Cucumbers during pregnancy are one of the favorite foods for women. Some people want pickled cucumbers, others - fresh. Sometimes it is this irresistible urge to eat a pickle that prompts a bright idea to buy a pregnancy test. Are cucumbers so useful and necessary for pregnant women, are there any contraindications, this article will tell.
Benefit
Cucumber is 90% water. And this fact in itself makes the vegetable useful, since the female body in the period of gestation of crumbs needs water in water no less than vitamins and minerals. In the hot season, fresh cucumbers perfectly quench thirst and eliminate hunger; they can be safely included in the daily diet of the expectant mother. A woman should not be afraid of extra pounds - cucumbers are a dietary product, per 100 grams of vegetables there are only 20 calories on average, and some varieties have a lower calorie content.
This is not to say that a cucumber can please with a large amount of vitamin, but here it still contains mineral salts. First of all, a green vegetable contains potassium and calcium. Potassium is useful for women suffering from high blood pressure, and calcium is vital for a baby growing in the womb, since this element is involved in hematopoiesis and the process of mineralization of bones of the skeleton.
The cucumber contains some zinc and iron, and therefore it is believed that the product is useful as part of a complex diet to prevent convulsive activity and anemia.
Among the few vitamins that are still available, it should be noted folic acid and other B vitamins. They are presented in small quantities, not even close to the daily norm, but the advantage of cucumber, in fact, lies not in them, but in natural antioxidants. These substances help to strengthen the immune system, remove harmful toxins and toxins from the body.
Cucumbers do not affect the acidity of gastric juice, since they themselves contain almost no organic acids. And therefore, the vegetable can be eaten even with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. It is especially useful for heartburn - and more than half of expectant mothers suffer from it during pregnancy.
For constipation and exacerbation or primary development of hemorrhoids, as well as to prevent these common problems during pregnancy, cucumber is the best helper. The peel of the vegetable is represented by fibers that are almost indigestible, and when passing through the digestive tract, they mechanically irritate the receptors of the intestinal wall, which stimulates defecation.
The high water content not only helps to replenish the water-salt balance, but also has a pronounced diuretic effect. This should be taken advantage of if you have mild edema. You can quickly get rid of them due to frequent urination.
The product is not allergenic, women usually do not suffer from a negative immune reaction to it, therefore, allergic pregnant women can safely introduce cucumber into their diet. It does not raise blood sugar levels, and therefore the product is acceptable for pregnant women with any form of diabetes, including gestational diabetes.
To a greater extent, of course, cucumbers are useful. fresh, seasonal, grown in the ground without the use of chemical fertilizers. Any processing changes the composition of the vegetable, many elements are destroyed during canning, pickling, heat treatment, and pickled cucumbers can no longer be considered as useful and necessary for a pregnant woman as fresh ones.
In addition, pickled and pickled cucumbers during pregnancy are recommended to be strictly limited.
Potential harm and contraindications
Whether a cucumber can harm a pregnant woman is a common question, and it is not devoid of common sense. A vegetable can indeed be harmful and even very dangerous.
Fresh cucumbers should be discarded in cases where a woman currently has a digestive disorder. With diarrhea, a watery vegetable will only aggravate the situation, lead to fluid loss and dehydration.
If a woman suffers tendency to flatulence and intense gas formation, there is no place for fresh cucumbers in her diet, since the bloating will only increase.
Severe and severe forms of gestosis, accompanied by severe edema - a contraindication for eating a green vegetable, since the amount of liquid for such women is strictly limited. Similarly, the use of the product is also limited to pregnant women with a history of kidney ailments, urolithiasis.
Imported imported unseasonal cucumbers and greenhouse fruits can cause serious harm to pregnant women. The watery structure of the vegetable favors the maximum absorption of nitrates and other nitrogenous fertilizers, which manufacturers often use for the rapid ripening of non-seasonal non-soil vegetables. And these substances can seriously harm the fetus and the expectant mother. They easily cross the placental barrier, directly poisoning the baby.
Pickled cucumbers, including lightly salted cucumbers, should not be eaten in large quantities by all pregnant women. Among the different types of cooked cucumbers, pickled cucumbers are the most dangerous, since they are prepared with the use of acetic acid. This is a synthetic substance, which is of no benefit to either the woman or the child.
If you are very fond of pickled cucumbers, you can cook them yourself by replacing vinegar with apple cider vinegar. But after the eaten fruit prepared in this way it is imperative to rinse your mouth out, since even plant acids negatively affect the state of the tooth enamel, which is already vulnerable while waiting for the child.
Another argument against pickles is the presence of salt and pepper. These spices whet the appetite, a woman may not notice how she starts to overeat and gain extra pounds. Salt retains moisture in the body, and therefore, swelling with the use of salted and pickled vegetables can worsen.
When buying pickles in the store, you get a can of vegetables with a high content of preservatives, and in a spontaneous farmer's market you can get a stale product cooked with gross violations, which can cause food poisoning, intestinal infection.
Fasting day
A special fasting day on cucumbers is sometimes recommended for women with pathological weight gain, but in the absence of gestosis and edema. In the early stages, such unloading is unacceptable, and only at the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 3rd trimesters, a woman, with the permission of the attending physician, will be able to eat a green vegetable as a fasting food 1-2 times a month.
There are several options for such unloading. Only cucumbers and a combination of vegetables with another product, for example, kefir with cucumber. As part of the fasting day, a woman can eat fresh cucumbers, and also make a salad with them with the addition of herbs and a drop of olive oil. Among the drinks in the diet during the day, herbal teas and homemade fruit drink are acceptable. You can diversify the menu of the day with the presence of a small amount of protein - add a boiled egg to the salad.
Cucumbers are often recommended to be combined with lean meat - boiled or baked. Such a day is usually easier than eating cucumbers alone, since a woman does not experience a strong feeling of hunger due to the presence of protein foods. In just a fasting day, it takes from 1.5 to 2 kilograms of a vegetable. Weight loss per day is on average 200 to 300 grams. Low-fat meats are chicken breast, beef and veal, rabbit, turkey.
Fatty pork and lamb are not suitable for diet.
However, reviews of the cucumber diet for pregnant women are mixed. Some note that by the evening they developed swelling, and very few pregnant women like to run to the toilet all day for little need. Many complain about the pronounced laxative effect that occurs when unloading on this vegetable, even if there was no constipation. Most often, the combination of cucumber and kefir weakens. It is from these ingredients that women prepare a vegetable smoothie, chopping a vegetable in a blender to a state of gruel and mixing it with a glass of fermented milk product.
Doctors do not support fasting days for expectant mothers on monoproducts in general and cucumbers in particular. Nutrition should be balanced throughout the entire time, every day, only in this case the mother and child will be healthy and happy.
For the benefits of cucumbers for the body, see the next video.
