What sweets can pregnant women eat? The benefits and harms of marmalade

Why do you crave sweets during pregnancy?

It is during the period of waiting for a baby that many representatives of the fair sex become avid sweet tooths, even if they were previously indifferent to cakes and sweets. Why do sweets become so desirable during pregnancy?

The craving for sweets in pregnant women often appears on a subconscious level.

If in everyday life most girls restrain themselves from uncontrollably eating desserts, fearing the appearance of extra pounds, now they seem to receive a signal: “Now - you can!” Weight gain in this situation is justified, and those around you look with affection at the expectant mother eating a large chocolate bar.

During pregnancy, the body requires a large amount of vitamins and minerals. If the menu is made up of foods consisting of empty calories, saturation does not occur. Increased cravings for sweets may indicate a lack of chromium, magnesium, and calcium.

It’s paradoxical, but true: if a pregnant woman is overly addicted to eating sweets and buns, she lacks carbohydrates. The fact is that the expectant mother’s body requires B vitamins, the sources of which are complex carbohydrates, and they are most often absent from favorite desserts.

While carrying a child, it is important to devote enough time to proper rest and sleep. If this condition is not met, accumulated fatigue manifests itself in the desire to refresh yourself with sweet medicine. A sharp jump in blood glucose levels causes a short-term surge of energy and a lift in mood.

About the dangers of sugar (for pregnant women and not only).

