Does Eating Spicy Food Affect Your Unborn Baby? Is It Harmful to Your Baby? You may have had a moderate to high tolerance for spicy food, but now that you’re pregnant, that tolerance may be gone. So is all that spicy food safe for you and your baby? Here’s what you need to know if you’re about to put spicy food in your mouth right now. Does Eating Spicy Food Affect Your Unborn Baby? Can Pregnant Women Eat Spicy Food? Is It Harmful for Pregnant Women to Eat Spicy Food? Will My Unborn Baby Have Sore Skin? Will Eating Spicy Food Make My Baby Go Bald? Is It True? If You Want to Eat Something Spicy, Can You?
What does craving spicy food mean?
Pregnancy makes you crave all sorts of things, none of which make sense. Pickles and ice cream, strawberry jam on a hamburger. There’s usually one explanation: pregnancy hormones may be to blame.
While there’s no magic trick that can decode your cravings, there are a few myths floating around the internet about why many women crave spicy food during pregnancy.
Some people think that pregnant women crave spicy foods more, while others wonder if it’s a natural instinct to cool down (after all, eating spicy food makes you sweat, and sweating lowers your body temperature). Either way, your taste buds tend to change during and after pregnancy, so don’t worry if you suddenly crave five different types of chili peppers—it’s probably not a “sign” of something worth paying attention to.
Beliefs about eating spicy food during pregnancy
Since the beginning of pregnancy, pregnant women often experience morning sickness , craving strange food or spicy, sour, or strong-flavored food. However, some people warn that if a mother eats spicy food, the baby in the womb will feel sore, the baby in the womb will feel sore skin, or if a pregnant woman eats spicy food, the baby will be bald. Are these beliefs true?
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Mothers who eat spicy food, strong-flavored food, have an effect on the baby in the womb. Is it true that pregnant women who eat spicy food make their babies bald?
Physical appearance, skin and hair depend on the genetics of the parents. If the mother eats spicy food and puts in 10 chili peppers, it will not make the child bald.
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Is it true that eating spicy food affects the baby in the womb, causing the baby to have burning sensation in the body and the baby in the womb to have burning sensation in the skin?
This is also not true. Only nutrients are transmitted to the baby. The various tastes such as spicy, sour, salty, sweet are not transmitted to the baby. Therefore, rest assured that when pregnant mothers eat spicy food, the baby will not feel any pain. The burning sensation from chili will fall on the mother alone.
Can pregnant women eat spicy food? Is spicy food safe for babies?
Here’s the good news: Eating spicy foods during pregnancy is 100 percent safe for your baby.
Why do we believe that spicy food is not harmful to babies?
- Placenta as a barrier: The placenta acts as a protective barrier, filtering nutrients and waste between mother and baby. Most chemicals in spicy foods cannot pass through the placenta to the baby.
- Mother’s Digestive System: Your body digests and absorbs nutrients, including the spicy flavoring, before passing the nutrients on to your baby through your bloodstream.
- Spicyness is not a taste, but a sensory experience: During pregnancy, the baby receives nutrients through the bloodstream, without directly coming into contact with food through the mouth. Furthermore, the baby does not have the mechanism to sense spicyness through the bloodstream, so you can be sure that your baby will not feel spicy.
For this reason, eating spicy food does not cause any harm or effects to the fetus.
Can pregnant women eat spicy food? Is spicy food safe for mothers?
Although eating spicy food in moderation does not directly harm the fetus, what needs to be considered is the impact on the mother herself .
Pregnant women who eat spicy food may have side effects for the mother.
- Heartburn: Pregnancy causes hormonal changes that may cause the esophageal sphincter to relax more easily. When combined with eating spicy foods, which may stimulate increased stomach acid secretion, you may be more at risk for heartburn.
- Indigestion: Some spicy foods can make your digestive system work harder or can irritate your stomach and intestines, leading to indigestion, bloating, flatulence, or abdominal discomfort.
- Other gastrointestinal symptoms: In some cases, especially those who are not used to eating spicy food, they may experience diarrhea, stomach pain, or nausea after eating spicy food.
- Feeling unwell: Although not necessarily an illness, a burning sensation, stomach discomfort, or indigestion can affect your quality of life during pregnancy.
Precautions and advice for mothers who want to eat spicy food
- Observe your body’s reaction: Every mom responds differently to spicy food. If you feel uncomfortable eating it, reduce the amount or avoid it.
- Start slowly: If you’ve never eaten spicy food before but are craving it during pregnancy, try small amounts to see how your body responds.
- Avoid eating very spicy food: Avoid food that is extremely spicy.
- Eat with other foods: Eating spicy foods with other foods can help reduce stomach irritation.
- Drink enough water: Water aids in digestion and reduces the concentration of stomach acid.
- Food preparation hygiene: Wash your hands thoroughly after handling chili peppers and use fresh ingredients.
- Consult a doctor: If you have severe stomach discomfort or have questions about food intake, you should consult a doctor for advice appropriate to your individual physical condition.
Side effects of eating spicy food in each trimester
In the first trimester, eating spicy foods is unlikely to cause any major problems, although it can make morning sickness worse. If you’re having trouble with nausea and feeling unwell throughout the day, spicy foods can make things worse.
In the second and third trimesters, eating spicy foods can cause:
- Indigestion
- squeamish
- Diarrhea, gas and bloating
- Increased acid reflux symptoms
Up to this point, it can be concluded that pregnant women can eat spicy food without any harm to both the mother and the baby in the womb. However, for mothers who are not used to spicy food, they should start small to allow their bodies to adjust. If they start to feel uncomfortable from side effects such as heartburn or indigestion, they should reduce the amount and frequency of eating spicy food.
Republished with permission from theAsianParent Thailand
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