“Everyone keeps telling me to stop eating nzu… but nobody can explain why I crave it so much.”

Sound familiar?

Craving clay (nzu) during pregnancy is surprisingly common. Sometimes it’s linked to iron deficiency, but not always. And while many women see it as harmless, there are a few important things you should know before giving in to the craving. Read!

Q: Doc please, I’m wondering if you could advice me. I’m 6 months pregnant and I find it difficult adhering to treatment regimen like taking my routine drugs because I believe I get the right requirement from the food I eat. Though sometimes when I remember I take the drugs. The most important thing is that I can’t do without eating clay and ice block (pica so to say), but I’m not anaemic. Is there any physiology behind eating clay (nzu) and ice blocks since I’m not anaemic?

A: Interesting question.

Let’s start with pica and see if we can tie everything else in. Pica consumption is the craving and consumption of non-food items like clay, ash, soap, matches or even ice as in the case above. Sometimes, this is associated with deficiencies of certain minerals or vitamins in the body, but some other times, you just can’t find anything that you can attribute the craving to.

Cravings are, of course, a usual feature of pregnancy but usually the cravings are for food 😀

I, for one, certainly love my ice cubes, pregnant or not, and trust me…I do not have any deficiency (at least any one known to man :D).

Ice craving (known as pagophagia…pronounced pa-go-fa-jia) is thought to be due to folate/iron deficiency, which you may or may not have.

However, given that you have not been taking your prescribed meds, I would prefer to err on the side of caution and say, ‘please start taking your ante-natal medications.’ Even if you eat well, still take your pre-natal (ante-natal) meds because your baby is making more of a demand on your body and its stock of nutrients. It does take a whole lot to grow a healthy baby, you know 😃

Folate is especially important for the proper development of your baby’s spine.

And then your doctor can also check you out for any form of anaemia…just to be on the safe side.

Perhaps, I should also mention that ice consumption has also been linked to stress and obsessive compulsive disorder…don’t go looking at me, y’all….just because I confessed to loving ice too 😀

Do (or did) you crave ice or clay when pregnant?