First, let’s figure out what sugar is, otherwise, often, when they hear that I don’t eat sugar and don’t give it to my children, they ask the same question: “You don’t eat fruit and don’t give it to your children? Sugar is essential for brain function!”
So, sugar is necessary only for those who want to become overweight, bad skin, weak bones / rickets in children and constant mood swings. White store-bought sugar - SUCHAROSE - is a chemical element that has been thoroughly cleaned with a dozen filters. Fruits, honey, cereals are GLUCOSE and FRUCTOSE , and dairy products contain LACTOSE , we need these carbohydrates, my children and I have received and will receive them in the required quantity.
According to research published in the Journal of Range Management, even cattle can be introduced to feed they would otherwise refuse by mixing it with sugar.
In 2013, the Amsterdam health department proposed placing stickers on products containing sugar with photos of broken bones and changes in skin structure. According to experts, sugar is the most dangerous publicly available substance on the planet.
I think you have heard more than once that after childbirth, many people’s teeth decay. And after giving birth, mothers with a sweet tooth are often given such an unpleasant diagnosis as osteoporosis - a decrease in bone density and strength.
What is this connected with?
In addition to the fact that your baby simply needs calcium, which you yourself don’t always have enough, the body spends a huge amount of it on the absorption of sugar, which, in turn, is washed out of your bones. The more sweets you eat, the more porous your bones become day by day.
It’s not for nothing that our beloved mothers never made milk sweeter before bed, because calcium from sugar-sweetened milk is not absorbed by the body. All yoghurts that scream on the label about their high calcium content, but contain sweeteners, are absolutely useless. This note is especially important for mothers whose children have been diagnosed with rickets: if you want benefits, and not “plug your gut,” buy curds with a classic taste!
By the way, rickets in infants is partly a consequence of the mother eating too many sweets during pregnancy.
Sugar is a product that has no nutritional value. But in order to digest it (break it down into glucose and fructose), the body needs vitamin B1 (thiamine), which is involved in all processes of breaking down sugars and starches. Since sugar itself does not contain it, the body extracts it from your muscles, nerves and eyes, and, accordingly, takes it away from your baby. Excessive use of thiamine resources to digest sweets, without sufficient compensation with other foods, will lead to decreased vision, chronic fatigue and skin diseases.
Your baby's figure after puberty depends on your eating habits during pregnancy!
Our generation was lucky - during the pregnancy of our mothers there were significantly fewer sugar-sweetened food temptations, therefore the percentage of excess weight among those who are now over 25 is significantly lower than the percentage of fat among those who are now under 15.
What is the reason? Let's go in order.
When we eat sweets, the body releases insulin, a hormone that is released into the blood by pancreatic cells. Its task is to facilitate the penetration of amino acids and glucose into cells, and it also stimulates the secretion of enzymes that help convert excess food calories into subcutaneous fat.
The baby in the womb receives nutrients from its mother (through the placenta and umbilical cord) in quantities proportional to the content of these substances in her blood. That is, the higher the mother's blood sugar level, the more glucose the baby receives in the womb. The baby's pancreas responds to increased doses of glucose by increasing the number of cells that secrete insulin, and these, in turn, contribute to the growth of the number of fat cells. A baby with a sweet tooth mother will be born with an excessively large number of fat cells and with a high probability of insulin resistance.
What is insulin resistance? In a healthy body, there is one unit of insulin receptors per unit of insulin. When a mother eats cake after cake, ends each meal with sweets, adds sugar to tea or drinks sweet soda, the body, roughly speaking, gets used to this and reduces sensitivity to insulin. The same thing, accordingly, happens in the baby’s body. The cells reduce the number of insulin receptors they secrete, and the pancreas produces more and more insulin. The more insulin is released, the more active the enzyme lipoprotein lipase is in fat cells, and the more fat is collected from the circulation and stored in fat cells, and there are not enough insulin receptors to prevent this process.
Simply put, insulin in case of a lack of insulin receptors, which you achieve by excessive consumption of sweets, is like a little thrifty squirrel that will hide all the nuts it finds, even if some of them are already superfluous and are definitely not needed.
And so your defenseless baby, who chose you up there and trusted you, becomes, because of your addiction, the owner of a huge number of excess fat cells, which will grow imperceptibly over the years and will certainly make themselves felt by the time of puberty. When gaining excess weight on sweets during pregnancy, you must be aware that your child will have to pay for your addiction with their own restrictions and additional physical activity. If you dream of raising an athlete, then already in the womb you should think about his diet!
By the way, according to statistics, 20% of young mothers suffer from a lack of milk precisely because of disruptions in the functioning of the insulin system.
What foods should you avoid so as not to harm your health/figure and the figure/health of your baby?
First of all, from any products prepared with white sugar and made from refined flour, from liquid carbohydrates (soda, juices) and starch (potatoes, white rice, corn). Just 2 minutes after swallowing, these products fill the blood with glucose, the blood sugar level jumps, and insulin begins to go off scale.
Diseases such as obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, hypertension, cancer, heart disease, dental and gum disease, ulcers, gallstones, hemorrhoids and constipation are common only among those who have a modern diet, that is, those who consume refined carbohydrates (white sugar, white flour, White rice). Meat, fish, buckwheat, vegetables and fruits have been the basis of a healthy diet for quite a few 2.5 MILLION YEARS!
Eating sugar will cause stretch marks, painful dilatation of the cervix and ruptures during childbirth!
Sugar destroys collagen and elastin proteins. I will try to explain as clearly as possible: when you look at the face of a 3-year-old child and a 30-year-old woman, the difference in skin density and elasticity is visible to the naked eye. The difference is that a child has type 3 collagen protein, and a 30-year-old woman has type 2 collagen protein; by the age of 50 it will change to type 1.
When you eat sweets, the level of glucose in the blood rises in the first 2 minutes, and insulin is not so fast, it cannot cope with processing, as a result of which glucose molecules bind to cell proteins and destroy them - glycation occurs. Glycation dominates type 3 collagen, slowly but surely turning it into a more susceptible type.
The abdomen grows, the connective tissue, due to the lack of the required amount of necessary proteins, is not able to stretch and ruptures, forming so-called stretch marks. The baby’s head presses on the cervix, due to the lack of destroyed collagen and elastin, the uterus opens slowly and painfully, as soon as you disobey the obstetrician and push slightly by inertia, the tissue ruptures...
Why do people crave sweets?
1. One of the reasons for addiction to sweets is a lack of chromium, and during pregnancy, chromium levels often decrease. It is chromium that is responsible for fat-carbohydrate metabolism and the absorption of proteins in the body. Lack of chromium causes a disease such as “pregnant diabetes,” and disruption of the interaction of chromium with insulin contributes to rapid weight gain, fluid retention and increased blood pressure. A lack of chromium leads to an increased craving for sweets, and sweets further aggravate its deficiency, as it stimulates the removal of chromium from the body.
If the reason for your addiction to delicacies is precisely a lack of chromium (ONLY A BLOOD TEST WILL DETERMINE THIS!), then taking it additionally in a week will discourage you from trying dessert after a healthy meal.
2. Craving for sweets is one of the symptoms of thyroid dysfunction (visit an endocrinologist) or candidiasis infection (visit a gynecologist).
3. You may have overdid your purchases of low-fat foods because they often add more flavor enhancers and sweeteners, which in turn have left you addicted to carbohydrates.
What now, should we live completely without sweets and not spoil our children? It is extremely difficult to pass by a counter that is beautifully decorated with all sorts of marketing gimmicks. If you cannot completely give up sweets, then reduce your consumption of sugar-containing foods to 10-15% of your daily diet, and leave the remaining 85-90% for “clean” foods. And your child, first of all, learns from you, you are his icon and role model, and if his “idol” takes care of his health and looks great, then his “fan” does not lag behind.

