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Friday, September 3, 2010

What to Eat When Pregnant - Detoxing From Sugar and Caffeine(pregnancy health)

pregnancy health
Run a simple Google search for what to eat when pregnant and chances are, the top two foods you should eliminate are caffeine and sugar. Both of these ingredients are in the average woman's diet, and it's necessity for anyone seeking the proper foods to eat when pregnant.
Unfortunately, both sugar and caffeine are addictive substances that will cause a range of not-so-pleasant symptoms if you detox from them too quickly. So how can you eliminate these food items, stay healthy during pregnancy, and still mitigate the effects of detoxing? Read on for your foolproof detox plan to eliminate sugar and caffeine during pregnancy.
What You Should Know about Sugar
Aside from the usual issues of weight gain, tooth decay, and rapid increases in blood sugar, sugar poses an entirely different set of problems in pregnant women. During pregnancy, sugar is absorbed into the bloodstream more rapidly than when a woman is not pregnant, which causes the pancreas to kick in and create more insulin. This can cause a vicious cycle of elevated blood sugar levels while the pancreas tries to catch up. This state can lead to gestational diabetes.
If you think you can sidestep the issue by using chemical sugar substitutes such as saccharine, sucralose, or aspartame, think again. These chemicals cannot be processed in the fetus' developing liver. This can lead to a host of issues and abnormailities for both the baby and for you.
Eliminating Sugar
The good news is there are natural sugar substitutes that can help curb your sugar cravings as you detox from eating sugar. These healthy substitutes include stevia, raw honey, xylitol, and agave syrup.
These substitutes have been used for ages and have no unhealthy effect on the fetus or on your body during pregnancy. In fact, even after pregnancy, you should consider using only these types of sweeteners.
As with anything during pregnancy, moderation is key. Will one piece of cake be devastating to your pregnancy? No. But by eliminating the refined sugars and focusing on using healthy sweeteners, you can be assured that you are providing the best nutritional health for yourself and your baby during pregnancy. It also has the added benefit of helping keep your weight in check.
What You Should Know about Caffeine
Caffeine crosses the placental barrier, which is only one reason why it can be unhealthy for pregnant women and their babies. Most doctors agree that you should consume no more than 150mg of caffeine per day without harming your fetus.
That's the equivalent of one cup of coffee or two cups of black tea on a daily basis. However, many women want to completely eliminate caffeine during pregnancy because they don't want to run the risk of harming the baby.
Eliminating Caffeine
If you choose to eliminate caffeine, cold turkey is not the best way to go. In fact, you can make yourself quite ill if you go cold turkey and detox too rapidly. The best course of action is to slowly step down your caffeine consumption over time.
If you are used to drinking coffee, try stepping down to black tea, then green tea, then white tea. If you want to completely rid yourself of caffeine, then switch to herbal teas.
You should know that chocolate and some headache medicines also contain caffeine, so keep that in mind when calculating your daily allotment.
As with anything, know that moderation is the best solution. Simply by making the effort to control the amount of sugar and caffeine you consume during pregnancy, you are taking a big positive step to improve your health and the health of your unborn child.

pregnancy health

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