5 Healthy Eating Tips for Nigerian Pregnant Women

You are what you eat. However, when you are pregnant, you are not only what you eat, your baby also is. Studies have shown that the fetus derives everything needed for its growth and survival, from the very moment of conception to the very moment of birth, from its mother. This includes nutrients, fluid, oxygen, and antibodies. Thus, we can never overemphasize how important it is to eat healthy as a pregnant woman, and you know what? Doing this doesn’t have to be burdensome. Here are 5 tips that would bring you closer toward achieving your healthy-eating goals and maximizing nutrients from available foods as a Nigerian pregnant woman.

1. Start your day with a healthy breakfast

Starting your day with a healthy meal when pregnant doesn’t only energize you, and of course your baby, for the day, it has also been observed to reduce the chances of you feeling hungry every single hour of the day, and that’s a good thing. As you continue reading, you’ll come to understand why that’s good, but for now, let’s get a glimpse of what a healthy breakfast should look like. Really, it’s not far-fetched. A healthy breakfast should span across all, or almost all the classes of food. So, you might want to consider easy combinations like bread and egg with home-made orange juice, or moin-moin(bean pudding) and pap/ eko(solid pap), or even your regular fortified cereal with a lot of milk, and then one apple. Any energy-rich, protein-containing, mineral-and-vitamin-including diet works just fine. Make sure you get enough water too. Also, you need to know that skipping breakfast is not a remedy for early-morning nausea. Find food combinations that work for you, instead. You can consider taking ginger tea or pepper-mint tea before having breakfast too, if that works for you.

2. Eat well, but don’t overeat

Some pregnant women are extra careful when it comes to eating because they are afraid of gaining too much weight. Other pregnant women in the bid to “eat for two” would make sure their mouths are busy all day. The danger of the former is that if you don’t eat well enough, your baby won’t get enough nutrient and can end up being underweight, and in extreme scenarios, the baby can die prenatally. Meanwhile, the danger of the later is that both the mother and the baby can become obese, and this can cause complications, and eventually lead to death. The solution, however, is to eat well, but not overeat. Having a healthy breakfast, like I’ve earlier stated, is one way to achieve this. Also, have a healthy lunch and dinner; experts advise that you should consider spreading your lunch, and even dinner, over 2 or 3 servings, rather than eat a large portion at once. Taking a lot of water all through the day helps too and if you ever feel like munching on something else during the day, you might want to consider healthy snacks, which leads us to the next tip.

Consider healthy snacks.

It’s very possible that even after having a good meal for breakfast and drinking just enough water, you still feel like snacking on something before your next lunch or dinner serving. However, rather than go for junk food that would provide your baby little or no nutrient and would only make both you and your baby gain unnecessary weight, consider healthy snacks. The best and cheapest form of healthy snacks still remain handy fruits like bananas, apples, oranges, watermelons etc. You can try fruit salads too. Youghurt as well has been proven to be a very nutritious snack for pregnant women as it contains fibres, calcium and other vitamins that are necessary for both your health and your baby’s growth. You can also consider other snacks rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals like smoothies, fruit parfaits, fruit-rich cakes, egg scrambles etc.

Vary your diet.

Every class of food plays a role in the proper growth and development of your baby. From carbohydrates and good fats that supply your baby with energy to proteins and minerals that provide a building block for your baby’s developing organs to even vitamins and water that allows the other nutrients to be properly utilized, your baby needs them all. Since no single food has been found to contain all the nutrients your baby needs, you need to make sure your diet is as varied and balanced as possible, from animal proteins to whole grains to legumes and to even fruits and vegetables. If for any reason, you don't eat some kinds of food, you need to find alternatives to getting the nutrients those food contain, and this might involves creating weekly or monthly meal plans that help you ensure you’re getting an adequate amount of every nutrient your baby needs. Creating the plan with someone, maybe your husband, or a friend could make the process more fun, and if you are particularly allergic to some kinds of food, then you should consider involving your dietician or doctor. 

Finally, eat clean.

Eating healthy is not just about eating right but also eating clean. While you endeavour to get a healthy breakfast, eat the right proportion of food, take healthy snacks and vary your diet, you also want to make sure that everything you eat is in a proper condition, so as not to compromise your baby’s mmune system and so your baby can get maximum nutrient from every food. Hence, you have make sure your fruits and vegetables are fresh, and avoid stale or pest-infested food. Also, make sure your fruits and food ingredients are properly washed before you use them. In addition, ensure that your food is always properly cooked. Avoid over-cooking vegetables as this can rid them of the water-soluble vitamins B and C. Make sure your meats are thoroughly cooked too. Basically, just make sure you eat clean.

Now, it hasn't only been established that what you eat as a pregnant woman greatly affects the growth and health of your baby, we’ve also looked into ways pregnant women can go about eating healthy without  particularly stressing themselves. I hope you take these tips into consideration these tips even as you choose your next breakfast and as you create your next meal plan because the healthier you eat, the healthier your baby.

5 Positive Ways Fasting can affect your Health as a Nigerian

Fasting is nothing out of the ordinary amongst we Nigerians. Indeed, we fast for several reasons ranging from religious to cultural to even political reasons. We also engage in different forms of fasting, which include dry fasting, water fasting, fruit fasting, and even white fasting. Some fast to consecrate themselves for a particular cause. Others fast because they are instructed to. Some even consider fasting as punishment to the body. However, have you ever really considered some of the positive ways fasting can affect your health? Well, here are five of them.

1. Fasting can slow down ageing

Ageing has to with gradual changes in your body that leads to a decline in bodily activities. Recent researches have shown that one of the underlying factors of this process is the accumulation of damaged cell over time, and fats and sugars have been found to be key players in the process of cell damage. When these nutrients are too many in your body cells, they overwork them and lead to what’s called oxidative stress, which eventually destroys those cells. Fasting, however, can lower the rate of these cell destruction, and thus slow down ageing.

