Will you get hungry easily during early pregnancy?

Pregnancy is both exciting and worrying for women, because pregnancy will cause changes in women's bodies, mainly in terms of body shape. Pregnancy will also cause changes in women's endocrine and physical health status. For example, the fetus in a woman's body develops rapidly in the early stages of pregnancy, causing women to feel more hungry and increase their food intake, etc. Let's take a look at whether it is easy to get hungry in the early stages of pregnancy?

Many expectant mothers always feel hungry since the beginning of pregnancy. This feeling of hunger is different from the previous feeling of being hungry.

Why do you always feel hungry during early pregnancy?

First, it’s about hormones

As many pregnant women complain, when you feel hungry you might think it's your hormones. Increased progesterone during pregnancy may affect two hormones that play an important role in hunger: leptin and ghrelin. Leptin is composed of fat cells. With leptin, there is no need to supplement fat through eating, so leptin can prevent hunger; ghrelin is produced by the stomach and makes people feel hungry.

2. Overestimating caloric needs

Pregnancy is divided into three-month stages. In the first stage, there is no need to consume extra calories because of the baby. During the second and third stages, you need to increase your daily calorie intake by about 15% for nutrition for yourself and your baby. In the second and third stages, if you normally need 2,000 calories to maintain your weight, you will need 2,300 calories now.

Third, wrong concept

Some women often use pregnancy as an excuse to eat their favorite foods without restraint. It can be part of a healthy diet during pregnancy if eaten in small amounts, but it can lead to digestive problems and postpartum obesity if consumed without restraint.

4. Choose the right food

Satisfy hunger with low-calorie foods such as lean meats, whole grains, beans, eggs, and dairy products. Refined foods that are high in sugar or overly processed are often metabolized faster than whole foods and lack nutrition, making a pregnant woman's body weaker and more prone to hunger. Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are more filling and provide essential vitamins and minerals.