Harm of sweets to the health of a pregnant woman

Sweets during pregnancy, consumed in large quantities, provoke a set of additional kilograms. While expecting a baby, excess weight poses a threat to the normal course of pregnancy and can cause hospitalization.

About 90% of expectant mothers are susceptible to candidiasis, or thrush. This is due to the active reproduction of the Candida fungus in the body, provoked by a change in hormonal levels and a weakening of protective mechanisms. Excessive consumption of desserts creates favorable conditions for the life of this microorganism. The presence of thrush, in turn, increases the risk of premature birth, creates a threat of polyhydramnios and premature rupture of amniotic fluid.

Pregnancy is a time of increased stress on all internal organs of a woman. Excessive indulgence in sweets can lead to a malfunction of the pancreas, which is already forced to function in a more active mode. This can lead to attacks of nausea, increased gas formation, bowel disorders and other gastrointestinal disorders.

While waiting for a baby, teeth are a vulnerable link in a woman’s body. Eating a lot of sweets during pregnancy accelerates the process of thinning and destruction of tooth enamel.

Why can your mouth feel sweet during pregnancy?

During the period of bearing a child, taste sensations often change: sometimes a woman feels a sweet taste in her mouth, even if this was not preceded by eating her favorite desserts.

In the first half of pregnancy, the reason for this may be hormonal changes occurring in the body. By the end of the second trimester, this symptom usually disappears.

If the feeling of sweetness in the mouth continues to make itself felt, this may indicate a pathological process: bacterial infection of the oral cavity, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, disturbances in the functioning of the pancreas. A common cause of this phenomenon is gestational diabetes.

Important!
If a sweet taste appears during pregnancy, it is necessary to monitor all accompanying manifestations so that, if necessary, promptly consult a doctor and receive corrective treatment.

Need to know: Frequent urination during pregnancy

Who is strictly forbidden to eat a lot of sweets during pregnancy?

There are situations when the inclusion of sweets in the diet of an expectant mother is strictly prohibited:

Tendency to quickly gain excess weight.
Obesity.
Chronic diseases of the pancreas.
Metabolic disorders, especially gestational diabetes mellitus.
Candidiasis (thrush).

In these cases, sweets in any form are contraindicated, as they can cause serious harm to the health of the woman and her unborn child.

Is it possible to eat sweets during pregnancy?

It can be very difficult to cope with the desire to buy yourself something tasty - there are a lot of sweets and chocolates on the shelves, but other than extra calories, there is no other benefit from such products. Eating such food causes rapid weight gain, which leads to an increase in body weight for both mother and baby. In this case, giving birth to a baby is much more difficult - surgical intervention is often required, and the baby may become the owner of allergic reactions.

The first trimester is very important for both organisms - organ formation occurs, so the expectant mother must strictly monitor what she eats. Of course, if it’s really unbearable, a small chocolate bar will save the situation, but no more. In case of acute desire, the amount of carbohydrates consumed should not exceed 450 grams daily. It should be remembered that the baby really likes the amniotic fluid, becoming sweet, and he swallows it with pleasure.

It is best to replace sweets with complex carbohydrates, and let the chocolate be bitter.

In the second trimester, you should also not overuse sweets and buns, but it is better to completely eliminate all kinds of jams and preserves. You can successfully replace sweets with fresh fruits and vegetables. Bananas, citrus fruits and apples are very useful.

