Craving Sugar During Pregnancy: A Non-Diet Approach

Many expectant mothers experience craving sugar during pregnancy and are often concerned for themselves and their baby. Let’s nip that concern in the bud!

With just a quick search on this topic, I see pages of content that scream diet culture and sugar shaming…I want you to know that you won’t find that here! As an anti-diet dietitian and mom of three, I will help you understand your sugar cravings during pregnancy and how to manage them without feeling restricted.

My Pregnancy Craving Story

During all of my pregnancies, I craved different foods on and off. The most intense craving, however, was specifically craving donuts in the last trimester of my pregnancy with my firstborn. Sometimes I would wake up to delicious dreams of eating frosted-covered donuts of all varieties! You best believe on those days I would honour my craving and get myself a donut to enjoy.

The truth is, there are a variety of reasons why sugar cravings are common during pregnancy. Physiological factors like hormonal shifts and heightened nutrient demands during pregnancy are just part of the picture.  Cultural and psychological factors that influence our relationship with and thoughts around food also influence pregnancy sugar cravings.

It’s a bit of a balance. Eating too much added sugar during pregnancy (more than about 5-10 % of total daily calories, consistently) is not ideal for mom or baby, especially if you are at high risk for gestational diabetes (high blood sugar during pregnancy). At the same time, full avoidance or over-restriction of sugar is not healthy either.

Managing sugar cravings during pregnancy starts with making peace with food and rejecting harmful food rules. This type of mind shift doesn’t happen overnight! Fortunately, there are practical strategies you can start today to help manage sugar cravings in a positive and sustainable way (aka the non-diet approach!).

The Difference Between Natural Sugar and Added Sugar

First, it’s important to understand the difference between natural and added sugars. Natural sugars are found in whole foods like fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. These foods not only provide sugar but also contain essential nutrients like fibre, vitamins, and minerals that support both maternal and fetal health (by the way, here are the best foods for a healthy pregnancy). For example, the fibre in fruit helps to keep the digestive system healthy and can help to prevent constipation. Another example is that milk, although it contains natural sugar (lactose) also contains calcium and vitamin D which are important for bone health.

In contrast, added sugars are sugars that are added to foods and beverages during processing or preparation. Think white or brown sugar, maple syrup, and honey. Unlike natural sugars, added sugars do not provide the additional nutrients that are vital during pregnancy. They do help to sweeten some of our favourite foods, however, like homemade cookies, ice cream, chocolate and cupcakes!

Understanding Sugar Cravings During Pregnancy

Craving sweets often results when there is a drop in blood sugar levels. This can happen if you have undereaten at a meal or have gone too long without eating. For this reason, I recommend pregnant women have small, frequent meals every 2-3 hours to avoid intense sugar cravings often. Bonus—this also helps fight pregnancy-related nausea!

Let’s take a deeper dive into why sugar cravings often pop up during pregnancy:

Physiological Changes

Hormonal changes during pregnancy (such as shifts in progesterone, estrogen, and hCG) may impact your appetite, food preferences, and even how things taste and smell (pickles and ice cream, anyone?). This often leads to cravings, more commonly for high carbohydrate or sweet-tasting foods. Plus, all those hormones, along with your rapidly changing body, can cause mood swings, stress, and emotional ups and downs. It’s pretty common to reach for sweet treats as a way to cope with everything going on. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but it’s something to be aware of!

Higher Nutritional Needs

Your body is building a whole human and needs more of everything during pregnancy. This includes more calories, carbohydrates (hello sugar!), protein, fat, and micronutrients! Check out my ultimate guide to pregnancy nutrition. If you are not eating enough, your body will call for MORE in the form of cravings. Fun fact—our brain and body cells use sugar as their primary source of energy. No wonder sugar is the first thing we crave when “hangry”!

Cultural Influences

Different cultures have varying beliefs and practices around pregnancy, including specific foods that are considered beneficial or desirable during pregnancy, while other foods are not. These cultural influences can shape the types of cravings you might experience when pregnant!

Psychological Factors

Sugar is often villainized in diet culture, triggering a restrictive mentality around treats and sweets, inevitably leading to the “forbidden fruit” phenomenon. During pregnancy, for example, if you try to cut sugar out completely, it will make you want it even more, intensifying sweet food cravings.

So how do you possibly make peace with sugar cravings during pregnancy with all of these factors stacked against you? Let’s take a look…

The Non-Diet Approach to Sugar Cravings Explained

During pregnancy, sugar cravings can feel intense, but instead of stressing over them, focus on tuning into what your body really needs. Forget about strict diets—this is a time to listen to your hunger and fullness cues, and trust that your body knows what it’s doing. By embracing a variety of foods and allowing yourself the freedom to enjoy all of them, you’ll find that the cravings lose their grip, leaving you more satisfied and less obsessed with sugar.

Rewiring your brain from the constraints of diet culture takes effort and awareness! Here are some key principles that support this approach:

Food Neutrality

Food neutrality is all about understanding that every food has its place in our lives—there’s no need to label one as ‘better’ than the other. Broccoli is packed with nutrients, sure, but you wouldn’t want to live on it alone. And while donuts are sugary and delicious, they don’t exactly pack a nutritional punch. But both are totally valid choices! Instead of thinking of foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ try taking a neutral approach and just enjoy them for what they are.

Intuitive Eating

Develop your body attunement skills by paying attention to the signals your body gives you when it is hungry or full. Practice honouring these cues in a timely manner, rather than leaving it or following external rules or diets that disrupt this body trust. Learning how to eat intuitively takes practice, so here’s my guide to intuitive eating.

Mindfulness

Be present while eating. Aim to savour the food that you decide to eat without judgment. Quiet pesky internal thoughts and worries around “sugar” or “calories” and pay attention to the flavour, texture and aroma of the foods that you’re eating. You might be surprised at how much better (or worse) something tastes to you. This helps to discover your true preferences, and interpret how certain foods make you feel! 

Benefits of a Non-Diet Approach to Pregnancy Sugar Cravings

Ditching the diet approach to sugar cravings during pregnancy ultimately helps you to nourish your relationship with food by allowing space for you to learn how to trust your body. This includes honouring cravings when they pop up!

Over time, you will notice:

• Positive and sustainable eating habits that benefit both yourself and your baby!
• Reduced stress and anxiety around eating
• Improved mental and emotional well-being
• Enhanced nutrition intake (without restriction, overindulging actually becomes less common!)
• Deeper satisfaction when eating
• Improved food and body congruence (making food choices that align with both your nutritional and emotional needs), bolstering respect for your body, and body image
• Cravings diminish and food will take up less space in your brain