What Are The Most Activated Senses During Pregnancy

It’s amazing how your body changes when you conceive a baby. It’s as if it starts all over again, as if your senses are transformed so that the baby in your belly is born well.  Four of your five senses become more sensitive during pregnancy, many of them so that the baby can grow up surrounded by what gives him well-being.

One of the first symptoms of pregnancy is the famous nausea. Many of them are caused by the sense of taste and smell, which becomes so sensitive that many odors will become horrible for you, so much so that it will make you want to vomit.

It is particularly curious that the most unpleasant odors in most pregnant women are those related to cooking, coffee, perfumes and cigarettes, but it is even more fascinating to find out why.

Researchers at Umeå University, Sweden, after hundreds of studies explain, that this aversive reaction of pregnant women to certain odors has to do with a mother’s self-protection system, which activates to defend her baby from toxic substances that affect the adequate progress of the child.

Another reason that your sense of smell becomes so sensitive during pregnancy has to do with the high level of hormones such as progesterone and estrogens that exist in your body. This hormonal charge not only affects your sense of smell but also your sense of taste. .

The sense of taste and  cravings

Another unmistakable symptom of pregnancy is the famous cravings: they derive from much of the commotion that your senses suffer during the sweet wait. There are women who have weird cravings and cause the famous desire to eat foods that they never wanted before. There are also those who get sick of the foods that have always been their favorites, not all women, it is true, but to a greater or lesser extent, the sense of taste changes during the stage of pregnancy.

The explanations that science has to clarify the reason for this change are also surprising, because they show how nature works. Traditional Chinese medicine, for its part, asserts that this natural inclination has to do with your body’s needs or needs; so, for example, if you want to eat apples, eat because the precious intelligence of your organism is saying, in its own way, a “desire”, that your body needs some of the vitamins that this delicious fruit contains.

The same applies to other cravings, especially those related to eating vegetables, fruits, and water. So if your body is asking you to eat healthier, listen and act as the refrain says: to the body what it asks!

It is undeniable that the influence of hormones also plays many cards in this game of sensitization or the variation of foods that make you want to eat or not, as  the increase in hormone levels also makes the chemical composition of the blood vary.

“And what does this have to do with the sense of taste?” you ask yourself. Saliva reflects this hormonal change that occurs in the blood, which is why food tastes different when you are pregnant.

Don’t worry if some food you used to love to eat is now intolerable, the effect that pregnancy has on you in terms of taste will disappear as your baby grows.

Hormones influence your senses

You can blame the hormones for everything that happens to your body during pregnancy, you can even blame them for the hypersensitivity you feel in your breasts.  Sometimes you can feel uncomfortable when you touch them, and this is also due to the action of estrogens and progesterone, however this feeling will decrease as early as the third month.

It is also normal that during pregnancy you feel itchy, hotter and sweat a lot, this will happen, as well as the extreme sensitivity you may feel in the rest of your skin.

This sensation that makes you notice more intensely is because during the gestation stage there is more blood on the surface of the skin. It’s also good for you to understand that this heat and sensitivity is absolutely normal and I guarantee it will pass. At the moment, to alleviate these symptoms it is best that you drink plenty of water, wear cool, soft clothing, preferably cotton.

Perhaps one of the most curious changes that occur in your senses during pregnancy is the one that affects your vision. It is difficult for some women to focus on the images and those who have myopia may suffer from an apparent and transient worsening.

These slight variations in the sense of vision are the result of the action of progesterone and relaxin, which cause marked fluid retention that affects the cornea and lens; this slight variation disappears on its own shortly after delivery.

The only sense that remains practically stable during pregnancy is hearing.  However, it’s good to know that loud noises, especially unwanted and loud sounds, increase your heart rate and energy consumption. This situation can make you feel more tired, cause discomfort or affect your precious state of tranquility; therefore, try to distance yourself from unpleasant noises for a few months, your baby, your body and your mind will thank you.