Pica = Digressional Food Cravings

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Kate Apted

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Welcome APJ family to the end of February. Already!

This post is about a strange phenomenon generally associated with pregnancy. It is called pica and refers to a desire to eat, or drink, things that are not traditonal food items. I think, in my case, it is tied to my nutritional deficiencies.

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Three beautiful and well loved scents that give me pica symptoms. Blue Lotus, Jardins de Bagatelle and Mon Guerlain.

Pica = Digressional Food Cravings

I notice pica hits me worse of all when I have had too many coffees or I have eaten gluten. I find I crave certain perfumes and actually wish I could drink the notes I am seeking the sensation of. Other times, I might wear a perfume and I find a note that starts my pica cravings with having no noted nutritional problems.

In a way, I am grateful for this pica response, for it alerts me to take greater care with my diet. My internal system is quite particular and really cannot take certain foods, or an excess of a couple of foods. I also have a condition known as alexythemia; or difficulty knowing my own emotional state. I need external cues to help me understand what my body and/or emotions are putting me through. Pica tells me I may have upset my stored vitamin balance by having an extra coffee a day for a week, or that gluten that tasted SO good is making my intestines writhe in agony.

The main culprits are Mon Guerlain, TRNP’s Blue Lotus and Jardins de Bagatelle. Both Guerlains leave a metallic zing I actually enjoy at a cellular level. I do not always have this response from Mon Guerlain, but I certainly do from JdB everytime. Blue Lotus contains ylang-ylang and I know that this note, or oil, has me wanting to eat a whole bag of candy bananas. I have to be careful to wear ylang forward scents only when I am feeling in peak health. The overriding desire to eat ylang-ylang can affect my focus because I have to actively stop myself from seeking food that might contain ylang-ylang. I really get the urge to drink Blue Lotus, so mental energy needs to be at full to keep me mindful.

It is embarrassing to admit this publicly, but I think it an important issue to discuss. It is one of those taboo topics barely touched upon by midwives or doctors when one is pregnant. It is considered a rare phenomenon that might catch a pregnant woman by surprise. It may explain why some neurodiverse people eat things that might raise eyebrows.

When I was young, I’d eat flowers in spring. I ate some stalks too. It was a secret that I kept to myself for I learned it indicated mental instability. I became vegetarian at 11 years old and I ceased munching on these flowers and stems. I suspect the very notes I become affected by in perfumes are those I sought when scouring local alley ways as a child.

Another strange pica like sensation comes from Angel’s Dust, by Francesca Biachi. Oftentimes, wearing it, I get a distinct sensation of tasting bronze sprinkles, or fairy dust, in my mouth. I have never tasted this craft item, but it is how I expect it would taste.

Have you any unusual reactions to perfume, or scented items? Does it encourage or discourage you from wearing a perfume?

Until we meet again,

Kate xx

39 thoughts on “Pica = Digressional Food Cravings”

  1. Fascinating topic, Kate. As someone who has sensory integration dysfunction I always felt that my almost fifty years of fragrance obsession ties into that. I am going to be mindful now of which scents I crave and which notes in perfume I crave.
    Thank you for sharing this.

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    • You are most welcome, dearest Brigitte. It is sort of warming to know you understand this intersection of atypical sensations. Please let me know which scents heighten your sensory integration dysfunction. It helps to share these things. We all learn – and that is a beautiful thing.

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      • Well I will tell you that last winter I drained a full bottle of Stash because it reminded me of pickles. It was gone in about three weeks because I just kept applying. It brought to mind when I ate a pound of sour pickles as a child and developed a rash. Mom took me to the doctor….. turned out I had chicken pox!!! I never ate flowers but I used to eat oddles of lemons like they were oranges as a kid. Is this why I adore citrus fragrances?

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          • Ha! I love that word too. I am both a sensory seeker in smells and tastes but can also be repelled by other sensory input auditory and vestibular and even some tactile. Used to drive my mom crazy growing up as my socks and underwear had to be a certain way and I was fussy about my clothes as well. I still can’t have sleeves that go beyond a certain point on my wrist nor can I navigate steps alternating feet if I am carrying something ( major gravitational insecurity). My mother always referred to me as a ” particular child”. Back in my day no one knew about sensory integration dysfunction. Thank you for bringing attention to it.

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          • And speaking of succulent….Prescriptives Calyx…the original from the late 1980s and not the neutered version that Clinique now puts out…. lordy I loved that mouth puckering fragrance… drained about eight or more bottles of it….I would have drank it if I could.

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          • And don’t get me started on bikini underwear… makes me bonkers!!! I need my granny panties and have to buy them in the girls section as they are the only ones that fit my tiny frame. I NEED the briefs that touch my belly….as irrational as this may sound.

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  2. Hey Kate,
    I freaking love this post. It doesn’t have any resonance for me but I bloody wish it did. How Sci-Fi and Fantasy. A whole series of books could be written about it, or a character who solves riddles with it. Amazing.
    It’s like you have a super power.
    Portia xx

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Thank you for sharing this, Kate. I do not experience these sensory issues but I am a preschool teacher and any new knowledge that might inform my interactions with the children is welcome.

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  4. Kate, I love reading your posts. In this one, you remind me of the infinite diversity of humanity and the importance of empathy and acceptance of all our amazing individuality. Thank you for sharing this 💙💙.

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  5. Very thought-provoking Kate. I can relate to an internal system that is particular and cannot take many foods. I am very particular with food choices to keep me feeling my best.
    I’ve never thought of fragrance in this context however. We humans are very complex, and I’m not surprised that our bodies and emotional states always seek balance. I will be more mindful of my perfume cravings and associations. Thank you!

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  6. Hey there Kate! “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies” was the first thing that sprung to mine. Cute film with Doris Day, based on the book. FA to do with chewing flowers.

