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Hardly anyone has ever heard of the benefits of wild berries. But during pregnancy, plants such as cranberries and lingonberries become not just important components of the diet, but also mild herbal remedies that can alleviate many painful symptoms. Cranberry during pregnancy, for example, can replace a medicine for at least 10 painful conditions characteristic of this important period in the life of every woman.
Can pregnant women eat cranberries?
When a woman just learns about the wonderful changes that can soon completely change her life, she may not at first realize how many restrictions, including in food, they bring with them. Even if no health problems were observed before this period, some unpleasant and even painful symptoms may appear. It is strictly not recommended to use pills and other medications during pregnancy. And many herbal remedies can be strictly taboo. Luckily, this has nothing to do with cranberries at all.After numerous scientific studies, it has been proven that consuming cranberries, unlike some other plants, has no special contraindications during pregnancy. Of course, there are certain diagnoses for which it is better to refrain from using it, but they are not directly related to pregnancy and will be discussed in more detail at the end of the article.
Once you take a closer look at the composition of cranberries, it becomes clear that the berry seems to be specially created for pregnant women.
- The content of vitamin C in cranberries is quite comparable and even exceeds that of citrus fruits, which helps strengthen the immune system and has a positive effect on regeneration processes in the body.
- Forms of vitamin A such as beta keratin and retinol actively fight infections and act as antioxidants.
- The variety of B vitamins (B1, B2, B5, B6, B9) contained in cranberries allows you to normalize the functioning of the cardiovascular and nervous systems, and improve the flow of biochemical processes in the body. And vitamin B9 or folic acid can prevent the development of fetal defects.
- The presence of vitamin K helps normalize blood clotting processes and restore bone tissue.
- The content of many microelements, including such rare ones as selenium, copper and manganese, improves the functioning of many organs of a pregnant woman and is a raw material that is used in the laying of the organs of the future person.
Cranberries during early pregnancy
The first thing that almost every second woman faces in the first few months of pregnancy is intolerance to many foods, and nausea and weakness that appears even without any reason.All these symptoms of toxicosis during pregnancy can be alleviated by cranberry and products made from it: cranberry tea, fruit drink, juice. After all, cranberries not only alleviate the condition due to their sour and refreshing taste, but also due to the content of dietary fiber they normalize and stimulate digestion.
Already in the early stages of pregnancy, women may experience various changes in the psyche, and mood swings are characteristic. Many vitamins and minerals contained in cranberries have an antioxidant and calming effect, improve the transmission of nerve impulses and normalize the overall emotional background. Thus, those women who have introduced cranberry juice or juice into their daily diet from the first days of pregnancy are not afraid of depression.
In the early stages of pregnancy, problems that were bothering you before often make themselves felt. One of them is high blood pressure or arterial hypertension. Not only cranberry, but also its closest sister, lingonberry, are characterized by excellent diuretic properties. And the pressure in the blood vessels directly depends on the amount of fluid in the body. Therefore, regular consumption of lingonberry-cranberry juice for pregnant women will be more than useful, since due to the removal of excess fluid, the likelihood of normalizing blood pressure increases.
The diuretic properties of cranberries will also be very useful against edema, which is confirmed by numerous reviews of expectant mothers.
Cranberry for edema during pregnancy
Swelling is a very unpleasant thing, although for some women it is an almost normal physiological phenomenon. And with the onset of pregnancy, especially in the later stages, it is difficult to imagine everyday life without swelling. After all, as the fetus grows and develops, it compresses all the kidney tubules, and on the other hand, the accumulation of fluid in the body is completely natural - these reserves will have to compensate for the upcoming blood losses during childbirth. In these cases, cranberry can provide real help, since, having a diuretic effect, it reduces the reabsorption of fluid in the renal tubules.
It’s another matter when edema occurs due to certain diseases, the most dangerous of which for pregnant women is gestosis or, as it is sometimes called, late toxicosis. Swelling is one of the signs of gestosis, and it is this option that it is advisable to exclude. Other signs of gestosis are the presence of protein in the blood, an increase in hemoglobin and overall blood pressure.
There are other, most often chronic, diseases that can cause edema during pregnancy. These are varicose veins, problems with the kidneys or heart function. In these cases, cranberries or cranberry juice can also help and alleviate swelling during pregnancy.
Consuming cranberries is especially effective for edema associated with diseases of the kidneys and urinary system. Scientific research has found that the substances contained in cranberries do not allow bacteria to linger on the walls of the bladder and kidneys.Just one glass of cranberry juice a day can serve as a preventive measure for cystitis, pyelonephritis and urethritis.
