What should pregnant women with anorexia eat?

Every family wants a healthy child. A healthy fetus cannot be separated from the nutrition that the expectant mother usually consumes. However, pregnant women will have pregnancy reactions during pregnancy. Pregnancy reactions may show signs of poor appetite, which may lead to malnutrition. This is very detrimental to the development of the fetus. At this time, pregnant women should adopt some methods to deal with the situation of poor appetite and anorexia. What should pregnant women eat if they have anorexia? Let’s take a look at it next.

1. Early pregnancy reaction

Everyone has different reactions to early pregnancy. Some people are sleepy, some are afraid of cold, some feel uncomfortable when they smell oil and lose their appetite... These symptoms usually appear 6 weeks after amenorrhea and generally last until 3 months of pregnancy. Everyone's situation will be different, which is related to personal hormones. Some people's early pregnancy reactions last longer and may not disappear until 16-18 weeks.

Pregnant women have very severe pregnancy reactions in the early stages of their lives, and more than 60% of pregnant women have experienced vomiting after getting up in the morning. The sudden nausea and vomiting made the expectant mother look a little embarrassed. Most women will experience nausea and vomiting when they are more than 6 weeks pregnant, usually within a few hours after waking up in the morning. Those with mild symptoms have a decreased appetite, occasional nausea, and vomiting. A few people have obvious symptoms, vomiting whatever they eat, even if they don’t eat. The vomiting is not limited to the morning, and their sense of smell is particularly sensitive, and smelling disgusting odors will cause vomiting.

Morning sickness can affect appetite, so in the early stages of pregnancy, just eat whatever you want without deliberately eating more or less. Foods such as lemon juice, hawthorn juice, potatoes, and biscuits can improve morning sickness and also promote appetite.

2. What to do if pregnant women can’t eat

In order to promote appetite and reduce vomiting in pregnant women, attention should be paid to supplementing sufficient vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 is involved in the metabolism of protein, fat, carbohydrates and certain hormones in women's bodies. It is most effective for vomiting caused by various causes, especially vomiting during pregnancy.

The normal daily requirement of vitamin B6 is about 1.6-2 mg. If the intake is insufficient, it can affect the body's absorption of the three major heat-producing nutrients such as protein, causing diseases of the nervous system and blood system. If pregnant women lack vitamin B6, it will aggravate the early pregnancy reaction and aggravate vomiting during pregnancy. Repeated vomiting not only causes dehydration and hunger, but also leads to malnutrition of the early embryo. Therefore, pregnant women should pay attention to taking foods rich in vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 is most abundant in maltose. Eating 1-2 spoons of maltose every day can not only prevent and treat vomiting during pregnancy, but also make pregnant women energetic. Other foods rich in vitamin B6 include bananas, potatoes, soybeans, carrots, walnuts, peanuts, spinach and other plant foods. Animal foods contain more vitamin C in lean meat, chicken, eggs, fish, etc.

It is especially recommended that pregnant women eat more potatoes. According to measurements, potatoes are not only rich in crude fiber, which can prevent constipation, but also rich in vitamins B6 and C, which have a good preventive and therapeutic effect on relieving greasy aversion and vomiting in early pregnancy. They also contain a large amount of potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, iodine and other minerals and carbohydrates, and are also a dietary health product for preventing and treating gestational hypertension in the middle and late stages of pregnancy.

Studies have confirmed that people living in areas where fresh vegetables or fruits are scarce rarely suffer from vitamin deficiency as long as they eat potatoes regularly. Therefore, potato is called underground apple in French. There are even nutrition experts who assert that if you only eat whole milk and potatoes at every meal,

You can get the nutrients the human body needs.

It is worth emphasizing that potatoes should be stored in a dry, dark place. If you notice the skin of the potatoes turning green, even if it is very light green, do not eat them. Because the greening of potatoes is a sign of the presence of toxic alkalis, which can cause poisoning if eaten.

Craving sour food is one of the symptoms of early pregnancy. During pregnancy, gastric acid secretion decreases and gastrointestinal motility weakens, especially within 8 weeks of pregnancy. Therefore, women in early pregnancy like to eat sour foods to help digestion and facilitate nutrient absorption.

If you like sour food, you can choose to eat fresh fruits. For example, cherries are rich in folic acid and are known as the first fruit of spring. It blooms in February or March of the lunar calendar, and the fruits mature in March or April. Other fruits rich in folic acid include peach, plum, apricot, bayberry, crabapple, jujube, pomegranate, grape, orange, kiwi, strawberry, etc. Eating these fruits alternately can not only supplement sufficient folic acid but also increase appetite.

Be careful not to eat pickled sauerkraut, as it contains nitrosamines that can cause embryo distortion.

3. Appetizers for Pregnant Women

【Tomato Stir-fried Tofu】

First blanch the tomatoes in boiling water, peel them and cut them into thick slices. Cut the tofu into cubes about 3 cm long. Put a little oil in the pot, wait until it is hot, add the tomatoes and stir-fry for a while, then put the cut tofu into the pot, add a little soy sauce, sugar, salt and MSG and boil it for a few times. When the tofu is fried through, serve.

Tomatoes are sour and contain a lot of vitamin C, which is extremely important for bones, blood vessels, and muscle tissue; tofu contains nutrients such as protein, fat, carbohydrates, calcium, iron, phosphorus, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, and vitamin C. Stir-frying tomatoes and tofu together can not only increase the appetite of expectant mothers, but also supplement nutrition.

【Sour cabbage and crucian carp soup】

Remove the internal organs of the crucian carp, wash it and fry it in oil. Add 2 bowls of water and bring to a boil, then add sauerkraut, green onions and ginger. First cook it over high heat for 3-5 minutes, then cook it over low heat for 15-20 minutes until the soup turns milky white.

Crucian carp is rich in nutrients such as protein, carbohydrates, calcium, iron, phosphorus, etc.; sauerkraut has the effect of removing fishy smell and stimulating appetite. Expectant mothers can drink a bowl of sauerkraut and crucian carp soup before meals to stimulate their appetite.

【Sweet and sour egg custard】

Ingredients: 2 eggs, appropriate amount of white sugar, white vinegar and cooked sesame seeds.

Method: Add water to a pot, add sugar and vinegar and boil together; after putting the eggs into the pot, change to low heat and cook for 2-3 minutes. When the eggs are cooked, scoop them into a bowl with the soup, sprinkle with some sesame seeds and serve.

The sweet and sour taste can stimulate the appetite of pregnant mothers and increase their interest in eating. The sesame seeds can also help pregnant mothers replenish fat.

【Toasted whole wheat bread】

Ingredients: whole wheat bread, strawberry jam, cherries, raisins, almonds, walnuts, cheese powder.

Preparation method: First bake the whole wheat bread, cut into four slices, and spread a layer of strawberry jam on it; then put cherries, raisins, walnuts, and almonds on the bread and sprinkle with cheese powder.

Whole wheat bread and cheese powder are rich in B vitamins, and eating them with raisins and walnuts can help relieve nausea. Moreover, walnuts can help pregnant mothers replenish fat and make up for the shortcomings caused by not wanting to eat meat.