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You must consume a balanced and nutritious diet every day during your pregnancy. A healthy diet impacts both your health and the well-being of your baby.
Some food items may not be good for you during this phase of your life, and papaya may fall under the same category. Still, it is always medically advisable for you to eat ripe papaya during pregnancy.
What are the Benefits of Eating Papaya While Pregnant?
Eating papaya can be a cool snack on a warm and sunny day or a sweet treat after having your meal. So, make papaya a healthy part of your diet by understanding how good is papaya for you, during your pregnancy.
Battles Morning Sickness
Morning sickness and nausea are common first-trimester pregnancy symptoms. As a result of the rising pregnancy hormones, you may feel like throwing up any time of the day. During the day and at night. This could also be the result of indigestion, heartburn, and constipation. Ripe papaya has high fibre, and antioxidant contents like Vitamin A, B, C, and potassium, and beta–carotene. Additionally, papaya’s papain, enzymes, and chymopapain act as a digestive delight to your stomach.
Eliminating Free Radicals
During normal pregnancy, the body generates free radicals, which can be beneficial at physiological levels. However, an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants can lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes. The antioxidants in papaya can help in removing the free radicals.
Reduce the Susceptibility to Pregnancy Infections
Due to the surging hormones and immunity, you’ll be more prone to sexually transmitted or uterine diseases. Along with this, you can easily catch seasonal colds and flu. However, the vitamins in the papaya help in boosting immunity and further reduce the chances of contracting infection.
Keeps the Breathing Problems in Control
From the first trimester of your pregnancy to the third, due to the rising hormones, immunity, uterus, and the baby’s size you may be faced with respiratory ailments and shortness of breath during pregnancy. Eating ripe papayas can save the lungs. Vitamin A in papaya may support the health and well-being of the lungs.
Keeps Pregnancy Skin Problems at Bay
The rising hormones change you physically, as well as emotionally. There are skin problems – rashes, itching, etc. Adequate vitamins present in the papaya prevent skin problems in mummies-to-be. So, eat ripe papaya to prevent skin problems during pregnancy.
Keeps You Energised
Nurturing another life inside you is not an easy thing to do. Your entire body, as well as your mind, is involved in developing the baby inside you, thus making you feel tired. Along with this, repeated bathroom trips, constant sleep disruption, etc, can make you feel fatigued. Eating papaya can help. The natural sugar content in the papaya is an energy booster.
Takes Care of Overall Neurological Growth and Development
Intake of essential nutrients during pregnancy is the key to a healthy pregnancy and healthy growth of the baby-to-be. However, papaya – rich in beta-carotene, potassium, and vitamins – A, B and C contribute to the overall foetal neurological development.
Keeps You Hydrated
You need to drink at least 8 to 10 glasses of water. Stay refreshed and fully support the development of amniotic fluid by including papaya in your pregnancy diet. With its high water content, papaya helps in combatting dehydration during pregnancy. How ‘bout making a papaya smoothie
So, ripe papaya is a nutritious ally, brimming with vitamins – C, and A and dietary fibre. It contributes to immune health, helps in digestion, and looks after overall well-being. You can have a bowl of papaya or a glass of smoothie to support the maternal and the developing baby’s health.
However, stay away from unripe papayas. Unripe papaya with latex potentially induces contractions, and pre-term labour and sometimes leads to a miscarriage.