Hunger Pangs During Pregnancy: Causes, And Tips To Deal With It I BabyChakra

Sudeshna Chakravarti

Author | 799 Articles

Hunger pangs during pregnancy are a common concern and are primarily caused by hormonal changes. Many expecting mums complain about feeling hungry at odd hours, or just a couple of hours after having a meal. While hormonal fluctuations are a major contributing factor to increased appetite during pregnancy, in some cases, hunger pangs also occur due to increased energy needs to support the growth and development of your baby.

If you are experiencing hunger pangs during pregnancy, knowing the appropriate ways to deal with them can help you maintain good health, and also prevent unwanted weight gain. Read on to know more about why expecting mums experience hunger pangs and how to deal with the increased appetite to maintain a healthy weight.

What Are Hunger Pangs?

Hunger pain or hunger pangs is an uncomfortable, gnawing feeling that you experience when your abdomen is empty. They are a natural reaction to an empty stomach and are usually accompanied by the desire to eat.

You may also experience hunger pangs due to sleep deprivation, dehydration, or certain nutritional deficiencies.

When Do Hunger Pangs Occur During Pregnancy?

Hunger Pangs During Pregnancy — *Hunger pangs during pregnancy is mainly caused by hormonal imbalances / Image credit: Freepik*

Some women may notice changes in their appetite as soon as the first trimester. For others, this change may become more prevalent in the second trimester, when morning sickness subsides and food cravings pick up.

While it is possible to experience hunger pangs at any time of the day, you may typically feel more hungry during midnight or early morning, as at that time your blood sugar levels tend to drop due to the long time interval between your meals.

Is It Normal To Experience Hunger Pangs During Pregnancy?

Yes, it’s quite normal to experience an increase in your appetite during pregnancy. During the first trimester, you may experience hunger pangs due to morning sickness, as you throw up frequently and your tummy gets empty quickly.

Additionally, from the second trimester, your baby undergoes exponential development and requires extra nutrients, which in turn increases your body’s need for nutrition, making you feel hungry frequently.

But be watchful, as extreme hunger associated with other symptoms like constant thirst could be an indicator of gestational diabetes. So keep a check on your symptoms and report to your doctor accordingly to prevent any pregnancy complications.

7 Tips To Deal With Hunger Pangs During Pregnancy

Binge-eating or overeating every time you feel hungry can lead to unhealthy weight gain during pregnancy. Hence, you should try to eat right by managing your hunger pangs.

In this section, we have discussed some helpful measures that you can rely on to deal with hunger pangs during pregnancy.

Chart A Well-Balanced Diet Plan

Focus on creating a well-balanced diet plan, and include fibre-rich and nutritional foods like whole-wheat food items and brown rice. Consuming these foods helps prevent indigestion and manage constipation. They are also filling and can help deal with your hunger pangs.

Also, if you are craving snacks at odd hours, go for foods that are easy to digest. You can try toast with peanut butter or a light vegetable-loaded sandwich. You can also consult your doctor to help chart a meal plan for you, along with suitable snacking options.

Start Including Soups And Salads In Your Meals

Include a side of salad or homemade soup along with your meals. This will help fulfill the additional nutritional requirements and level up your calorie intake in the healthiest way possible. Additionally, having a soup or salad along with other dishes will keep you full for longer and prevent you from munching on snacks after mealtime.

Prepare soups with fresh veggies like broccoli, spinach, beetroot, and tomatoes, and add nutritious fruits like strawberries, avocados, and bananas to your salad. To enhance the taste, you can consider adding healthy salad dressings like olive oil or apple cider vinegar.

Stay Hydrated

Staying hydrated not only helps beat your hunger pangs but also keeps you satiated throughout the day. Hence, make sure to drink at least 8-10 glasses of water regularly. You can either stick to drinking plain water or try other alternatives for hydration, such as fresh veggie and fruit juices, ginger ale, and lemon water.

However, make sure to avoid caffeinated or energy drinks as they contain high levels of sugar and can be harmful to your health during pregnancy.

Make A Healthy Snack Box For Yourself

It is not possible for you to entirely control your hunger pangs during pregnancy. But what you can do is control the type of food that you choose to munch on when you are hungry.

So make a healthy snack box for yourself, and fill it with trail mix, dry fruits, and homemade biscuits. Carry it with you when you step out as well. This will prevent you from purchasing restaurant food, which is usually high in calories and unhealthy.

Moreover, in addition to reducing your hunger pangs, dry fruits also soothe symptoms of morning sickness, such as nausea. So make sure to have some trail mix and dry fruits to feel better.

Eat Frequently

Another way to manage your hunger pangs during pregnancy is by eating frequently and splitting your meals into several smaller ones. This is because the appearance of a full plate makes you feel more hungry than you are, and causes you to overeat. As a trick, serve your food on smaller plates, and cut down the duration between each meal.

Eat Slowly

Make sure to chew your food for a long time and eat slowly. This will prevent you from overeating and ensure that you feel full after having a sufficient amount of food. It will also prevent heartburn, indigestion, and other discomforts as well.

Eat Foods That Help Regulate Your Sleep

Uninterrupted sleep is crucial during pregnancy. However, feeling hungry at odd hours can disturb your sleep, and keep you awake overnight. To avoid this, you can include tryptophan-rich foods in your diet as they help regulate your sleep cycle.

These foods help stimulate the serotonin and melatonin levels in your body, and regulate your sleep and wake cycle. Examples of these foods include bananas, almonds, whole-wheat bread, and oatmeal.

Conclusion

Hunger pangs during pregnancy is quite common and seldom require medical intervention. It is usually caused due to the different changes occurring in your body during this time and can be easily managed with the steps that we have discussed above.

Focus on making healthy meal choices and including nutritious foods in your diet to suffice your hunger and prevent unhealthy weight gain. Besides this, make sure that you maintain adequate hydration and have smaller meals at regular intervals of time.