Can pregnant women eat spinach?

Expectant mothers during pregnancy should pay special attention to their daily eating habits and the foods they eat, because many foods can cause harm to expectant mothers during pregnancy, and in severe cases can even affect the baby in the expectant mother's belly. Spinach is a vegetable food that people often eat, but pregnant mothers still don't know whether they can eat spinach. So, can pregnant women eat spinach?

First, can pregnant women eat spinach? Spinach contains a large amount of plant crude fiber, which can promote intestinal peristalsis, facilitate defecation, promote pancreatic secretion, and help digestion. The carotene contained in spinach is converted into vitamin A in the human body, which can maintain normal vision and the health of epithelial cells, increase the ability to prevent infectious diseases, and promote the growth and development of children. The purpose of pregnant women eating spinach is to get more iron from it to prevent iron deficiency anemia during pregnancy. Some people think that the more spinach you eat, the less likely you are to develop anemia. But some people on the Internet say that pregnant women cannot eat spinach. So, why can't pregnant women eat spinach?

Second, Japanese scholars recently discovered through experiments that spinach can aggravate anemia. The reason is that the main component of spinach is oxalic acid, which prevents iron from being absorbed by the small intestine and instead causes it to be excreted from the body. Inadequate iron absorption can hinder the formation of hemoglobin, leading to anemia. The more spinach you eat, the more it hinders the small intestine's absorption of iron, making anemia worse. In addition, oxalic acid has a destructive effect on zinc and calcium that cannot be underestimated. Zinc and calcium are indispensable trace elements for the human body. If the human body lacks zinc, people will experience loss of appetite and decreased sense of taste. Once children lack calcium, they may develop rickets, pigeon breasts, bow legs, and slow tooth growth.

Can pregnant women eat spinach? If pregnant women eat too much spinach, it will undoubtedly be detrimental to the development of the fetus. Therefore, pregnant women should not eat too much spinach. To prevent and treat anemia during pregnancy, you should take medication under the guidance of a doctor, eat more foods rich in iron, and avoid a purely vegetarian diet. So in fact, pregnant women can eat spinach, but they must pay attention to a rich diet.