    Anyway. I did have a girlfriend who wanted, well indeed did, crave and eat coal during pregnancy, but that is what we all know huh?

    You post has flabbergasted me, and amazed me. Wow. “The overriding desire to eat ylang-ylang ….” Nope, have not experienced that. But I did have something pretty weird for about a year; this was a good ten or twelve years ago. There is this chewing gum here, “Airwaves”, packed a hardcore mentholated gum. Very popular. Straight up menthol, the original flavour, and then there is blackcurrant, orange, cherry, and a couple of others, but they came along later. All of them heavily mentholated too, but with a fruit hit. Anyway …… I could not stop eating them, yes, eating and then swallowing them. I was getting through two or three packs a day. The small white coated pieces of gum. I would chew them up as fast as I could, and then just before all the candyish coating had gone, I would swallow the whole piece. Repeatedly. Totally bloody weird. This habit suddenly disappeared overnight. Freaky stuff. I still chew them but have absolutely no desire to swallow them any more.
    Perhaps this falls into the Pica category.

    You know the Hermès Vanille Galante? 🙂

    Your writing is astoundingly brilliant. Thanks. Huge ylang-ylang bussis. xxxxxxx

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    • Hey Cookie Queen/Kate,
      That sounds pretty pica-ish to me. Experienced it on my first pregnancy in a big way-had to eat wood. Satisfied it by chewing on sugarcane. Mine is driven by nutritional deficiencies too, I always take heed of food cravings but never thought of perfumes in the same way. Thinking about it now though, Daim Blond sometimes puts me in the mood for a T-bone, maybe it’s the suede?

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    • Wow! That is indeed a phenomenon to get some understanding of. Maybe I should have gone into nutrition and psychology. Hmm.

      Yes, I know of Vanille Galante…

      Bloody ylang ylang. I am sure Cat Yellow has ylang in it. Any time an engine is sprayed Cat yellow, my pica is set off badly. Bahahahaha!

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  7. Love this post Kate! I understand your statement of upsetting your ‘stored vitamin balance’ so well. When I have accidentally eaten gluten my body craves citrus and I use loads of lemons and limes and oddly garlic. I have no idea why garlic, but I end up making a rice soup with lots of garlic and ginger and I feel much better. Coffee used to make me feel like crap and I had to eventually give it up. Certain perfumes that I wore when my son was a toddler would have him wanting to lick my wrist.
    Sandra xo

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    • Ohhhh, I remember you saying about your son wanting to lick your wrist! Yes! Calves apparently need salt in their diet because they lick human skin for the salt. I wonder how an inherently a primal reflex it is!

      Coffee. Uh, yup. Such a bitter sweet vice. 😈

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  8. Being the owner of a dodgy stomach, I am very particular about what I eat. Often a food item I would normally be okay with will make me feel horribly ill, sometimes this is due to appearance or texture/flavour, sometimes for no discernible reason whatsoever. As a result I have never been overweight and dislike eating. It’s a real pain, as I see others eating delicious food but am afraid of eating it myself, for fear of spending the next 8-12 hours in misery. It takes a lot of joy out of life, since food is so central to human existence and society.

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    • It certainly feels lonely to not be joining in with eating particular foods. But I think we tend to have the better end of the proverbial stick. I cannot imagine the state of some folks’ teeth or internal organs caused by these much more fun foods. And not having to suffer sore and inflamned joints is a blessing. It isn’t all bad, huh? 😘

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  9. Beautiful post, Kate! No perfume has ever had this effect on me but whenever I drink beer, I must eat something sweet afterwards (some pie or chocolate, anything!).

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  10. How interesting Kate! I wanted to say the same as Portia above – it’s like having super powers. My sense of smell is not at all connected with my sense of taste. How boring…

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  11. Oh my this post really resonates with me! I have the same reaction with 3 things… Byredo’s Pulp perfume, Lush’s Plum Rain body wash and Lush’s Christmas edition spiced pear hand soap. All three of these can literally make me start to salivate! Then the craving to tastes can almost become overwhelming. Thank you so much for your post. I never knew that there was such a thing. This is fascinating. Oh and I’m not pregnant!

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      • Oh Yes! Especially with the soap & body wash. The soap brings fresh pear juice & cardamom straight to my brain and all I want is to taste that flavor. The shower wash is ripe, juicy plums and I will literally have to swallow the saliva that fills my mouth because my brain is saying eat, taste it NOW. I’ll leave my bathroom & head straight to the kitchen where I then realize I’ve got nothing to satisfy my brain/tastebuds. It got to the point where I’ve stopped buying the body wash. The soap caught me off guard, it was a first time purchase and I didn’t really get the full impact until I got home & actually used it. Then bam! Full on sensation. Fortunately it wears off pretty quick so I don’t spend too long in my kitchen trying to feed the urge. Now the perfume is slightly less impactful but it to can also cause the same reaction at times. I haven’t quite figured out what the conditions are that will trigger it so sometimes I can wear it and really enjoy it as normal and other times I’m hot drooling mess cause I can think/taste of is fresh fruit juice. It is one of the strangest weirdest things I’ve ever experienced.

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          • No but there’s a Plum Rain body spray. If you pair the body wash with Pulp from Byredo you can almost the same thing and it’s wonderful. Yeah, the pear soap if fantastic. All I can think of as it soaps up, is spiced pear juice! Thank goodness it doesn’t linger to long. What’s really funny to me is that traditional gourmand fragrances don’t affect me like these 3. I love vanilla & chocolate notes and you’d think that those would cause the same effect but they don’t. This has been such a great topic.
            P.S. Val – here in the stars Ice Breakers Ice Cube gum has a flavor called Cool Lemon and I go thru a 40 piece can in about 3 days.

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