Is It Ok To Eat Spicy Food While Pregnant?

Pregnancy cravings can be mad crazy. If you have been there too, you should know. Anyone who has experience of pregnancy is well aware of the fact pregnancy cravings do not really make sense. But, to have food around you is the desire that needs to be fulfilled at all costs. If your desire is set on spicy foods – whether its buffalo wings or hot chilli – you must be wondering is it ok to eat spicy food while pregnant?

Mothers are generally concerned that spicy food is going to harm the baby. But thankfully, experts claim that it is often safe to munch on spicy food while pregnant.

“There’s no evidence to suggest that moderate consumption of spicy foods poses a significant risk to the developing fetus,”

says Shandra Scruggs, RN, labor and delivery nurse, and founder of Simply Birthed.

However, there is a lot more to know about the spice craving during pregnancy. Stay with me till the end, and I’ll help you find the best solution for cravings like that.

Is It Ok To Eat Spicy Food While Pregnant?

Yes, it is, in fact, for you and the baby if you eat spicy food while pregnant. Apparently, we do not have a long list of foods to avoid if you are an expecting baby mama.

There are many people who think that eating spicy food is a bit dangerous, whether or not you are expecting it. But that is not true. Spicy food is the best thing in the world, and you can munch on it anytime you want. When you are pregnant, you just have to be a bit more careful about how much you are consuming. Other than that, it is all cool to have spicy food whenever you want. However, if you have a sensitive stomach, your digestive system may not do very well with the heat.

Therefore, if you have a lower spice tolerance overall, it may have some adverse side effects when you are pregnant. So, that is something you need to take care of.

Effects Of Eating Spicy Food During Pregnancy

While people claim that spicy foods only have bad side effects on you and the baby, that is not exactly the case. It has both good and bad effects. New moms must be aware of both these sets of side effects to decide the best for themselves and their babies.

Increased Risk Of Heartburn

Heartburn is a common thing that women face during pregnancy. Spicy foods may just worsen it in some women. Heartburn happens when the pregnancy hormones ease the flap between your stomach and esophagus. It allows all the stomach acids to sneak back into the esophagus. While it is common to have heartburn in any trimester, it is more common in the third. This happens when the growing baby pushes all the stomach acids into your esophagus.

Triggering Abdominal Pain

Spicy foods do not cause any kind of stomach ulcers. However, spicy foods may trigger inflammatory bowel disease symptoms in women who are already diagnosed with ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease.

Expanding The Baby’s Tastes

Your baby eats exactly what you eat during pregnancy. The flavors you add to your diet get transferred to the baby through the amniotic fluid. As early as around 15 weeks, the baby’s taste buds get fully formed, and they swallow amniotic fluid. This means they are already tasting whatever you are eating. Research says that what you eat during pregnancy is the major influence on the later preferences of the baby. So, eating a wide variety of flavors or spices may just give birth to an adventurous eater.

Boosting Your Overall Health

The spicy chemical (capsaicin) in peppers contains anti-inflammatory properties. Some researchers trust that spicy foods may even support your immune system and the health of your heart.

Does Spice Craving Mean Anything?

A lot of women tend to figure out the reasons behind their cravings. Some even question the motives of their body behind these cravings. But, to be very honest, pregnancy makes you do crazy things. Most of these cravings do not have any meaning at all.

Ice cream with pickles, jam on hamburgers, or even marinara sauce with canned tuna – you just name it. I am pretty. One or the other pregnant woman has eaten it.

If you are looking for a logical explanation behind it – there is none. There is one thing, though, that you can put the blame on for literally everything – pregnancy hormones. These buggers make you do all the crazy while pregnant.

No one has yet come up with a trick to decode pregnancy cravings, but we do have some myths flying around on the internet about why some women crave spicy foods with a baby in their womb.

Some people believe that it happens more when you are having a boy. On the other hand, some people claim that it is a way to cool down the body. Too much spice makes you sweat, and sweating is a good way to lower your body temperature.

Either way, taste buds tend to change during and after your pregnancy. So, there is nothing to worry about if you are suddenly craving jalapeno poppers in the middle of the night. Your body is necessarily not giving you any signs to worry be worried about.

Is Spicy Food Safe For The Baby?

Here is the good news: Consuming spicy food throughout pregnancy is absolutely safe for the baby. I promise it will do no wrong for your little one.

But, a small warning – a 2019 research suggested that eating certain types of food may change the “flavor” of the amniotic fluid. However, no studies have particularly put emphasis on the consumption of spicy foods.