The third trimester involves an almost complete refusal of flour. Such foods, in addition to weight gain, contribute to the appearance of edema, and some mothers may develop preeclampsia. The use of dried fruits and honey is allowed, but closer to childbirth you should not eat the second product, as it can provoke allergic reactions.

Many women, until pregnancy, do not disdain products containing sweeteners (fructose, asparkam). When conception occurs, it is better to refuse such delicacies, because this can also lead to the onset of allergies.

How does eating a lot of sweets during pregnancy affect the development and health of the fetus?

Any dietary errors during pregnancy can affect not only the health of the woman, but also her child. Excessive indulgence in sweets is one of them.

An excess of simple carbohydrates, obtained along with buns, sweets and other gastronomic delights, increases the weight of the fetus. This is a common cause of problematic childbirth, the common consequences of which are cerebrovascular accidents in the child and birth injuries.
The desire of pregnant women to frequently indulge themselves with sweet treats can cause allergic manifestations in infants of the first year of life.
Research confirms that excessive consumption of sweets and starchy foods doubles the likelihood of developing pathologies of the nervous system in the fetus.

You can minimize the risk of many intrauterine pathologies in a child by making a choice in favor of a healthy diet during pregnancy.

Obstetricians about sweets

Obstetricians and gynecologists unanimously claim that excessive consumption of sweets and starchy foods for pregnant women (as well as for other people) is contraindicated and only leads to disastrous consequences, because this is “secondary” food. The human body is not designed for such products and there are simply no mechanisms for processing them by the gastrointestinal tract system. During evolution, ancient people did not receive large quantities of simple carbohydrates in the form of cakes, and now our body is not able to cope with them. Ancient people obtained glucose and carbohydrates only from berries and fruits, which were available to them for only a few months a year.

eat right

!!!Important!!! In pregnant women, metabolic processes proceed somewhat differently and the rate of absorption of carbohydrates by the body is much higher. Insulin is produced instantly and the process of glucose utilization into fat deposits occurs faster.

How can pregnant women replace sweets, chocolate and other unhealthy sweets?

You can find replacements for treats with dubious ingredients, which are available in abundance in supermarkets - products that will satisfy your sweet tooth and will not harm the health of the expectant mother and baby:

Homemade desserts. Replace premium white flour with spelled, buckwheat, corn, oatmeal, and coarse wheat. Instead of sugar, use a banana (it will give the baked goods not only sweetness, but also a pleasant aroma), and dried fruits. Artificial sweeteners should not be consumed during pregnancy.

Fruits contain a considerable amount of natural sugar, so bananas, apples, pears, and citrus fruits (in the absence of an allergic reaction) can satisfy your sweet tooth. It will be useful to consume freshly squeezed fruit juices, but it is better not to get carried away with packaged analogues.

Sugar is also found in some vegetables: corn, carrots, beets.

A healthy alternative to candy is dried fruits and nuts. It should be remembered that they cannot be consumed uncontrollably: despite their usefulness, prunes, dried apricots, dates, raisins have a high glycemic index, and nuts are a very high-calorie product.

Among industrially produced sweets, you can treat yourself to marmalade and marshmallows. The main thing is to buy a quality product, and to do this you should carefully read its composition while still in the store. The ingredient list should contain as few artificial additives as possible. It is important to remember: the sugar content in these treats is high, so they can be consumed in limited quantities.

In the absence of allergies, sweets can be replaced with honey, remembering: for all its usefulness, it has a high glycemic index and is quite high in calories.

In the first half of the day, you can allow yourself one or two slices of dark chocolate.

Dark natural chocolate

This is also a useful option during pregnancy, but it is recommended to eat up to 10 g per day, as it can increase blood pressure.

If you have a craving for sweets, also remember about berries and fruits that contain fructose. They can be eaten fresh, made into smoothies, frozen into ice cream, and made into salads with Greek yogurt.

Everyone has heard that excessive consumption of sweets is harmful to health, as it leads to problems with teeth, skin and excess weight. But to give up sweets you need to have great willpower, especially during pregnancy.

Sugar, cakes, and buns are the main sources of energy, as they contain large amounts of carbohydrates. These products have little benefit, but a lot of calories, which contribute to the rapid weight gain of not only the mother, but also the baby. Giving birth to a high-weight baby is much more difficult. In addition, after the baby is born, he may experience allergic reactions more often.

