guilt of consuming extra calories which are tough to lose after the baby is born.

The amazing jeera and mixed seasoning flavors are not just good for your taste buds but can be a perfect snack any time of the day. It has efficient levels of Iron, Vitamin A, and B groups, and optimum levels of folic acid which is commonly deficient in pregnant women. Once these nutritional needs are met, the cravings for unhealthy snacks could diminish. Other micronutrients that are otherwise ignored in our daily routines like copper, zinc, phosphorus, manganese, etc are also abundantly present in these diskettes.

What is even better is that these diskettes can be accompanied by a lot of other things. You can dip them in your favorite sauces and dips by replacing your regular fried chips. You can have them with the pickles that you would otherwise crave. A perfect evening and midnight snack!

Each diskette would have almost 1.4 grams of protein making it the most protein-efficient snack for anyone. You could safely consume 2-4 diskettes every day to meet all the nutrition requirements.

If you are craving something sweet you can also try the chocolate diskettes guilt-free!

Get your hands on these yummy flavors for a healthy you and your healthy baby! To begin with, change your lifestyle for a good start with a 30-minute walk every single day (unless advised against by your doctor). Walking also helps you balance your weight and does not let you gain unnecessary pounds.