Gen Z woman's 'absolutely horrifying' pregnancy craving goes viral

Pregnancy cravings are strange beasts. Sometimes it’ll be for something innocuous like strawberries or tomatoes, and on other occasions it might be something much stranger. Maybe it’s the juice from a can of beans, maybe it’s tins of tuna with a side of milk, maybe it’s panko breadcrumbs and cinnamon powder.

For TikToker Lidia Mera (@lidiavmera), hers fell into the latter camp. The London-based social media user has been documenting her pregnancy journey on the platform, and her ‘current hyper fixation’ is particularly unusual.

Strong flavours are typical of pregnancy cravings (Olga Dobrovolska/Getty Images)

In her third trimester, 24-year-old Lidia has taken to eating a bowl of chocolate hazelnut cereal topped with milk, ice cubes, and a hefty splash of soy sauce. ‘It’s a little bit… I wouldn’t say weird, but let’s say ‘interesting’,” she said in the clip.

Speaking to Newsweek, she said: “The perfect fusion between refreshing ice cold milk, chocolate filled crunchy cereal for the sweetness and then finishing it off with soy sauce to add that salty element into it—the perfect combo." she said.

Despite having a sweet tooth during her regular life, through her pregnancy she’s developed a taste for salty stuff,

"I tried to find a way to incorporate that salty element into a snack I regularly have: a bowl of cereal, and soy sauce just sounded like the perfect solution," she continued.

"The ice cubes came in to make the milk even colder because when you're pregnant anything ice cold is just immediately 10 times better."

Her clip has amassed over 228,000 views, with the TikToker inviting ratings for her unusual cereal setup.

"Sweet and salty is a foolproof combo so I'm not entirely surprised that this works but damn that soy sauce came out of nowhere," said one user.

"I have soy sauce on basically everything so I get it," another generously offered.

"Soy sauce and milk? Hell nah," said another.

Also speaking with Newsweek, Dr Shyamala Vishnumohan, a dietitian specialising in fertility and pregnancy, explained what’s going on with people’s pregnancy cravings.

All it needs is a dash of milk and some chocolate hazelnut cereal (Priscila Zambotto/Getty Images)

"I've seen women crave everything from raw mango with salt to tamarind, amla or even green chilli," said Vishnumohan.

"From a scientific standpoint, they're partly driven by hormonal shifts and partly by nutrient needs."

According to Vishnumohan, as many as 90% of pregnant women get cravings, although they typically subside by the third trimester.

"I also believe pregnant mothers carry this intuitive body wisdom—gently nudging them toward what they need," she said.

"It's a beautiful mystery.