Currently, various products containing sweeteners (fructose, saccharin, aspartame) are produced. Doctors recommend avoiding such products during pregnancy.

Some tips on how to make a pregnant woman’s diet not only tasty, but also healthy:

replace sweets with dried fruits and candied fruits;
instead of sugar, eat natural honey;
various nuts will be an excellent source of vitamins;
Sometimes you can treat yourself to fruit jelly, marshmallows, marmalade or whole wheat and mixed grain crackers;
compotes of berries and fruits without added sugar will perfectly quench your thirst;
very often you crave sweets in the absence of positive emotions. When the body processes glucose, endorphin is produced - the hormone of happiness. Find as many reasons as possible for a joyful mood and the need for sweets will decrease.

Marshmallow is a very tender, airy and very sweet delicacy. The question of whether you can have marshmallows arouses interest among admirers of this dessert. After all, pregnant women often experience cravings for sweets. However, significant weight gain can have a negative impact on expectant mothers.

Why do pregnant women crave sweets?

During pregnancy, women's taste preferences can change greatly. Perhaps you were not previously classified as a sweet tooth, but now you cannot live a day without cakes, pastries and sweets, devouring them at an enviable speed and in large quantities.

The reasons for such a manic craving for sweets may be:

Deficiency of minerals and trace elements - include in your diet more foods containing calcium (milk, greens, cottage cheese, etc.) and it is likely that your desire to eat sugar will decrease, or even disappear altogether.
Lack of endorphins (hormones of happiness) - the time of waiting for a baby is considered one of the happiest, but during this period women experience a lot of anxiety and worry. Hormones are raging, changing your mood, and sweets are the fastest way to get a new portion of miraculous endorphins. Adjust your lifestyle, learn to enjoy the world around you, and the desire to create a good mood by eating a lot of sweets will disappear.
Lack of carbohydrates - the body's energy costs during pregnancy increase many times over. The fastest way to compensate for the lack of carbohydrates is to eat sweets. Cakes, cookies, and candies are simple, quickly digestible carbohydrates. They quickly supply sugar to the blood, but in addition, they provide a feeling of false hunger and contribute to weight gain.
Poor nutrition - if you are used to eating fast food, canned food, cola and chips, while expecting a child, your body experiences an even greater attraction to the “wrong” foods. You should review your diet even in the early stages of pregnancy , changing it in the direction of the greatest benefit for your own body and the body of the child.

The harm and benefits of sweets during pregnancy

It’s not for nothing that experts recommend limiting, or even completely eliminating, rich pastries, cakes, sweets and other confectionery products from the diet. Due to the high carbohydrate content, such products have a high calorie content. But despite this, their nutritional value is low. But an excess of carbohydrates can quickly lead to excess weight gain, not only in the mother, but also in the fetus, which in turn threatens various complications during childbirth.

If you rely too much on sweets, making them the basis of your diet, the consequences will not be long in coming:

Quickly gain extra pounds and centimeters.
Leaching of calcium and vitamin B1 from the body, and as a result – problems with the liver, pancreas, and teeth.
If there are prerequisites – the development of diabetes mellitus.
Complications during childbirth.
Predisposition to allergic diseases in the baby.

If you really want something sweet and you can’t calmly pass by a bar of chocolate, you don’t need to restrain yourself. Just choose chocolate with a high cocoa content (dark). Choose your dessert wisely, and then you won’t have to force yourself to give it up while you’re expecting your baby.

Is it possible to eat sweets during pregnancy? Without a doubt, it is not only possible, but also necessary! However, from the abundance of delicacies presented, the expectant mother should choose only those that are beneficial for her condition.

What are the benefits for a pregnant woman's body?

