It’s hard to imagine something low in calories yet tasty to eat. Of course, we are talking about peaches! Eating peaches during pregnancy can help you meet your daily vitamin C requirements along with several other nutrients. Peaches are tasty and nutritious fruits that resemble little apples and are a good addition to your pregnancy diet. However, as with most things, they should be consumed in moderation. In this post, we tell you how peach is good for pregnant women, its health benefits, and ways to include it in your diet when expecting.
Is It Safe To Eat Peaches During Pregnancy?
It is safe to consume peaches in moderate amounts. Peaches are rich in iron, protein, sugar, pectin and zinc. Eating the whole fruit is healthy. Wash the peaches well and eat them fresh or cooked in a recipe.
Nutritional Value Of Peaches
One medium sized peach fruit (about 150 grams) provides you with the following nutrients (1):
Calories – 59 Carbohydrates – 15g Protein – 1.4g Fat – 0.4g Fiber – 2.3g Vitamin C – 6.3mg Vitamin A – 37 µg Potassium – 185mg Magnesium – 12mg Iron – 0.5mg
Now you know that peach is good in nutritional values. But in what way are these values going to benefit your body?
Benefits Of Eating Peaches During Pregnancy
Peaches are high in vitamins and minerals, which are vital for you and your growing fetus.
1. Vitamin C
Peaches are super rich in vitamin C, which is essential for the formation of the baby’s bones, teeth, muscles, cartilage and blood vessels. 100 grams of peach fruit gives you 6.6 milligrams of this vitamin. Vitamin C helps in easy absorption of iron into your body, helping you prevent anemia. You can also mitigate the chances of preterm labor (2) and reduce those stretch marks.
2. Folic acid
100 grams of peach fruit gives around four micrograms of folic acid. Folic acid is an essential nutrient during your first trimester. It helps in the baby’s brain and spine development and prevents the fetus from neural tube defects like spina bifida (3).
3. Potassium
Peaches contain potassium, which helps you deal with everyday pregnancy woes. It minimizes the uneasiness like fatigue, lightheadedness, anxiety, leg cramps, swollen ankles, and feet, which are common during pregnancy. It maintains fluid balance in the mother and the baby.
4. Fiber
Peaches are a good source of dietary fiber, offering around 1.5 grams per 100 grams of fruit. It, therefore, helps you keep the fiber content optimal during pregnancy by dealing with constipation, indigestion, and other gastrointestinal issues. Having a peach every day will help in regular bowel movements.
5. Natural detox
Peaches are natural detoxifying agents. While cleaning up your stomach and intestines, peaches also flush out unwanted toxins and waste from other organs such as liver, kidney, and spleen. What’s more, they also keep your heart function better.
6. Beta-carotene
Peaches are a natural source of this wonder vitamin., a precursor of vitamin A. Eating peaches helps you fill up your body with healthy levels of beta carotene. Beta Carotene helps in boosting the immune system of your body as well as your baby.
7. Reduce baby weight
Peaches also help you post delivery by helping you lose all that baby weight. Consuming peaches that are low in calories and high in nutrients helps you get rid of unwanted fat and regulate the functioning of your body.
8. Phosphorus
The recommended daily allowance of phosphorus during pregnancy is 700 milligrams, and 100 grams of peach fruit provides 20 mg of this nutrient. It helps build strong bones in both the mother and growing baby.
9. Magnesium
Peaches contain a considerable amount of magnesium, which helps prevent premature contractions of the uterus and wards off leg cramps and constipation during pregnancy.
10. Antiemetic property
The antiemetic property of peaches provides you relief from morning sickness. You may consume peach tea to avoid vomiting. Thus, peaches do all the good you want during pregnancy. But you cannot eat them the way you want.
Pesticide Concerns And Organic Options
A big concern in eating peaches is the high amount of pesticides present in them. The tests conducted by the US Department of Agriculture in 2008 showed that there were more than 50 pesticide residues on imported and domestic peaches. It also revealed that peaches are one of the 12 most pesticide-contaminated fruits. Therefore, buy organic peaches to rule out any fears. Even if you are buying organic fruits, you need to be careful about other negative impacts.
How Much Peach Fruit Can A Pregnant Woman Have?
During pregnancy, you need to eat all food in moderation. You should not consume more than 500 grams of peach a day. According to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, you may eat four to five cups of fruits and vegetables every day all through your pregnancy. You can try to limit yourself to two peaches a day along with other fruits and veggies. But you can benefit from the fruit only if you are buying the right peaches.
How To Choose Peaches?
The fruit should be fairly firm. The skin hue between the red areas should be yellow or creamy.
It should not be hard or very firm with a distinct green hue, which means it is unripe.
It should not be overripe too.
Peaches should not have large flattened bruises or any other signs of decay.
So, you understood the goodness of peaches and bought the right peaches. What do you do now?
How To Include Peach In Your Pregnancy Diet?
Peaches are usually available from May to November and fall under two categories – Freestones, which can be eaten fresh as well as frozen, while Clingstones are useful for canning and sometimes sold fresh.
Slice the fruit and add it to hot or cold cereal as a morning meal, or include it as a dessert.
Include peaches in fruit kebabs. Take a wooden skewer, thread a chunk of peach, rockmelon, watermelon, grape and any fruit of your choice.
Prepare a smoothie with peeled peach, banana, a chunk of pineapple and ice cubes. Blend them until you get a smooth consistency.
Grill peaches when you plan to have a barbecue. Cut the fruit in half, deseed, brush with a light oil like canola and grill over a medium heat until it turns tender. You can have it along with a scoop of yogurt.
