Can i eat dates during pregnancy

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By subscribing you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Healthy Lifestyle Nutrition Fitness. How to Incorporate Dates During Pregnancy with Gestational Diabetes All About Dates Dates and Health Trending August 18, Labor and delivery are an exciting part of pregnancy and can be anxiety-producing for pregnant women as many factors contribute to successful delivery.

Eating dates during the late stages of pregnancy can play an important role in healthy labor and delivery outcomes. Dates have been shown to decrease initial labor time, increase cervical dilation, and positively impact oxytocin receptors during delivery! Health benefits of eating Dates during pregnancy. Can eating dates bring on labor? How does it work?

What if I have Gestational Diabetes? Can I eat Dates during pregnancy? Scientific Information. Contractions -the tightening of the uterine muscles which prepare the body for birth.

Oxytocin — the pregnancy hormone that initiates contractions. Natural labor — labor that does not require hormonal stimulation to induce contractions. Induction — the process of inducing women into labor by stimulating contractions. Glycemic index — a scale that rates the effect of food on blood sugar on a scale of 1 to Reviewed by:. Leah Goebel, RDN. Registered Dietitian.

Written by:. Registered Dietitian and Diabetes Educator. Share on facebook Facebook. Share on email Email. Share on linkedin LinkedIn. Share on tumblr Tumblr. Related post. All About Dates Dates and Nutrition. November 10, Ramadan Etiquette: 5 Ways to Support Muslim Popular Post. Ramadan Ramadan Etiquette: 5 Ways to November 10, Join our journey to true wellness by signing up to our newsletter.

All rights reserved. Trusted Source. PubMed Central. Highly respected database from the National Institutes of Health. Go to source. Is this true? How do dates help with labour? Let us look into the relationship between pregnancy and dates. Dates are not only safe for both the mother and baby, but are also beneficial. Eating dates during pregnancy is good as they contain laxatives which aid in uterus contractions and ease labour by shortening it. Research has shown that the consumption of dates during late pregnancy shortens labour and affects delivery positively.

Dates are highly recommended for pregnant women as they can reduce the risk of anaemia, help cope with morning sickness, regulate blood pressure and blood sugar levels, get rid of toxins, boost immunity, and maintain healthy calcium content in the body.

Dates are loaded with different nutrients that can help pregnant women immensely. Here are some of them:. Iron: Everyone knows that pregnant women require more iron than others — dates are enriched with iron and can help keep anaemia at bay by ensuring that your blood has a healthy haemoglobin count. This is a common question that pregnant women ask. Read on to discover when to start eating dates during pregnancy:.

Eating dates is important in the first trimester as constipation is a big issue during this time. Eat dates to ensure a healthy bowel movement and no internal discomfort. However, make sure to limit the quantity of the dates you eat during the first trimester if you have blood sugar issues or group B strep infection an infection found in the rectum or vagina of a pregnant woman. Avoid eating dates during the second trimester if your blood sugar levels are high or your glucose test is not normal as the chances of having gestational diabetes will be quite high during this time.

However, you can always talk to your gynaecologists and then take a call, as eating a few of them will not do any harm. Make sure you eat dates during the third trimester as this will help in shortening labour and making the entire delivery process easy, owing to its natural laxative properties which aid contractions.

Start eating six dates in a day from the starting of the 36th week i. Many women prefer to avoid eating dates during summers as they think it will upset their stomachs. However, this has not been scientifically proven. Limit the intake of dates during the last stages of pregnancy to avoid any complications. Regardless of the weather, it is important not to overeat dates. You can increase your date intake during winters as the heat produced will help beat the cold will also provide you with the required nutrients.

It has been so fun to be pregnant at the same time as her, even though she lives far, far away in London. We were talking on the phone a few weeks ago and she asked me if I knew anything about the benefits of eating dates during pregnancy. Have you ever heard of this? Since I was driving, I made her read me results from the studies she found online. I was skeptical at first. The research on dates during pregnancy is actually really interesting and compelling! The only drawback is that there is not a TON of evidence.

But the evidence that does exist is enough to make me eat dates every day these last few weeks before the baby comes. I was frustrated with the articles because they did not make it easy to figure out the details. Does it matter? How many? How often? When should I start? Based on the searching I did, here is what I found out:. So far, in my experience, the hardest part is just finding different ways to eat them. I like dates, but eating several every single day gets a little challenging.

Sometimes they taste too sweet, sometimes I just rather eat something else. Researchers believe that eating dates contributes to the process of cervical ripening.

Cervical ripening is a collective term for dilatation, effacement, position, and consistency, and fetal station in vaginal examination. It all goes by so fast! Baby will be here AND starting solids before you know it.

Since dates are so sweet and have a neutral taste, they are so versatile. You can always eat them plain by themselves, but that really does get boring pretty quickly. My favorite quick ways to eat them are:.

And, there are SO MANY healthy and delicious recipes that use dates to help you get to that grams per day at the end of your pregnancy. I asked my blogger friends to share their favorite date recipes with you.

I have compiled an awesome list with their favorites that will give you ideas for anytime of day, for any type of craving you might have! You may also love Simply Satisfying Meals — a recipe ebook with meals that can all be made in the instant pot, crockpot, or in one pan.