The usefulness of marshmallows for pregnant women is determined by its thickeners:

Agar-agar is made from seaweed and is rich in minerals, especially which is very beneficial for the thyroid gland. It has a mild laxative effect, removes waste and toxins from the body, normalizes liver function and metabolism. May be included in baby food.
Pectin is obtained from raw materials of plant origin (citrus fruits and others). It removes harmful cholesterol, carcinogens, toxins from the body, and reduces sugar levels. Also used in the production of baby food.
Edible gelatin is usually made from cattle bones. Its use does not destroy tooth enamel and does not lead to caries. It contains a lot of collagen, minerals (mainly calcium and phosphorus) and amino acids involved in the formation of connective tissue and cartilage. This makes it very useful for muscles, blood vessels, and nails. Gelatin contains up to 20% glycine, an amino acid that is an important source of energy.

Did you know?
Pectin is registered as food stabilizer E440, gelatin as food stabilizer E441, and agar as E406.
The high glucose content in this dessert activates the brain and quenches the slight feeling of hunger that women often experience. At the same time, marshmallows contain much fewer calories than such common sweets as cakes, pastries, sweets and pastries. It does not contain vitamins, as they are destroyed during heat treatment. If it contains fruit puree from apples or citrus fruits, then the amount of pectin in such a product increases.

What sweets should pregnant women avoid?

Of course, you can’t live without fast carbohydrates either. Sometimes they are simply necessary to quickly satisfy hunger, and the positive emotions from eating simple carbohydrates are extremely beneficial for both mother and baby. But there are some confectionery products that you don’t need to put too much effort on. Better yet, completely eliminate them from your diet:

Chocolates - they contain nothing beneficial for the body of mother and child. In addition, consuming a lot of them is dangerous for a pregnant woman; chocolate candies contain trans fats, which have a negative effect on the fetus and women’s health.
Cream cakes - there is nothing worse than pastry cream for a pregnant woman. Preservatives, food colors and flavor enhancers are its main ingredients. If you still want a cake, carefully read the composition and choose a confectionery product with natural fillings.
Waffles are the most harmful delicacy in the world, so such products should be avoided while you are expecting a baby.

Eliminate foods containing the sugar substitute saccharin from your diet. Although it has a lower energy value and is several times sweeter than sugar, its effect on embryo development has not been fully studied.

Give preference to fructose - it is a natural analogue of sugar, absolutely safe for both the child and the expectant mother.

How can you replace artificial sweets?

Excessive consumption of sweets is not good for anyone, and during pregnancy it contributes to the exacerbation of candidiasis, disturbances in the development of the child’s nervous system and other problems. If you are constantly craving sweets, it is better to give preference to products that combine sweet taste and benefits:

Natural dried fruits - dried apples, prunes, figs, dried apricots, dates, etc.
Honey – you can sweeten your life with natural honey. However, you need to be as careful as possible with this product, especially if you are prone to allergic reactions.
Marmalade and marshmallows (without chocolate) - prepared independently according to traditional recipes, such delicacies are harmless to health and will cover the need for sugar.
Berries, fruits and sweet vegetables are an excellent alternative to confectionery, and you don’t need to limit yourself as strictly in their consumption as with other delicacies. Drink more fruit and vegetable smoothies, fresh juices, juices, and eat fresh salads.

As you can see, there is always something to replace sweets and get the same pleasure as eating a piece of cake. There are many delicious and healthy products that can perfectly replace unhealthy candies or cookies.

Healthy sweets

Dried fruits.

Prunes, raisins, dried apricots, and dried apples contain pectin, fiber, vitamins and antioxidants. They can be consumed with tea instead of sweets and cookies, and added to cottage cheese and milk desserts.

Honey.

A good alternative to sugar, but requires caution. Honey can cause allergies, so its amount should be limited.

Marshmallows and marmalade.

An excellent addition to morning tea. Choose sweets prepared according to classic recipes, without preservatives, flavors or dyes. Or make this delicacy yourself to be sure of the quality.

Black chocolate.

Good quality chocolate with a high content of cocoa beans is also healthy, but in minimal quantities. 1-2 slices a day is enough to satisfy your own desires and not harm the unborn baby. And in the third trimester it is better to abandon this product completely.

Seasonal fruits and berries.

A natural substitute for sweets that you can consume without limiting yourself too much. Show your imagination - and fresh juices, smoothies, and fruit salads will become a source of pleasure and benefit for you.

