How much grapefruit can a pregnant woman eat in a day

In life, pregnant women are a group of people who need special protection. Because of being pregnant, there will be various inconveniences. In order to allow the fetus to develop and grow more healthily, pregnant women should also pay attention to some matters in daily life, especially in terms of diet. So, can pregnant women eat grapefruit? Actually, it is possible, because grapefruit contains folic acid, which has many benefits for pregnant women. However, pregnant women should eat grapefruit in moderation.

1. The role of grapefruit

Patients with hypertension often take antihypertensive drugs to eliminate excess sodium from the body and maintain normal biochemical metabolic balance, but at the same time they often cause the loss of essential potassium in the body. Potassium is very important for maintaining the functions of the heart, blood vessels and kidneys. Grapefruit is one of the few fruits that is rich in potassium and contains almost no sodium. Therefore, it is the best therapeutic fruit for patients with high blood pressure, heart disease and kidney disease.

Studies have found that when the human body consumes too much high-fat, high-calorie food, it will have overnutrition and increased blood lipids. A large amount of lipids, especially low-density lipoproteins, will adhere to the inner walls of the arteries, causing arteriosclerosis, leading to insufficient blood supply to important organs such as the heart, brain, and kidneys, causing heart disease or brain and kidney diseases. Grapefruit is rich in pectin, which can lower the content of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, reduce damage to arterial blood vessel walls, maintain blood vessel function, and prevent heart disease.

2. Benefits of eating grapefruit during pregnancy

Grapefruit also contains natural folic acid. Folic acid is not only very important for early pregnancy, but is also essential throughout pregnancy. As the fetus's body tissues grow rapidly during pregnancy, pregnant women need a lot of folic acid to meet the needs of the fetus. Folic acid deficiency will not only increase the incidence of pregnancy-induced hypertension and placental abruption, but also cause pregnant women to suffer from megaloblastic anemia, intrauterine growth retardation of the fetus, premature birth and low birth weight of the newborn. Therefore, grapefruit is also the fruit of choice for pregnant women.

3. What fruits should pregnant women eat?

Pregnant mothers should choose fruits with relatively low sugar content, such as watermelon, apples, pears, oranges, peaches, grapes, etc., and do not eat more than 500 grams of fruit a day. Patients with abnormal sugar metabolism during pregnancy or gestational diabetes should reduce the amount by half. It is best to wait until blood sugar is under stable control before eating fruit. In addition, if you like to eat fruits with high sugar content such as bananas, pineapples, lychees, and persimmons, you must reduce the amount. The best time to eat fruit is between meals, which will not make your blood sugar too high and can prevent the occurrence of hypoglycemia.