2. Fasting can improve your brain functions

When you fast, you deprive your body of glucose, which is the major source of energy for many organs, and your body is forced to make use of fat stores. The brain also utilizes glucose, and during fasting periods, it has to find an alternative source of energy. Ketones, which are made from fats, are therefore used as substitutes. Ketones have been proven to be better energy sources for the brain, and this is why the brain functions are improved during fasting. Asides this, some researchers have found fasting to help in inhibiting inflammation of brain cells. This improves brain functions too.

3. Fasting can help you shed unhealthy Weight

If you’ve ever thought about getting rid of some extra weight, you’ve probably thought about fasting. Fasting is indeed an effective way of shedding weight and even maintaining a healthy weight. As earlier stated, when you fast, you deprive your body of calories in form of sugars and fats which compels your body to deploy your fat stores. As a result, you have higher chances of losing unhealthy weight, as long as you don’t go back to consume twice the calories you lost while fasting. 

 

4. Fasting can make your heart healthier.

One of the major reasons behind cardiovascular diseases like myocardial infarction and even heart failures is the build-up of fats in the coronary arteries which supply the heart. When you fast, however, the amount of fat in the blood is regulated and this prevents the clogging up of the coronary arteries by fats. This way, your heart will healthier, and you will have lesser chances of developing heart diseases. 

5. Fasting can have protective Functions

Apart from protecting some specific organs, fasting protects the body as a whole. It does this by inducing a process known as autophagy, which involves the clearing up of debris from cells and the removal of toxic or any potentially harmful material from the body. Researchers also believe that autophagy prevents progression of diseases like cancer and Alzheimer disease, etc.  Consequently, the body is protected.

Now, we see that beyond the religious and cultural significance of fasting, it is beneficial to your health. So, the next time there's a Ramadan fast or your pastor declares a fast, I hope you remember that fasting is not just about punishing your body, but is also a rewarding activity.

Top 5 Nigerian Myths about Peptic Ulcer

Peptic ulcer, known as ogbe inu in Yoruba, onya in igbo, and miki in hausa, can be simply defined as sore of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) or digestive tract lining, the stomach and the upper part of the small intestine especially. Although the prevalence of peptic ulcer in Nigeria is not exactly known yet, chances are that you know someone or you know someone that knows someone with stomach ulcer, which is the commonest type of peptic ulcer. However, there is still so much misconception around this disease. Let us take a look into some of them.
 

1. Skipping breakfast/fasting is the primary cause of Ulcer

Having breakfast regularly is a healthy practice, yet skipping breakfast is not the primary cause of ulcer. The stomach normally produces some acidic juices to aid food digestion. The lining of the GIT, however, is protected from the effects of the stomach juices. If these protective mechanisms get compromised, the acids can work on the walls of the digestive tract and ulcerate them. Recent studies have shown that the bacteria, Helicobacter pylori, which is introduced into the stomach and intestine through contaminated food and water, and coming in contact with contaminated fluids like saliva, poses a major threat to the integrity of the GIT walls and hence the primary cause of ulcer.

2. Eating some kinds of food can cause Ulcer

Many believe that eating a lot of peppery and acidic food can make one have peptic ulcer, but that, as far as research is concerned, is incorrect. The only type of food that can lead to the ulceration of your GIT is contaminated food, as earlier discussed. Peptic ulcer patients are advised to stay off spicy, rocky, and highly acidic food not because that was what caused the ulcer, but because their stomach walls are already injured and eating those foods will worsen the pain.

3. Peptic ulcer has no Cure

This is a myth you've probably heard  more than once. Yet, studies show that peptic ulcer can be cured if diagnosed early and treated properly. The first step in treating ulcer is identifying the cause and getting rid of it. Giving antibiotics against Helicobacter pylori have been proven to be an effective treatment for peptic ulcer. They can be used alongside proton pump blockers, which reduce the amount of stomach acids being secreted. Moreover, a group of drug known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), or simply put, painkillers, like aspirin and ibuprofen, if used regularly, can compromise the integrity of the GIT walls. Desisting from the use of these drugs can therefore be the first step in treating some ulcers. When these treatments begin early, are strictly adhered to and properly followed up, peptic ulcer can be cured, many of the times.

4. Overeating can cure Ulcer

People who eat regularly have lesser chances of having ulcer because whether your stomach is full or empty, it still produces acidic secretions. These secretions tend to work on the stomach walls when there’s no food in the stomach, hence an acidic environment makes the GIT more prone to ulceration. However, this is only a secondary cause of ulcer, as the digestive tract naturally has means of protecting its lining. The primary cause still needs to be taken away. So, overeating does not cure ulcer. It might make the patient feel better for a while. In extreme cases even, overeating can constipate the ulcer patient. This is why people with peptic ulcers are not advised to overeat, but to eat regularly.

5. Peptic ulcer is not a serious Disease

Many people feel peptic ulcer is a disease that anyone can endure for the rest of his life, so long his cupboard is filled with painkillers or herbal medicines. Well, it's true that many times, symptoms of peptic ulcers tend to be mild at the onset, however, in the long run, if causative agents aren't properly dealt with, ulcers can get serious and lead to internal bleeding and eventually death. In fact, in the World Health Organization (WHO) data published in 2020, Nigeria was ranked Nigeria as #31 out of countries with high death rates from peptic ulcer. Peptic ulcer is indeed a serious disease, and treatments should be sought for as soon as possible.

 

Now that you know what peptic ulcer is not, when next you come across any of these myths we just examined, you remember that they are nothing but what they are—myths.