Dangers Of Sugar In Your Diet During Pregnancy

Dangers Of Sugar In Your Diet During Pregnancy

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Just because everybodys sweetening their goodies with sugar doesnt mean its good for you. Sugar may seem harmless, but this stuff is hard for the body to use; so eating even moderate amounts can contribute to a laundry list of health problems for both you and your unborn baby.

Consuming Sugar during Pregnancy Ruins Your Health

When you eat sugar regularly, it robs your body of the vitamins and minerals your unborn baby needs for optimum health. Sugar raises bad cholesterol, triglyceride levels and increases the risk of heart disease. When you consume sugar during pregnancy, it absorbs rapidly into your blood and contributes to gestational diabetes.

Gestational diabetes can put your unborn baby at risk for macrosomia. If your fetus gets this condition, your chances of a c-section will increase because your baby may be too big to come out the old-fashioned way. If you are able to give birth vaginally, your babys risk of birth trauma increases because of his size.

Other complications gestational diabetes can cause for your baby include low blood sugar, an increased risk of death, and a heightened risk of childhood diabetes.

Sugar interferes with the absorption of protein. When youre pregnant, your body needs this nutrient to help your baby develop his internal organs, fingers, hair, toes, muscles and nails. Even if you are making an effort to eat plenty of protein-rich foods, consuming too much sugar can counteract your efforts.

Sugar can trigger immune and auto-immune deficiency disorders like asthma and arthritis. This sweetener can also:

rot your teeth
weaken your vision
reduce your defense against bacterial infections
impair DNA structure
encourage yeast infections
contribute to osteoporosis
cause food allergies
feed cancer
cause anxiety in kids
cause lack of concentration
make you look old
reduce immunity

Sugar Contributes to Weight Gain during Pregnancy

One teaspoon of sugar contains 15 calories. If it takes 4 teaspoons of sugar to sweeten your coffee, it adds up to 60 calories per cup. Now imagine how this can have an impact on your weight if you drink 3 cups of coffee a day. Sugar-filled foods and drinks add extra calories to your meals and contribute to weight gain.

If your goal is to maintain a healthy weight while youre pregnant, loading up on sweeteners wont help you out much. The calories from sugar sources get stored in your body as fat. You can easily eliminate these unnecessary calories by filling your diet with healthy foods and leaving the sugar alone.

If you are a hard-core sugar fanatic and you usually consume large amounts of sugar everyday, dont try to stop cold turkey. Ease off of it slowly to prevent detox symptoms like nausea, headaches, breakouts and dizziness.

Safer Alternatives to Sugar

You dont have to give up your favorite organic coffee or tea beverages, simply use safer alternatives like stevia and xylitol to sweeten them. Stevia is an herb that hales from South America. This sweetener comes from the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana plant, and can be up to 30 times sweeter than sugar.

Xylitol looks and tastes like sugar, but it doesnt have any of the nasty side effects. Xylitol is lower in calories than sugar and it is metabolized by the body slower.

Although sugar is widely used, it can contribute to a myriad of health problems. If you value your wellbeing and that of your unborn babys, avoid sugar in your diet during pregnancy. If you cant resist sweetening a cup of tea from time-to-time, use safer alternative like stevia or xylitol.

About the Author:
Proper nutrition is the key to a healthy pregnancy. To learn about the best type of diet during pregnancy, visit www.WhatToEatWhilePregnant.com.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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