Cranberry, due to the presence of flavonoids in it, strengthens the walls of blood vessels, increases their elasticity, and therefore helps with varicose veins. It also contributes to normal uteroplacental blood circulation, and as a result, the successful development of the baby.
Benefits of cranberry juice during pregnancy
Although cranberries store well fresh - they can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 months, but their berries are too sour to be used as a cure for all the ailments described above. But cranberry juice is the most suitable drink for pregnant women, which can and should be consumed regularly if there are no corresponding contraindications.
Cranberry juice in early pregnancy
With the onset of pregnancy, women's immunity is usually weakened and the risk of catching any cold increases. Judging by numerous reviews, drinking cranberry juice during pregnancy can not only quickly relieve the main cold symptoms (fever, headache, dry mouth), but also serve as a preventive measure for various cold-related infectious diseases.
Today, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract have become very “younger”, and many women, even during early pregnancy, experience their exacerbation, which cranberries can also help with. Thanks to the impressive antibacterial effect of cranberry juice, the death of many pathogens occurs in some forms of colitis and gastritis. Even those women who have not previously encountered particularly problems with the functioning of the stomach may experience constipation or other disorders. Including cranberries in your regular diet will help prevent these problems or deal with them quite easily.
Cranberry juice in late pregnancy
In the second half of pregnancy, cranberry juice becomes an indispensable drink, since many problems may worsen before the onset of labor.
Cranberries have the ability to thin the blood and prevent the formation of clots. And this is a very important property that serves as a prevention of thrombosis of the placental arteries - a dangerous phenomenon that can lead to spontaneous miscarriage.
We have already talked about the bactericidal and anti-inflammatory properties of cranberry juice. Interestingly, the valuable substances included in its composition destroy bacteria and microbes also in the oral cavity, preventing the development of caries and periodontal disease.
As for the recipe for healing cranberry juice for pregnant women, it is incredibly simple.
- 300-400 g of fresh cranberries are rinsed with cool water and crushed in any non-oxidizing container using a wooden masher, turning them into puree.
- Using a plastic sieve or several layers of gauze, strain the pulp, squeezing the cranberry juice into a separate container.
- The remaining peel with seeds is poured into 1.3 liters of water and brought to a boil.
- The hot cranberry drink is filtered and 170-180 g of sugar is diluted in it.
Comment! To increase the usefulness of cranberry juice, the broth is first cooled and then 150-200 g of honey is dissolved in it. - After cooling, the broth is mixed with pre-squeezed cranberry juice and stirred - the cranberry juice is ready.
An even more healthy drink during pregnancy is cranberry-lingonberry juice. Because lingonberry has very similar properties, and lingonberry leaf has an even stronger effect on kidney diseases and edema.
It is prepared according to a similar recipe:
- Squeeze juice from 200 g cranberries and 200 g lingonberries.
- Add 100 g of lingonberry leaf to the remaining pulp of the berries and fill it with 2 liters of water.
- Heat to a boil, cook for 5 minutes, add 200 g of sugar and leave covered until cool.
- Mix with squeezed berry juice.
It is also easy to prepare a fruit drink from frozen cranberries for pregnant women:
- You can remove the cranberries from the freezer, defrost them and then cook according to the recipe.
- You can make it even simpler: pour boiling water over frozen cranberries, mash them in a blender, and add sugar. The resulting puree is added to tea or boiled water to taste.
Cranberry juice during pregnancy for edema
Much has already been said about the extraordinary benefits of eating cranberries to combat edema during pregnancy. Numerous reviews confirm that it was the consumption of cranberry juice that alleviated the discomfort from swelling.In more serious cases, a complex lingonberry-cranberry drink, the preparation of which is described above, helps. Of course, in all cases a mandatory consultation with a doctor is necessary, but these drinks, especially in late stages of pregnancy, can replace ordinary water and various teas, juices and compotes.
If there are contraindications to consuming sugar, then when making cranberry juice you can replace it with honey or fructose. A good substitute for sugar would be banana puree crushed in a blender or crushed dates added to fruit juice.
Contraindications
For all its beneficial properties, cranberry also has some contraindications in which its intake should be limited.
- For acute diseases of the stomach, liver or intestines, especially those with increased acidity.
- If a diagnosis is made of enterocolitis.
- If you have low blood pressure, since cranberries have the ability to lower it, the condition may worsen.
- In very rare cases, an allergy to cranberries is possible.
Conclusion
During pregnancy, cranberry can serve as a natural and practically harmless cure for many diseases, including chronic ones, for which it can significantly alleviate the condition.
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