Post by Admin on Dec 12, 2014 13:33:58 GMT -4
From chocolate to pickles, many women experience intense cravings during pregnancy.
But Jade Sylvester, 25, began to experience an even more bizarre urge: eating toilet paper.
The full time mother, of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, first developed the bizarre snacking habit while she was expecting her youngest son Jaxon.
The mother-of-five now eats as much as an entire loo roll's worth every day.
Jade Sylvester, 25, began to experience a bizarre craving for toilet paper when expecting her youngest son Jaxon. More than a year after giving birth she still cannot resist the cravings, and eats up to a loo roll a day. She is pictured left and right with some toilet paper
She suspects she suffers from Pica, a condition in which people eat objects which are not suitable to be consumed and have no nutritional value.
People have been known to eat dirt, glass, pain and sand, as well as household objects like carpets, candles and sponges.
Miss Sylvester said: 'Two months into the pregnancy, I started craving toilet roll. I still don't know why.
'I like the feeling of the texture in my mouth, rather than the taste. I like the dryness.
'My family tell me it isn't very good for me - but I can't help it.'
Pica can cause a range of serious complications if the person eats something that is poisonous or indigestible.
It is not known why some women develop Pica cravings during pregnancy, but there may be a connection to an iron deficiency, according to the Journal of American Dietetic Association.
And eating non-food substances is potentially harmful to both the mother and the baby, the American Pregnancy Association warns.
EXCLUSIVE: Mother-of-five eats entire roll of TOILET PAPER daily
This is because eating non-food substances may interfere with the nutrients from healthy food being absorbed and cause a deficiency.
Thankfully, Miss Sylvester's son Jaxo was born healthy and is developing normally.
WHAT IS PICA?
Pica is an eating disorder that is characterised by the desire to eat items with little or no nutritional value.
These can include stones, sand, paint and dirt.
It is most common in people with learning disabilities and during pregnancy.
It can cause a range of serious complications if the patient is eating something that is poisonous or indigestible.
These include being poisoned by toxic ingredients and having a part of the body obstructed (which is often seen in people who eat hair).
It can also lead to excessive calorie intake or nutritional deprivation if the person eats a substance with no nutritional value instead of nutritive foods.
Parasitic infections and dental injury can also occur.
But despite the fact it has now been a year since she gave birth, she still can't break the habit of ingesting loo roll.
She said: 'I thought the cravings would stop after I gave birth but they haven't. I can't quit. I keep coming back for more.
'It can't be doing my insides any good, but it hasn't caused me any health problems or any illness.'
She waits until she needs to go to the toilet where she will eat a few sheets of toilet tissue in private, chewing and swallowing up to a roll a day.
'While I was pregnant I went to the loo and looked at the toilet roll and thought 'I have to eat that' - I know it sounds silly.
'Today I try and hold off going to the bathroom because I know if I go I will eat the paper.
'I usually eat around eight pieces per visit - sometimes I go to the bathroom just to get some toilet roll.
'It does fill me up quite a bit. At first I used to eat a couple of squares at a time, but I keep eating more and more.'
Her favourite types are the supermarket-own brands, rather than more expensive products like Andrex.
She said: 'Different brands taste different. I have one roll in the bathroom for eating and one to be used normally.'
Miss Sylvester has five children - four boys called Billy, eight, Mayson, six, Harrie, five and Jaxon, one, and a daughter called Harlow, five.
Miss Sylvester said: 'I try to hide it from my kids, if they spot me eating toilet roll they tell me off.
'If my daughter sees me she says, 'spit it out Mummy, spit it down the toilet'.'
I knew a woman who would eat toilet paper with a Slurpee Drink I kid you not when she did that right in front of me I was so taken back SHOCKED was how I was seeing her eating that.
C