Nevertheless, you may be influencing the taste buds of your baby with all the buffalo wings with the hot sauce that you are eating. Technically, they are just going to grow up to have a certain type of liking for the flavor. That is not really a bad thing now, is it?

Are Spicy Foods Unsafe For Pregnant Women?

Here is the not so much of good news: While spice is not such a bad thing for the baby, it may be a bit different for you. As I have mentioned above, spice may have an unpleasant side effect on the mother. Nothing scary, but satisfying your craving may not always be worth the pain of indigestion, heartburn, or GI distress later on.

If you are not accustomed to eating spicy foods, but your pregnancy is making you do it, take a smart and slow start.

Try not to eat spicy food in large quantities or during each meal. Make sure you are staying properly hydrated. Prepare the spicy food safely. Choose the best of the ingredients and wash your hands after dealing with the peppers.

And try to slowly build up your spice tolerance. Do it in increments rather than gorging on a bowl of hot sauce, OK?

Effects Of Spicy Food By Trimesters

In the very first trimester, spicy food probably will do no harm. But it may just make your morning sickness even worse. If you are already troubled with nausea all day, spicy food will make things worse.

In the second and third trimester, however, spicy food may cause the following:

• Heartburn occurs as the growing uterus pushes the stomach acids higher up in your esophagus.
• Nausea
• Indigestion
• Increased gastroesophageal reflux symptoms
• Gas, diarrhea, and bloating

Can Spicy Food Induce Labor?

If you are way too close to the end of your pregnancy and want to give labor a jump start, literally everyone, from your mom to your grandmom, to the drunk guy in the neighborhood, will tell you to eat more and more spice.

This idea is so prevalent that researchers have actually studied it along with other labor shortcuts like sex, walking, and laxatives.

Researchers questioned 201 postpartum women if they tried to induce labor naturally and, if so, what all were methods they used. 50% of them claimed that they tried self-inducing. However, 20% of them reported eating spicy foods for the same.

The only drawback? There is not enough scientific proof to back this statement. If you are enjoying your day on your 38th week with zero dilation, gulping down a plate full of hot wings wouldn’t magically make your body ready for birth.

What Spices Should You Avoid During Pregnancy?

While we did claim that it is indeed good to eat spicy food while pregnant, there are some exceptions. If you are pregnant, there are some foods that you need to avoid under all circumstances.

If you are worried about what herbs and spices to avoid while pregnant, I have some good news for you. As per experts, most food-based herbs or spices can be put in reasonable proportions to flavor the food you eat.

“There are many old wives’ tales about herbs during pregnancy from all cultures around the world,”

says a renowned medical professional from India. The reason why her advice is even more important is that India is the land of herbs and spices. So, if you want to try out new spices during pregnancy, you would want to know what Indian women do when they are pregnant.

“In India, for example, there are several herbs, such as fenugreek and coriander, that are thought to cause negative effects during pregnancy but very positive effects after birth. However, these myths have not been scientifically studied in pregnant women and have been safely eaten by pregnant women around the world.”

However, we also have registered dietitian Elysia Cartlidge, RD, MAN, who warns about spices and herbs that are not quite safe to consume during pregnancy. These herbs include Asafoetida and Angelica, both of which have harmful effects on the unborn child.

“It is not recommended to consume angelica during pregnancy because it contains a substance that acts as a blood thinner, potentially posing risks to the unborn baby,”

Cartlidge adds.

“Pregnant women should also avoid asafoetida as it may increase the risk of miscarriage and can sometimes lead to blood loss.”

Additional Precautions For Spicy Foods

You may still want to deal with the heartburn that you get from eating spicy foods if that helps satisfy your food cravings. But remember, it is not as easy to get rid of the heartburn when you have a baby in you. You cannot just chug Pepto-Bismol and think it will get sorted like it happened before. Things are different now.

Not every over-the-counter drug for indigestion, heartburn, or nausea is termed safe for pregnancy. Call your doctor if you are going through persistent or severe GI symptoms, such as:

• Burning pain
• Diarrhea
• Cramping
• Gas
• Bloating

Frequently Asked Questions!!! [FAQs]:

The Bottom Line

Listen, mamma, if you are craving spice, do not go around asking people, “Is it ok to eat spicy food while pregnant?”

If you have the belly for it (pun intended), just dive into a bucket of spicy wings. It will not harm you or your little one. If you have a low spice tolerance, start off slow. Allow your taste buds to adjust to it. If you feel uncomfortable, just limit the intake of Tabasco, and you are all done!

For More Interesting Article Click Below!!

• Is It Ok To Watch Porn Everyday?
• Is It Ok To Eat Beets Everyday?
• Is It Ok To Pop A Pimple?