Health Benefits Of Eating Okra During Pregnancy

Pregnancy is the most meaningful, beautiful, and important period for every woman. Not only taking care of herselves, pregnant moms around the world need to take care of their babies too, by providing enough nutrients that support the growth and health of the fetus.

Fruits and vegetables are always known to be the helpers for this, and today’s we’re gonna talk about a vegetable that you might not have heard before, the Okra. Okra also helps keep many infections and diseases at a certain distance, just like benefits of guava. Vitamins contained in okra help prevent some birth defects in your baby and promote your child’s healthy growth while in the womb.

You have to include these okra vegetables especially in the 4th and 12th weeks of pregnancy because that’s when the neural tube develops in the fetus. Consuming okra can help and support their development.

# Rich in Folic Acid

Mother is certainly familiar with not with this nutrient? Yes, folic acid becomes an important intake during pregnancy, alongside with the other nutrients that are obtained from benefits of pomelo, for example.

Folic acid is very important, especially to prevent the presence of problems in the growth of the fetus. Folic acid deficiency will cause problems in the growth of children in the future.

For pregnant women, it is advisable to consume 400 mcg of folic acid every day and mother can get this dose, one of which is from okra. With eating a good amount of okra regularly, you can get a needed amount of folic acid.

# Provides Better Immune System

In addition to being rich in folic acid, okra also has an abundant content of vitamin C. The content of vitamin one is known to keep mother’s body healthy during pregnancy, as mentioned in the benefits of grapefruit.

Vitamin C in pregnant women has a very vital role so that its intake must be maintained. Based on animal studies, some researchers believe that vitamin C deficiency in newborns can interfere with mental development.

In addition, vitamin C can also help protect the body from harmful free radicals, so as to increase the production of white blood cells that fight foreign pathogens in the body.

# Abundant Source of Antioxidants

This green vegetable is also rich in natural antioxidants, moms. Antioxidant content in okra is needed by pregnant women to maintain the health of the fetus.

Its content is known to make the fetus develop healthily. Not only that, taking it during pregnancy can help lower the risk of developing heart disease.

# Provides Better Sleep

Does it feel really difficult to sleep at night? In addition to nausea and vomiting, apparently insomnia becomes another problem that pregnant women often complain about.

Just like the benefits of honey, okra intake can help overcome this by its unique contents. In okra there are various oil and protein content that will make you sleep better at night.

Consuming okra is also effective to overcome other inconvenient problems during pregnancy. Some of those that can be overcome, is to keep sugar levels stable and maintain the health of the skin and hair.

# Lower Cholesterol Levels

No need to worry about consuming okra while pregnant, considering this vegetable does not contain any cholesterol and contains very low fat. Even better, the consumption of this vegetable can lower cholesterol levels in our body.

According to Harvard Health Publications, okra effectively binds to cholesterol so as to keep cholesterol levels stable. Of course this is very good for the health of the body during pregnancy because cholesterol levels during pregnancy tend to rise compared to the normal state.