Often, an acute desire to eat something unusual is not associated with our meaningful choice, but with the needs of the body, which sends us signals. We cannot understand them, but we feel an almost irresistible desire to enjoy a specific product. Is it possible to eat chalk during pregnancy? It’s worth understanding this question.
Why do you want chalk during pregnancy?
In most situations, the attraction to chalk is explained by a change in gustatory hobbies during pregnancy or is an indicator of a lack of calcium or other minerals. However, in some cases, other causes are called in popular science literature.
Toxicosis
This is an outdated name for a special condition that appears in a girl during the hormonal transformation of the body in the first weeks of expectation of a baby. The name does not reflect the essence of what is happening, since the girl has practically no intoxication, but there is a response from the body to its new position. Often during this period, girls are tormented by nausea and unusual changes in taste. The need to eat something salty, spicy or gnaw on chalk is quite common, as if it could help calm the nausea. But you can chalk during pregnancy or not find out further.
Calcium deficiency
In this position, more of this element is needed, since it is used in the creation of fetal cells. Lack of calcium in the diet can cause an unconscious desire to eat something rich in this mineral. Hence, I want chalk during pregnancy, the main component of which is calcium carbonate. The disadvantage of this component has other features, for example, dry skin and a reduction in its elasticity, brittleness and dullness of hair. There is softness and stratification of nails, caries and other problems with teeth, regular fatigue and anger, cramps and muscle cramps, intestinal pain and constipation. Often, representatives of the weaker sex form osteochondrosis. Be sure to notify the doctor about them, and he will be able to choose the right therapy.
Iron-deficiency anemia
There is practically no academic evidence that low hemoglobin causes love for chalk. However, many girls noticed the relationship between anemia and special taste preferences. Most likely, low hemoglobin actually causes some girls to make such changes.
It is very important for expectant mothers to realize that chalk is not a medicine, it will not be able to help cope with the nausea of pregnant women and does not compensate for calcium reserves, since it is not absorbed by the body. Moreover, he will not be able to help with anemia, since it does not include iron.
Which chalk is harmful?
Doctors, of course, do not advise expectant mothers to use building chalk or office chalk. This is explained quite simply: in these materials there are multiple additions, mechanical impurities. All of them are capable of harming the well-being of the expectant mother and her baby. The result of using such a submetal in food is often the pathology of various organs:
- The liver helps to eliminate toxins from the body, but itself suffers from their effects.
- Stones may form in the kidneys.
- The mucous membrane of the larynx is dried out under the influence of this product.
- It settles on the walls of blood vessels, causing cardiovascular disease.
- Solid particles scratch the tooth enamel, causing its further destruction and the formation of caries. In addition, the oral cavity suffers from small scratches, which can cause the appearance of stomatitis.
- The esophagus is also damaged by submetal particles, and its mucosa dries up and small cracks appear.
- In the stomach, chalk interacts with hydrochloric acid, and a violent reaction occurs with the release of a significant amount of gas. It gives the future mother a feeling of bloating. In addition, the epithelium collapses during the reaction period.
There is a judgment that the use of a significant number of chalk can cause an aggravation of a woman's condition during childbirth. In addition, in some cases, it is reported that chalk in the menu of the expectant mother affects the development of the child and leads to early closure of the fontanel and bone deformation. None of these versions have scientific evidence. They both look not very true, since calcium and other substances from the chalk are not retained in the body for a long time.
What to use?
Each girl, and even more so in the position, before taking each dietary supplement, vitamins or other substances is obliged to consult a doctor. When wondering whether it is possible to eat chalk of the expectant mother during pregnancy, it would be more correct to come to the doctor for a recommendation. The expectant mother, on the recommendation of a doctor, is able to use preparations containing calcium.
Excess of this component in the body can cause constipation, increases the risk of kidney stones and inhibits the absorption of other nutrients. And if there is chalk during pregnancy, the results can be even worse, for this reason it is a rather stupid undertaking.
It is better to use substances in pharmacy forms. They are readily available in numerous forms, such as citrate and calcium carbonate. If we talk about the bioavailability of these elements, then calcium citrate is better absorbed in the body, it can be taken between meals. Calcium carbonate needs additional acid from the stomach, for this reason it is more correct to use it during meals.
Before using a certain substance, you must read the information contained in the instructions.
Various ingredients, such as bone meal or dolomite, include lead, mercury, arsenic and other toxic elements that are harmful to health.
When the problem comes to the selection of a substance, there is one general rule. The product must include a soluble, preferably organic, calcium compound. And before this component is absorbed, it must first be melted.
Calcium carbonate, according to the chemical formula, is a school, not always edible chalk, only in its pure form, with no harmful additions. In patients with low acidity of gastric juice, the use of this component will be slightly worse.
A balanced diet before and during pregnancy helps to maintain the normal health of the expectant mother and the good development of the fetus. Nutrition should be as diverse as possible, which will make it possible not only to provide the body with the necessary elements of nutrition, but also will contribute to the good functioning of the digestive system.
If the menu does not have enough calcium, then instead of eating limestone during pregnancy, the expectant mother needs to use balanced and tested substances, and only according to the doctor’s testimony.
How to replace chalk
If the desire to eat chalk to such an extent is huge that it divides you from everyday activities, then you need to think about normalizing metabolic processes in your body.
For this, doctors advise you to follow a certain diet, during which you need to consume a huge number of products, including calcium, or use special medications.
Diet
In order to get rid of annoying thoughts to eat chalk, you must first change the menu. An excess of fatty foods in it delays the body's absorption of calcium. For this reason, the menu should be based on fresh vegetables, fruits, cereals and lactic acid products.
It is imperative to introduce the following foods into your own diet:
- dairy products;
- cereals;
- seeds and nuts;
- lean meat and fish;
- dried fruits;
- vegetables and greens.
The source of natural calcium is eggshell. Rinse it well, dry it and grind it with a coffee grinder.
But in order for the element to be fully absorbed by the body, you need a fairly large amount of vitamin D. You can get it naturally during walks in the fresh air or when taking sunbaths.
Drug therapy
If proper nutrition does not help, the doctor may recommend taking medications. For this, such substances are suitable:
- Calcium gluconate and other calcium-containing substances. These are pharmaceuticals that are significantly harmless to school chalk. But you do not need to use pills, as they can provoke constipation, liming of connective tissues and other problems with well-being.
- Vitamins in different forms.
- Means including iron (Totem, etc.).
Women use chalk for heartburn during pregnancy. However, doctors say that it is more correct to get rid of this kind of problem with the help of medications that are not dangerous for the future mother (Rennie, Maalox).
Is chalk harmful during pregnancy?
Pure chalk is not harmful to either the mother or the child, if it is used in reasonable quantities.
But the question is, not everyone is able to get this kind of chalk, but the one that is sold in an office supply has a suspicious quality and an unknown composition. As you can see, the answer to the question: chalk during pregnancy, you can eat or not, is understandable.
If you nevertheless met with a strong desire to eat a piece of chalk, then try to change your menu and spend more time outdoors. If this does not help, consult a doctor who will be able to choose suitable, and most importantly, harmless substances that can cope with this unusual desire.