food aversions.
last revised · reviewed 2026-07-05
Food aversions — a sudden, visceral repulsion to foods you normally enjoy — affect around 6 in 10 pregnant women, usually starting in the first trimester alongside nausea. Coffee, meat, eggs, and strongly flavoured foods top the list, and most aversions fade by the second trimester.
what it feels like
The smell or even the thought of a particular food triggers an immediate wave of revulsion or nausea. It is not mild dislike — it can be strong enough that walking past a coffee shop or opening the fridge turns your stomach. Aversions often pair with new cravings for blander foods.
why it happens
The same hormonal surge behind morning sickness — especially rising hCG — heightens the sense of smell and recalibrates taste. One theory is that this once protected early pregnancies from spoiled or risky foods; whatever the reason, the aversions track the first-trimester hormone curve closely and usually fade with it.
what helps
- Don't fight it — eat around the aversion and substitute nutritionally similar foods (beans or dairy if meat repels you, for instance)
- Cold and room-temperature foods release less aroma than hot ones
- Ask someone else to cook, or batch-cook on better days and reheat quickly
- Bland, plain foods — toast, rice, crackers, plain pasta — are rarely aversive and keep energy up
- Keep taking your pregnancy vitamin with folic acid, especially when your diet narrows
- Ventilate the kitchen well; smell is usually the trigger more than taste
when to call your midwife or doctor
- You are losing weight because so few foods are tolerable — call your midwife or doctor
- Aversions combine with vomiting that stops you keeping food or fluid down for 24 hours
- You feel compelled to eat non-food substances like ice, clay, or chalk (pica) — mention this to your midwife or doctor, as it can signal iron deficiency
- Your diet has been very restricted for weeks — a midwife or doctor can check you're getting what you and the baby need
This page is general information, not a diagnosis. When in doubt, call — no midwife has ever minded a careful question.
common questions
When do food aversions start and stop?
Aversions typically begin around weeks 5 to 6, peak alongside nausea in weeks 8 to 10, and fade early in the second trimester. Some women find one or two aversions — often coffee or meat — linger for the whole pregnancy.
Why do I suddenly hate foods I used to love?
Pregnancy hormones, particularly hCG, sharpen your sense of smell and shift how flavours register. Foods with strong odours — coffee, meat, fried food, garlic — are the most common casualties. It is a normal, temporary rewiring, not a permanent change of taste.
Will avoiding whole food groups harm the baby?
Short-term narrowing of your diet in the first trimester is rarely a problem — the baby's needs are tiny at this stage, and your vitamin covers key gaps like folic acid. If a whole food group stays off the menu for months, ask your midwife or doctor about substitutes.
read it in context
Food aversions tends to show up around these weeks of pregnancy:
related symptoms
- Bleeding gums
Swollen, tender gums that bleed when brushing affect the majority of pregnant women — pregnancy hormones increase blood flow to the gums and amplify their reaction to plaque.
- Insomnia
Insomnia affects most women at some point in pregnancy — hormones disrupt sleep architecture in the first trimester, and physical discomfort, loo trips, and an active baby fragment it in the third.
- Dizziness
Feeling light-headed or dizzy is common in pregnancy, because progesterone widens your blood vessels and blood pressure naturally dips, especially in the first and second trimesters.
know what's normal, week by week
elara tracks your symptoms alongside your weeks.
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