Nutritionists advise expectant mothers to follow a few simple rules on how to eat during pregnancy:

have a full breakfast, porridge with dried fruits, freshly squeezed juice, a little cottage cheese will help overcome cravings for harmful carbohydrates;
eat often and in small portions; it’s good to use an apple or a piece of cheese as a snack;
do not overeat, watch the portion size;
don’t eat up your bad mood with sweets, it’s better to distract yourself, listen to music, go for a walk;
Don’t reproach yourself for what you eat, self-flagellation will only ruin your mood, it’s better to try to refrain from eating an extra piece in the future.

Learn to prepare healthy sweets: homemade marshmallows, ice cream from yogurt or fruit juice, berry jelly will delight you with variety and richness of taste. Also, do things, communicate with family and friends, attend swimming or yoga classes for pregnant women, and then you won’t have to constantly think about restrictions.

Pregnancy is a wonderful time during which you don’t need to closely monitor your figure and, it would seem, you can indulge yourself in sweets. But, naturally, everything should be in moderation. In this case, the question arises not in terms of a slender waist or the occurrence of caries - we are talking about the health of the unborn child.

The main reasons for cravings for sweets during pregnancy:

Poor nutrition.

When nutrition is not balanced, the body experiences cravings for a variety of, and often incorrect, foods: chips, Coca-Cola, canned food.

Thus, it signals that you need to reconsider your diet and begin to provide it with what it needs for the normal growth and development of your baby.

In the first trimester of pregnancy, nutrition needs to be reviewed and changed in the direction of its maximum benefit for the body of mother and baby.

Lack of carbohydrates.

This is often the result of poor nutrition. Sweets during pregnancy play the role of quick satiety. I ate a chocolate bar and it feels like I had lunch! However, this is not true and sweets provide a feeling of fullness for a very short time.

During pregnancy, you should strive to eat a lot of complex carbohydrates - this will allow you to feel full for quite a long time.

Complex carbohydrates are various grains that are presented in the form of porridges: corn, oatmeal, millet, rice, buckwheat and many others.

If you have a very hearty breakfast of porridge and also eat a piece of black bread, you will crave less sweets, but there will be more benefits for your body and for your baby.

Lots of stress.

Sweets are a quick way to get positive emotions. When we eat candy or chocolate, the amount of endorphins in the body sharply increases - the hormones of joy, happiness and calmness.

In a crisis situation, in a situation of anxiety, people begin to eat a lot of sweets. Have you noticed this effect?

Therefore, analyze your life from the point of view of stress - if you are constantly nervous, worry about your well-being, experience stress at work - your craving for sweets during pregnancy is a way to calm down and turn your life into a more peaceful direction.

Perhaps it’s worth taking a sick leave or going on vacation for a while to gain strength and relax!

Desire for positive emotions.

During pregnancy, a woman’s sensitivity to the events of the surrounding world increases, and she wants love, attention and care. If this is not the case, then there is a desire to artificially create a positive mood for yourself, and sweets come to the rescue.

If your main reason for craving sweets during pregnancy is precisely this, then you need to consciously begin to rebuild your lifestyle and learn to get positive emotions from actions, and not from food.

Start with simple things - write 30 points of what brings you joy and causes positive emotions. Walking in the woods, talking with a friend, reading a magazine, watching a movie, talking with my husband, knitting or sewing, etc.

Now start implementing one item from this list into your life every day.

When you edit your lifestyle, your cravings for sweets should subside.

However, you cannot live without fast carbohydrates. But you shouldn’t indulge in candy, cookies, marshmallows - all these products lead to excess weight gain during pregnancy.

How much candy can you eat during pregnancy?

Of course, any mother knows how important a proper balanced diet is for the health of the unborn baby. Any obstetrician-gynecologist will recommend that a pregnant woman primarily include fish, kefir, cottage cheese, oatmeal and buckwheat porridge, meat, as well as vegetables and fruits in her menu. However, sweets can also be included in this list if consumed wisely and with caution.

Everyone knows that sweets are one of the suppliers of fast carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are a kind of fuel for muscles, and it would be at least unwise to exclude them from the diet. Many expectant mothers who cannot imagine their life without sweets would probably like to know whether chocolates can be consumed by pregnant women and how beneficial or harmful it is for the child’s well-being. In fact, it is impossible to give strict recommendations in this regard, since each woman’s body has its own individual characteristics in terms of tolerance to one or another type of food. However, there are a number of rules that should apply to everyone without exception.

