May

Nutrition, Pregnancy and Constipation

Pregnancy can be a joyous time, but it also brings with it some side-effects that can cause discomfort and anxiety.

Whilst it is advised that pregnant women avoid using medication of any kind; modern or herbal, there are some remedies that can be used safely to ease the unwanted symptoms that are associated with pregnancy.

Constipation can occur at any time during your pregnancy.

It makes opening your bowels and passing stools difficult and uncomfortable.

There is only a limited amount of space in your abdominal cavity and your uterus and baby are taking up ever increasing amounts of it – hence the rest of your organs get a little bit squeezed.

Unfortunately, straining can lead to haemorrhoids.

Foods that have special recognition as laxatives include almonds, apricots (dried), avocados, chicory, coconut, dandelion, dates, endive, figs, flaxseed, grapes, mango’s, olive, papayas, parsley, persimmons, pineapple, prunes, rhubarb, soybeans, turnips, walnuts, watercress.

Include a combination of these in your diet as fresh salads, soups or snacks. Increase your intake of the above and if still constipated, increase again and lessen your intake of meat, dairy and highly processed food.

A lack of water in your system is a large contributing factor to constipation.

Water is essential to many bodily actions and elimination of waste is very high on the list.

Pure water – not tea, coffee or soft drinks or alcohol.

Add some lemon, mint or fresh fruit juice for flavour if needed, but drink water!

Juicing is a fantastic way of getting essential foods in a fast acting and refreshing way.

A variety of delicious juices can be made if you have a juicing machine, alternatively fresh juices can be purchased.

Avoid those made from concentrate and buy organic juices where possible.

Prune juice is top of the list as a laxative, but apple, pear, and asparagus are also good.

They can also be greatly eased by making small changes to what you eat.

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