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Pass the Pickles, Please

Craving Salt During Pregnancy

By Shannon McKelden

"The swelling that one has during pregnancy comes as a result of the increase in estrogen in her body, which encourages the carrying of extra fluid, as well as the pressure of the growing baby on the vessels in her lower extremities that would normally be able to return that extra fluid in the feet and ankles to the upper body," Collins says. Again, restricting salt will not alleviate these problems, and can, instead, cause a more dangerous imbalance in electrolytes.

Indulging in the salt cravings is not the problem, Collins says. The problems may come with over-indulging. "Damage to the fetus would only truly come with mass consumption of salt that upsets [the] mother's chemical/electrolyte balance," she says.

Dr. Sam Sugar, a staff physician at Pritikin Longevity Center in Aventura, Fla., concurs. "As long as the craving does not get out of hand and the amount of salt ingested is moderate, it is unlikely that the craving will result in harm," Dr. Sugar says. "Too much salt, though, will over correct the problem and lead to extreme thirst and other unwanted effects for Mother and Baby."

Neither Smith nor Franet suffered any ill effects from their salt cravings. "My doctor wasn't worried," Smith says. "She said as long as I continued to eat other healthy foods and took my prenatal vitamins that I should be fine. My blood pressure remained good, as well as the multitude of blood and urine tests. I'm sure if the results had been off, that her attitude would have changed."

Franet was also fairly unconcerned about the cravings. "I didn't worry about [them]," she says. "They were so strong that I wanted to satisfy them, and since my diet was very healthy otherwise I just didn't worry about it."

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