It's True-- Pregnancy Changes Taste!

Pregnancy really does make women more sensitive to certain flavors and odors. One really interesting study asked a group of women-- some not pregnant and others in different stages of pregnancy-- to rate the intensity and their preferences of salty, sweet, citric and bitter flavors. While the women who weren’t pregnant varied a lot in how intense they thought the various flavors were and how much they liked them, pregnant women in the first trimester were united in ranking the bitter and salty flavors as more intense and less appealing. And, the farther along the pregnant women were, the more they liked the salty and citric flavors, and the less intense they found the bitter flavor.

Researchers theorized that pickiness peaks in the first trimester to help protect the fetus from poisons at the most sensitive stage of development, then preferences change to encourage a balanced diet closer to delivery. Pretty interesting!