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During pregnancy, you must maintain a balanced diet for your health and the health of the baby growing inside you. While you’re nurturing another life inside you, your body needs all the essential minerals as well as vitamins to keep the body functioning properly.
Amidst all the vitamins, Vitamin B6 is also known as pyridoxine, which is a must for your growing baby’s brain as well as nervous system development. Along with your baby inside you, Vitamin B6 has proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and amino acids. It also helps in creating red blood cells in your body.
Is that all? No! There’s more.
- Vitamin B6 is a cofactor in neurotransmitter synthesis. It helps in transmitting signals between nerves, protecting the nerves, as well as helping in promoting the functioning of the sensory nerve.
- The soaring and fluctuating pregnancy hormones can make you undergo a lot of changes in your body and mind. It makes you feel anxious, puckish, and swollen. Keeping a hormonal balance is very essential for a healthy pregnancy. Therefore, including it in your pregnancy diet can help in keeping your hormones in control.
- Insulin resistance during pregnancy can give rise to a few a health condition like gestational diabetes and pregnancy-induced hypertension. Intake of enough nutrients for the health of your growing baby is the result of insulin resistance. According to research, including Vitamin B6 has a supportive role in the balancing the insulin and blood sugar levels.
- It acts as an antioxidant by counteracting the formation of reactive oxygen species and advanced glycation end-products.
- Including it in your diet brings healthier outcomes in pregnancy. Reduces the risk of pre–eclampsia and preterm birth and helps in preventing the lower birth weight of your baby, as well as high Apgar scores.
- Vitamin B6 metabolizes protein and carbohydrates in the body.
However, it is crucial for you that you consume food that has Vitamin B6 in moderation. Intake of it in excessive amounts can give rise to numbness, nerve damage as well as other pregnancy complication. As far as the intake of it during your pregnancy, the amount in your diet should not exceed 100 mg per day.
Cereals, whole wheat grains, nuts and seeds, fruits, chicken as well as spinach are some of the best sources of Vitamin B6.
How Will You Include Vitamin B6 in Your Pregnancy Diet?
You can roast hazelnuts, cashew nuts, and pistachios. Additionally, you can snack on apricots, prunes, and raisins. Homemade juices and cooked chickpeas can fulfil the necessary Vitamin B6 during your pregnancy.
Can You Take It As A Supplement?
If the above-mentioned healthy diet inclusion doesn’t meet the essential Vitamin B6 requirements, as per the doctor’s recommendation, supplements will fill the necessary.
Pregnancy is full of challenges. Incorporate it into your diet to deal with the challenges and enjoy the benefits of consuming it.