Can You Eat Peanut Butter While Pregnant?

Introduction

Peanut butter is a highly nutritious product and is an excellent source of protein for the body.

Its consumption is particularly recommended for anyone who wants to take care of their body: peanut butter keeps the skin hydrated thanks to the vitamin B12 present in it and allows you to keep your heart under control, thanks to the presence of unsaturated fats that reduce LDL cholesterol in the blood and prevent cardiovascular diseases.

Peanut butter, if consumed in the right amount, is an excellent snack for pregnant women. There are many benefits that a pregnant woman can get from this food, which can positively influence her body and her state of mind.

In addition, consuming peanut butter allows pregnant women to take in the folic acid necessary for the healthy development of the baby.

Folic acid is in fact a fundamental element for the fetus, especially during the first months of pregnancy, a period in which the mother's diet significantly influences the formation of the unborn child.

Anything a woman eats during pregnancy can, if certain conditions are met, cause allergies in the unborn child. The same can happen with peanut butter. So can pregnant women eat peanut butter?

Can you eat peanut butter while pregnant?

Peanut butter is a nutritious food that can be consumed by pregnant women but only if there are certain conditions. If the woman or another family member very close to the unborn child is allergic to peanuts, it is necessary that the pregnant woman does not consume this particular food, which could be harmful to the baby.

Peanut butter is a source of folate, a component of folic acid that is important for maintaining optimal fetal health.

Folic acid allows for healthy development not only of the brain of the unborn child but of his entire organism. Peanut butter is also rich in calcium, an essential element for strengthening the bones of newborns but also of pregnant women.

However, peanut butter cannot and should not be consumed by pregnant women who are allergic to peanuts.

Peanut allergies, in fact, tend to be genetic and there is a very high probability that there will be negative consequences for the unborn child as well.

Peanut allergy can therefore be transmitted to your child also through the consumption of peanut butter.

Symptoms that indicate the existence of a peanut allergy may include the following:

• swelling of the throat and tongue;
• tingling in the mouth;
• suffocation.

It is also a good idea to check your family history to make sure none of your relatives are allergic to peanuts: your child can inherit an allergy not only from his parents, which is why it is important to research food intolerance's in your family.

A pregnant woman who is allergic to peanuts should therefore avoid eating peanut butter and any other type of food product that is processed with peanuts. Fried foods that have been cooked in peanut oil can also trigger potential allergies.

However, pregnant women who are not allergic to peanuts can consume peanut butter without any concerns, as long as they make sure that no family member is allergic to peanuts.

In this case, the woman can enjoy the benefits of peanut butter, which must always be taken in the right quantity to avoid unwanted effects.

In this case, the food appears to be useful in preventing peanut allergies in the child since the mother's intake of peanut butter leads to tolerance of this food in the newborn.

Can you eat peanuts during pregnancy? Is there a risk of toxoplasmosis?

It is well known that future mothers must organize their diet carefully. Some foods allow pregnant women to consume the right amount of calories needed to ensure the maintenance of an optimal state of health of the fetus.

A pregnant woman can safely consume vegetables and fruit in large quantities, even more than other foods.

However, some women may be subject to toxoplasmosis: in this case it is not recommended to consume raw foods of any kind and foods that cannot be peeled.

Toxoplasmosis is a disease that can be contracted not only through contact with cats but also, and above all, through the consumption of raw or poorly washed foods. Unwashed dried fruit could be a vehicle for toxoplasmosis.

Consumption of peanuts that are not properly washed and cleaned of soil residue by a pregnant woman can lead to the development of toxoplasmosis: a pregnant woman who wishes to consume peanuts must ensure that they are properly cleaned before ingesting them.

Peanuts can still be part of the diet that every woman should follow during pregnancy: you just have to be careful to clean the peanuts and you should not overdo the quantities consumed since this particular type of dried fruit has a high caloric power.

Peanuts are allowed in the diet of a pregnant woman as long as there are no particular intolerance's in the woman or in the family of the unborn child. In this case, peanuts are an excellent protein food to integrate into the diet. Peanuts contain numerous essential substances for the body such as magnesium, which helps reduce cramps due to pregnancy, and Omega-3, which helps the cardiovascular development of the child.

Recent scientific studies confirm that the consumption of dried fruit by the future mother protects the child from the onset of food allergies, especially in the first months of life.

During pregnancy, it is recommended to consume unsalted and unroasted peanuts (roasting deprives peanuts of some fundamental properties): peanuts are foods rich in mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, fiber and proteins and for this reason a handful of peanuts a day is enough to enjoy their precious properties.

Can you eat hazelnuts during pregnancy? Is there a risk of toxoplasmosis?

Consuming nuts during pregnancy helps prevent constipation, heartburn, and bloating.

Hazelnuts, especially those from Piedmont, contain nutritional properties that are particularly important for the well-being of the mother and the unborn child.

Rich in vitamin B9 (the so-called folic acid), hazelnuts are useful for satisfying the significant increase in needs that occurs throughout the entire pregnancy period.

In fact, it is common for doctors to prescribe folic acid supplements to most pregnant women for most of their pregnancy.

Hazelnuts are not only rich in vitamin B9: this food also contains all the other B vitamins, necessary for a pregnant woman to maintain a constant and daily functionality of the digestive and nervous systems.

The consumption of hazelnuts by a pregnant woman allows the assimilation of serotonin , the so-called happiness hormone, useful for reducing the mood swings typical of the gestation period.

Hazelnuts are also a real reservoir of magnesium, an element capable of maintaining the optimal condition of the joints and muscles of pregnant women.

Magnesium also helps prevent insomnia, uterine contractile activity and mood swings. By taking 100g of hazelnuts a day, a pregnant woman can therefore integrate the right amount of magnesium.

There is no doubt that hazelnuts provide a great deal of benefits to pregnant women. However, they should be consumed by pregnant women in limited quantities, just like peanuts. Nuts are very high in calories and therefore a pregnant woman should try to avoid eating excessive amounts of hazelnuts . This, however, is a small problem that can be easily solved by consuming a small amount of hazelnuts per day.

One of the disadvantages of dried fruit in general, and therefore also of hazelnuts, concerns the risk of contracting toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by a protozoan.

Toxoplasmosis can be contracted through the consumption of contaminated or inadequately washed hazelnuts and is a disease that affects the fetus causing even significant damage.

In order to avoid the development of the above mentioned disease, it is necessary to ensure that the hazelnuts (but also all other types of dried fruit, especially those already shelled) are free of traces of soil.

To reduce the risk of contracting toxoplasmosis, it is recommended to carefully clean the products that are to be ingested by pregnant women.