Is it Right to Take Junk Food during Pregnancy?

In general, it is very important for the expectant mothers to eat healthy and nutritious food throughout the pregnancy. This helps both the mother and the baby to be healthy during pregnancy and after the child birth. In this articleJunk Food to be Avoided during PregnancyHealth Hazards of Eating Junk Food during PregnancyTips to Avoid Junk Foods during PregnancyPsychological Ways of Avoiding Junk Food during PregnancyAvoiding Junk Foods during Travel in Pregnancy?Junk Food to be Avoided during PregnancyThe most common junk food items to be avoided during pregnancy are the fast food items sold in the market which contain lot of oil, sugar, and salt. These fast foods taste good when consumed but would cause health hazards to the expectant mothers and the baby.Many pregnant women have the craving towards the sweets. But, it is not good to take too much of sweets sold in the market. This may even lead to the conditions of gestational diabetes. Instead, homemade sweets with less fat and sweet can be consumed in very low quantity once in a while to satisfy themselves during pregnancy. Caffeinated drinks, soft drinks and beverages sold in the market are also one among the junk foods to be avoided during pregnancy.Health Hazards of Eating Junk Food during PregnancyTaking junk foods containing excessive salt may lead to hypertension being developed for the expectant mothers. Consuming the junk foods containing too much of salt may cause swelling or oedema in the extremities that may cause discomfort during pregnancy. Junk foods containing excessive sugar may increase the sugar levels in the blood leading to gestational diabetes.Moreover, eating junk foods may cause obesity problems in the pregnant women leading to several other disorders during pregnancy such as insomnia, indigestion, abnormal mood fluctuations, and lower blood levels. Due to unhealthy food habits during pregnancy, the babies in the womb may also get affected due to mental illness, defects seen at birth, low body weight during birth and so on. Obesity problems can be seen in pregnant mothers consuming lot of junk foods and this directly affects the weight of the babies as well.Tips to Avoid Junk Foods during PregnancyIt is always advisable to take a healthy and filling breakfast after a long gap at night. Protein rich breakfast along with slight dairy products would give a filling feeling to the stomach that may last for some time. This can help in avoiding the urge to take junk foods often. It is good to consume healthy and nutritious salads and fruits in between the meals if required instead of taking junk foods. Even if the junk foods are taken, it is better to avoid consuming them in large quantities.Psychological Ways of Avoiding Junk Food during PregnancyMost of the expectant mothers know that it is good to consume nutritious diet. At the same time, when they are in hunger they would have the tendency to forget what to consume and what not to. In order to avoid such situations, the pregnant women can fill the complete refrigerator and the shelves where they store the snacks with nutritious snack items so that they would avoid consuming junk food during pregnancy.Avoiding Junk Foods during Travel in Pregnancy?It is better to avoid long journeys without taking breaks in between, during pregnancy. Moreover, even during shorter travels, it is always good to take homemade nutritious food items or nutritious snacks that can be prepared instantly along with them so that they need not depend on the junk foods sold in the market.It is highly recommended by the doctors for the pregnant women to take nutritious diet at regular intervals so as to ease childbirth and give birth to a healthy baby.