Is spicy food bad for pregnancy?

Motherhood is a noble feeling that ascends to the level of sacredness; this is a nonnegotiable fact that everyone seems to agree with despite religious and cultural differences. It is a fascinating experience to be a mother.

However, this experience is a tricky one. To have a life growing inside of you is not an easy thing; it is a huge responsibility. Like any responsibility, this comes with several demands.

Pregnant women need to pay attention to their health and their baby’s health. This is generally done through abiding by the doctor’s recommendations and paying attention to diets.

Unfortunately, pregnant women cannot eat whatever they want whenever they feel like it. Certain food might affect the fetus’ health badly and that’s why mothers need to keep strict control over their appetites and research what best for them.

One of the few dilemmas that are common among many women concerns spicy food. This article asks the question is spicy food bad for pregnancy?

Pregnancy myths and facts:

While pregnant, women generally witness an unexplained, unexpected change in culinary habits and appetite. Here are exceptions for sure, but most women do confess that they start craving surprising foods while pregnant.

Some would experience unexpected love for sweet foods, others for hot and savory foods, while some would even start making their mixtures that wouldn’t make sense in normal situations.

Well, our elders have great respect towards this and they have a specific label for it; I am not sure what the true translation might be but it is something similar to craving. But it implicitly suggests that the woman has no control over it. Besides, if this craving is not satisfied the baby will be born with a birthmark that resembles the desired product.

Certain cultures believe that a woman’s cravings during pregnancy are telling of the gender of the fetus. Cravings for sweet foods mean it’s a girl, while cravings for spicy and salty foods mean it’s a boy.

Myths tend to exaggerate, but this doesn’t mean that they are completely wrong. Cravings do happen, and they are a result of a change in hormones. Does this mean that you can make excuses for your food consumption and eat whatever you like? Well, let’s see what experts and healthy food blogs have to say about this.

Healthy food blogs: advice and recommendations

Healthy food blogs are a treasure for health nuts and people who are paying attention to the effects of food on their health conditions.

A 2019 research concerning the influence of maternal diet on flavor transfer to amniotic fluid and breast milk revealed that consuming certain food will flavor the amniotic fluid and even more it would influence children’s acceptance of flavors and datary intake later.

The study focused on items such as alcohol, caraway, carrot, eucalyptus, garlic, and mint. However, other than this research, no study focused on spicy food.

Nevertheless, here is what healthy food blogs and experts say based on general knowledge and experience. Eating spicy food does not have bad effects on the fetus, but it can cause you trouble, especially if you are not used to heat.

Spicy foods, especially those prepared with chili peppers can cause heartburn. It might also aggravate the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux (GERD). Diarrhea and gas might also be on the list of problems.

So the best thing to do is to limit your spicy food intake just to be safe. If you are craving sizzling food and you are not used to eating it then you must start slowly until you tolerate the heat.

My advice for pregnant women craving chilies is to try mild harissa paste. This paste is relatively hot; it tolerable and suits all appetites. There are just enough chili peppers in it to satisfy your craving and maintain good health condition.

While myths continue to attribute untrue effects of spicy food such as inducing labor and affecting the fetus, science disagrees. Is spicy food bad for pregnancy? Definitely no! There are no side effects of eating spicy food on your baby; the utmost effect might be that of expanding your child’s taste buds later on. So don’t be afraid to invite yourself to a spicy menu once in a while.