Monday, December 26, 2011

Taking Healthy To Control Bloating And Swelling In Pregnancy

By Ralph Smith


One of the most common concerns of pregnant women is bloating during pregnancy. This is mostly due to the fact that a pregnant woman's digestion slows up significantly, since the digestive tract spends more time in taking in nutrients from the foods that you consume. Your body essentially now has two mouths to feed in, so it is but natural for it to try to capture the most out of the foods you take in. Because of this, the food stays longer in your digestive tract to aid in the absorption procedure. While this is a good thing, this can also result to an uncomfortable feeling of fullness in the abdomen. Pregnant women oftentimes feel bloated, and this can also contribute to constipation and other troubles related with the digestive tube.

How does bloating in pregnancy take place? The intestine houses a lot of regular flora or non-pathogenic bacterias, which endure from eating those indigestible foods that pass through your gastrointestinal tract. When they digest their own food, however, they produce gas. Since digestion decelerates during pregnancy, the normal flora are capable to eat more and digest more, giving the pregnant woman with a notion of bloating because of pregnancy gas.

Also, prenatal vitamins like ferrous sulfate and folic acid contain iron, which further slows down digestion, leading to more bloating and puffiness during pregnancy. According to experts, you can actually counter this effect of iron by cutting the vitamin in partial and taking in each bit at distinct times of the day.

The meal that you consume also adds to the feeling of fullness in stomach. Some of the foods that have this outcome is Fries, which consist of lots of fat and grease. Fats further slows digestion since it can calm down the muscles in the digestive tract, and coupled with the slow digestion experienced during pregnancy, this can definitely lead to development of excess gas. This also goes the same for other foods that are loaded in fat content, such as hamburgers and other fried foods.

There are also several veggies and beans that induce swelling during pregnancy. This is because of their high fiber content, which contributes to the feeling of fullness. Examples of these veggies include broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. Vegetables are very significant during pregnancy since they are rich sources of nutrients; however, to cut bloating and prevent any soreness it brings about, it is advisable to limit intake of these vegetables and rather substitute them with ones that are not gas-forming.

Excessive intake of fizzy drinks like sparkling water and soda can also cause fullness, because these beverages contain excess air that you consume as well. Likewise, sipping beverages and other liquids instead of directly drinking them can cause a feeling of being bloated. In order to forbid this, diminish your intake of carbonated drinks and replace them with water, since it speeds up the digestion process, thereby cutting down gas formation. Also have the adequate amount of fibre in your diet through fruits and non-gas-forming veggies, so that you do not get constipated.




About the Author:



No comments: