Are you suffering the affects of morning
sickness? It seems so unfair that at a time
of great joy and excitement women are
plagued with nausea, vomiting and food
aversions. Don’t lose hope though, there are
lots of practical things you can do with you
diet that have a track record of helping
women who are suffering from morning
sickness
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Odor plays a major role in morning
sickness. Cold food tends to smell less so
you might find cold foods easier to tolerate
than hot food.
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Research has proven that blood sugar has
an impact on morning sickness. By keeping
your blood sugar stable you are less likely
to suffer from nausea and vomiting. Having a
good sized portion of protein at each meal
will help to maintain your blood sugar
levels. Having a protein snack before you go
to bed and if you wake during the night will
alleviate sickness on waking.
-
Foods that make your blood sugar rise and
fall quickly are most likely to trigger
nausea and vomiting. Foods that are high in
sugar will have the biggest effect, so try
and limit fruit juice, sugary snacks and
highly refined foods such as cereals and any
food that contains white flour.
-
Consume small frequent meals with a good
amount of protein.
-
It might seem that your meals are not very
balanced. If you are able to keep it down,
then don’t worry too much. You can go back
to a more balanced diet once the sickness
disappears.
-
Put a snack next to the bed at night so
that you can eat it 20 minutes before you
get up (hopefully you won’t need to run to
the loo).
-
Foods that are high in fat are more
difficult to digest and can make nausea and
vomiting worse. Other common culprits
include, rich, spicy, acidic and fried foods.
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Don’t let yourself become dehydrated. Try
to drink little and often. Large amounts of
fluids gushing into your stomach will only
increase your feelings of nausea. Soups,
cool drinks or herbal tea will all help you
do not have to limit yourself to water. If
you are going to be sick it is much better
to have some fluid in your stomach. If you
are vomiting frequently try to sip an
isotonic sports drink as it will restore
your blood sugar, glucose and electrolyte
balance ( if it is excessive do contact your
health care provider).
-
Consider taking your prenatal vitamins at
dinner time or just before you go to bed.
Your body can handle it much better later in
the day and is less likely to trigger nausea
or vomiting. Sometimes iron supplements
either on their own or part your normal
prenatal can be harsh on your digestive
system so consider reducing the amount. As
soon as the nausea has passed you can
increase the amount again. You have a
history of anemia then do reduce your iron
supplementation without first discussing it
with your healthcare provider.
-
Ginger tea can be helpful as well as
chewing raw ginger. It is worth trying any
ginger based product such as ginger candy,
ginger beer and stem ginger biscuits.
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Although it may seem obvious avoid any
food (or non food) that you find triggers
your nausea.
-
Brewer's yeast capsules work for some mums
to be.
-
If you can, eat plenty of grains, legumes,
eggs fish, chicken, nuts and avocados. They
contain vitamin B6 and evidence suggests
that it can help to relieve morning
sickness.
-
Suck or sniff a lemon when you hit a wave
of nausea.
-
Mint tea and mint chewing gum can be very
calming to the digestive tract. Chewing gum
can help if excessive saliva is a problem.
On the whole it is best to listen to your
instinct. Although morning sickness is not
fully understood it is there for a reason.
If you feel compelled to eat a certain
something, eat it. If a particular food
makes you feel sick avoid it. Try to be as
balanced as you can but do not beat yourself
up about it. You can restore the balance
when you feel better. If you are unable to
keep anything down then you need to contact
your healthcare provider.
