Pregnancy is the phase where a woman has to be careful of what she eats and what she should avoid eating. Cravings are part of normal pregnancy due to the hormonal surge but a mother-to-be cannot consume anything and everything. There are a lot of fruits to avoid during pregnancy that we are going to talk about here. Even though some fruits are rich in iron and vitamin sources but it would not be good for a mother-to-be and must be avoided when the baby is in the womb. We will as well tell you the reason for avoiding them.
List of Fruits to Avoid During Pregnancy
While in a normal life, fruits are supposed to be man’s best friend providing you with all the nutritional values but do you know that they might need to be avoided as well during pregnancy. Confused? Let us explain the list of fruits that you need to avoid while in the process of tracking those 9 months of your life.
Avoid Pineapple During Pregnancy
The answer to the question of “can pregnant women eat pineapples?” is NO. Pineapple consumption during pregnancy is not the best thing to do. So if the mother-to-be has an urge to eat it, they need to resist it. Pineapples are rich in bromelain, which can cause the softening of the cervix causing early labor. It is also said that pregnant women can have maybe a slice or two during pregnancy only after the first trimester, and does not have any effect on the labor or delivery. But our stand is to avoid taking a chance. The only safe time to drink ample of pineapple juice would be to induce labor after taking doctor’s consultation. Hence pineapple is one of the fruits to be avoided during pregnancy.
How does pineapple effect during pregnancy:
- Bromelain in the pineapple that we spoke about is an enzyme that causes the weakening of the cervix resulting in the preterm labor or miscarriage during pregnancy.
- Pineapple has a high sugar concentration in it which is harmful to gestational diabetes which is common in pregnant women.
- Consuming pineapple during pregnancy triggers urine contraction which is not good for the growing fetus in the womb.
- Pineapple which contains high quantity bromelain breaks down proteins and your newly conceived baby is made of proteins results in the bleeding and miscarriage or premature labor.
Avoid Papaya During Pregnancy
Doctors clearly ask a mother-to-be to avoid papaya during her pregnancy. Papaya was used as an abortifacient (R) in a lot of countries. Papaya should not be eaten in a large quantity by a pregnant woman. The consumption of papaya during pregnancy could affect the delivery date and early labor. Another side effect of eating papaya during pregnancy could be the fear of miscarriage. All this is true especially when the papaya is unripe or semi-ripe. Such semi-ripe or unripe papayas are rich in latex causing the uterine contractions. The enzymes present in papaya are not only an abortifacient but also teratogenic (R) which affects the physiological growth of the fetus. Ripe papaya contains low levels of papain and is rich antioxidant containing vitamins and plenty of other health benefits.
How does Raw or unripe papaya effect during pregnancy:
- It wakens the vital membrane of the baby inside the womb. The papin present in a larger quantity in the unripe or semi-ripe papaya is a proteolytic (R) enzyme that causes the cell dissociation. Hence resulting in the weak cell growth and development of tissues of the fetus making it difficult to survive for long.
- Papaya does alleviate constipation, which means it cures the inflammatory bowel problems in human. However helpful it may be, papaya still comes under pregnancy fruits to avoid as the pregnant ladies will suffer from surplus bowel moment causing pressure within the uterus and result in miscarriages.
- It affects the blood sugar levels of the mother-to-be and hence it is completely unsafe to have papaya intake if you are diagnosed with gestational diabetes.
- Unripe papaya can be harmful as it puts enough pressure on the blood vessels and might cause internal bleeding and bleeding in the placenta. This slows down the circulation of the blood during pregnancy for the development of the fetus and has a negative influence on the growth.
Avoid Grapes During Pregnancy
A pregnant woman can have cravings to consume grapes but some medical professionals ask to avoid the consumption and resist the cravings. On the other hand, there are others doctors who advise that you can consume grapes during pregnancy. Even though grapes are natural product serving numerous advantages for both mother and the developing child, there still exists some argument on the consumption of grapes during pregnancy. Grapes are usually consumed in larger amounts.
How does Grapes consumption effect during pregnancy:
- Grapes are rich sources of organic acid, anti-oxidants, minerals, and vitamins. Thus by adding grapes to the diet regularly by a pregnant woman can have positive influence the health of the mother.
- Grapes are also found to help in the metabolism and improvise the immunity and treat anemia which are essential bits of pregnancy.
- The main reason to avoid the consumption of grapes is to avoid the intake of pesticides which are sprayed on the grape plant to keep it from being eaten away by the insects. Thus they stand as inedible items during pregnancy.
- Acidity comes along with nausea if a pregnant woman eats a lot of grapes. Also, loose motions and diarrhea can happen in a pregnant woman due to the consumption of too many grapes.
- Grapes have a high content of Resveratrol (R) a natural compound found in the skin. This Resveratrol is considered to be poisonous and can have negative reactions in the pregnant woman’s body especially when the hormones are imbalanced.
- Consumption of grapes during pregnancy can develop constipation as the grape skin especially is difficult to digest.
Avoid Unwashed Fruits During Pregnancy
If you are in the habit of eating fruits directly from the market, then you need to change this now. Whether during pregnancy or not, avoid eating fruits without washing as they contain a lot of pesticides and insecticides sprayed on them which if consumed during pregnancy can have an adverse effect and damage the developing fetus. It is recommended to have fruits only during their season, as the seasonal fruits which are in the market off their season are bound to have chemicals to force them to harvest.
If you ever have doubts about which fruits to avoid during pregnancy, it is best to consult your doctor. It is better to be sure than to be sorry later.
Taking at most care of diet during pregnancy is a must.
