Pregnant mums need the utmost care and attention in every way possible. Right from dealing with morning sickness to preparing the best food and diet possible, mums need extra care for themselves and the little one who will arrive in this world soon.
While the end goal of a pregnancy is to give birth to a new life, it does involve a strenuous process that often puts a lot of load on a women's body.
Although science and medicines do help you deal with pain and other issues during those nine months, the traditional methods are useful as well, and often bring a holistic approach towards improving your health.
Traditional Chinese Medicines and recipes then are some of the most effective ones you can follow in order to achieve a long-term, healthy lifestyle.
You may already know about confinement and how it helps mums recover quickly right after pregnancy. In this article, we share Chinese recipes for hot soup during pregnancy that you can easily make at home.
These recipes can be churned up quickly and the soups can be consumed before, during or after the pregnancy period.
Pre Pregnancy Hot Soup Recipes
Begin to take note of the condition of your menstrual cycle from menstrual cycle length and duration, to colour, texture (thick or watery), and volume (heavy or light).
In addition, pay attention to any accompanying symptoms such as menstrual cramps, blood clots, swelling, back pain, and breast swelling, among others.
Our menstrual cycles are closely related to whether or not we are able to conceive.
Here are two increasingly common factors that are affecting women’s chances of becoming pregnant today:
- A hectic urban life filled with stress and emotional burdens impairs the lung’s conveyance and dispersion functions, thereby affecting the circulation of qi and blood and causing irregular menstruation. This makes it more difficult to conceive.
- Career women who choose to delay marriage and having children may have a decreased amount of kidney qi, also making it more difficult to conceive.
While it is impossible to turn back time, we can control the amount of stress we are experiencing.
Being able to express and vent our emotions in a healthy way is also helpful in improving the quality of our menstrual cycle and chances of conception.
We recommend drinking rose tea (which helps the liver to rectify qi and regulate menstruation) up to one week before your expected period. This tea is especially soothing for those under a large amount of stress.
Early Pregnancy
The first trimester brings along with pregnancy symptoms like nausea, morning sickness, motion sickness, dizziness and more.
While the body may not have a great need for extra nutrition, these symptoms do deplete energy.
If you are experiencing these symptoms frequently during early pregnancy, it's necessary to keep your nutrition intake. And you can achieve that by incorporating this hot soup recipe into your diet.
1. Herba Taxilli and Egg Sweet Soup
This recipe is easy on the stomach and helps nourish the blood, improves the liver and kidney function and protect the foetus.
Ingredients:
- 30 gm herba taxilli
- 15 gm eucommia bark
- 1 egg
- Crystal sugar
Method:
- Boil the egg and remove the shell.
- Pour one litre of water into a pot and add all the ingredients
- Cook all the ingredients over high heat until the mixture starts boiling
- Switch to low heat and let the soup cook for one hour
- Add crystal sugar to taste
- Serve hot and consume at least once a week
Mid-Pregnancy
As the foetus starts to grow in the second trimester, so does your body's need for more nutrition. Your body will also start transforming during this period.
Issues like bloating and irritable bowel are more likely and can even cause constipation. You are also likely to get more leg cramps during this period or even heart-related issues.
While it's best to consult a nutritionist and your gynaecologist about these issues, you can also make some dietary changes like avoid spicy foods.
Here's a hot soup during pregnancy that you must try now.
2. Herba Taxilli Red Dates Snakehead Fish Soup
This soup helps pregnant mums nourish qi and blood, reducing leg cramps as well.
Ingredients:
- 1 snakehead fish
- 30 gm herba taxilli
- 10 Chinese red dates without seeds removed
- 1 slice of ginger
- Pinch of salt
Method:
- Clean the fish and wash all ingredients
- Pan-fry the fish with oil. Add ginger, spring onions and cook both sides until slightly golden.
- Pour 2 litres of water into the pot.
- Add all the ingredients and cook on high heat until it starts boiling
- Let it simmer for about 1.5 hours on low heat.
- Add salt to taste.
- Serve hot.
3. Black Sesame and Fig Congee
Another hot soup during pregnancy recipe you can try is the black sesame and fig congee. It's sweet in taste and helps ease pressure on the intestines and relieve constipation.
Ingredients:
- 30 gm pine nuts
- 1 tablespoon black sesame powder
- 6 figs
- 1/3 cup white rice
Method:
- Finely slice figs and clean all ingredients with water
- Pour 1 litre of water into a pot and add the pine nuts, figs and rice.
- Cook on high heat until the water starts boiling.
- Let it simmer on low heat for 30 minutes and until the congee reaches the right consistency
- Add black sesame powder
- Serve in a bowl.
Late Pregnancy
The countdown has begun and the mum is now just weeks away from the due date. The third trimester is an extremely crucial stage and no amount of care is usually enough.
It's also a time when you need to start preparing for labour. And we don't mean just the labour plan. Instead, it's also time to start preparing your body for the big day.
Subconsciously too, your body is already in that zone and you are likely to experience Braxton Hicks Contractions quite often during this period.
So, to keep those pains at bay and ensure a more soothing labour experience, incorporate this Chinese hot soup recipe at least once a week.
4. Red and White Rice and Coix Seed Water
Coix seed water helps with dehumidification as well as oedema-removal and more radiant skin. They also help the body to recuperate from diarrhoea and loss of energy.
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons red rice
- 1 tablespoon coix seed
- 1 tablespoon white rice
Method:
- Add 1 litre of water to the pot along with all the ingredients
- Cook over high heat until it starts boiling
- Let it simmer for about 30 minutes on low heat
- As soon as the water turns milky white, turn off the stove
- Drink the milky white water
A mum's body needs extra care during the postpartum phase as well and apart from diet restrictions, the family needs to help out.
This article is brought to you by Eu Yan Sang.
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