First of all, you should remember that chocolate candies eaten in large quantities during pregnancy can provoke allergic reactions in the baby. The absence of allergic symptoms in the woman herself when eating sweets does not provide any guarantee that the child is also fine.

Chocolate in any form is a product that should be used in the daily diet with great caution. In addition, we should not forget about such a concept as calories. The problem of excess weight worries many women during pregnancy.

In order not to gain extra pounds and to save yourself from the need to go on strict diets after childbirth, during pregnancy you should adhere to proper nutrition, which significantly limits the consumption of sweets, chocolate, cakes, and pastries. 100 grams of chocolates contain more than 500 kilocalories, so frequent consumption of them will be the main cause of weight problems.

On the other hand, based on the results of numerous studies, it has been found that moderate consumption of chocolate has a positive effect on the course of pregnancy, improving its tolerability and reducing the risk of stress. Therefore, 2-3 sweets eaten after lunch will cheer up the expectant mother and will not harm the baby’s body.

Sweets during pregnancy can only be beneficial if you prepare them yourself. So, sweet balls made from ground dried fruits will be an excellent alternative to unhealthy sweets. They can be rolled in wafer crumbs, grated chocolate or coconut. Such sweets contain magnesium, iron, calcium and many other useful biologically active substances.

There is also a whole list of products, the use of which during pregnancy is fraught with various complications. Such products include the beloved mint. The fact is that this plant contains a large amount of estrogens - hormones that can stimulate labor. In accordance with this information, many expectant mothers would be interested to know whether mints can be consumed during pregnancy.

Nutritionists and obstetricians-gynecologists do not prohibit eating this product, betting that the amount of mint contained in such candies will not provoke any problems in the health of the mother and child. However, we should not forget that their use should also be limited, since 100 grams of the product can contain more than 350 kilocalories.

Mints during pregnancy, as well as lollipops and lozenges, eaten in moderation, are an excellent remedy for relieving symptoms of toxicosis. However, when choosing this type of sweets, it is also necessary to take into account the naturalness and safety of the product. Thus, pregnant women are strictly not recommended to consume candies that contain dyes and preservatives, therefore, before taking beautifully packaged candies from the store counter, you should carefully study the composition. Bright, colorful candies almost certainly contain harmful additives, so preference should be given to less beautiful-looking analogues, the naturalness of which is beyond doubt.

Sweets for pregnant women can become a completely prohibited product if the pregnant woman has a number of serious diseases. These diseases include diabetes, obesity or severe food allergies. A good alternative in such cases would be curd mousses with candied fruits, slices of your favorite dried fruits or fresh berry compotes. In any case, you should remember that the health of the baby is in the foreground during this difficult period of a woman’s life.

Dark chocolate contains a large number of substances that stimulate the heart and circulatory system. It helps normalize blood pressure, helps restore immunity and is, among other things, an excellent antioxidant.

A healthy lifestyle, the main guideline of which is a balanced diet, will help alleviate a woman’s condition during pregnancy, preserve her beauty and lay a solid foundation for the well-being and health of her unborn baby.

Alternative to sweets

It is better to eat foods that are both sweet and healthy. It can be:

Dried fruits (dried apricots, raisins, figs, prunes, hashtak).

Try to find dried fruits in your city that have been dried without the use of sulfur. Natural and natural. For example, in our country such dried fruits are sold under the brand “Solntsefrukty” - they cost a little more, but the benefits of consuming them are much greater, and they taste amazing.

You can use honey instead of sugar. It is much healthier and contains a storehouse of useful microelements and vitamins. However, you should not consume more than 2 tablespoons per day, since honey is a fairly allergenic product.

Do not eat honey the night before a blood or urine test, as too much sugar may give you incorrect test results.

Chocolate.

During pregnancy, it is better to eat chocolate in bars or pieces. This is such a dark, dark chocolate, sold by weight in large pieces. It can be purchased in stores at chocolate factories.

Various cookies and sweets are best consumed occasionally. As you can see, sweets during pregnancy are not something forbidden.

The main thing is to approach the choice of sweets competently and efficiently, and then you won’t have to break yourself and force yourself to give up sweets even during pregnancy.