The most important thing a pregnant mother should know about their diet during pregnancy is that not all of the foods they have consumed that is good for their health is also good for their fetal growing in their womb. Simple example is green vegetables are good for a pregnant mother because it is rich of iron that has significant role in producing red blood cell for the fetal development.
However, uncooked vegetables could cause harm for the fetal because of some chemicals (non-organic products) or even the organic ones still contained dangerous parasite and bacteria that could harm the unborn infant. It is also the same with meat products, the risk of contamination is higher in meat products than in vegetables products; and one example of meat products that widely consumed by people is bacon. There are a lot of good stuffs contained in a slice of bacon but you should aware of all the bad stuffs too.
Health Benefits of Bacon during Pregnancy
- Super Food for Brain
The good development of brain in unborn infant means the possibility of a baby born with good intelligent is higher. Bacon considered as super food for brain development in unborn infant. Bacon contained choline; it is micronutrients which is the main nutrients found in bacon. Recent study conducted in University of North Carolina has proven that choline is very beneficial for the baby’s brain development, especially related to memory and could reduce the risk of Alzheimer.
- High Source of Protein
Just like any meat product, bacon is very high of protein. Protein is crucial for the fetal development, building the strong bones and teeth, creating skin, muscle and hair required high protein. That’s why for a vegetarians, they should work harder to find replacement of protein which is mostly found in meat products and bacon as meat products is the best source to provide enough protein during pregnancy.
- Low in Carbohydrate and Rich in Saturated Fat
Consuming low carbohydrate could help a pregnant mother controlling their weight because the main reason of obesity is consuming too much carbohydrate. Besides that, bacon is also one of those foods which are rich of saturated fat. Well, it is true that saturated fat considered as one of those unhealthy fat but do you know that even this unhealthy fat has healthy quality to help a pregnant mother dealing with their craving. One of the main effects of consuming foods with saturated fat contained is you could eat less but get full faster.
- Potent Antioxidant
Selenium might be not really popular properties but its role is not something you could take for granted because selenium is a potent antioxidant. Just like a popular belief, antioxidant has prominent role as cell protector. So, consuming bacon is a delicious way to deal with free radical that could harm both baby and the mother.
- Source of Vitamin B and Phosphorous
Phosphorous is prominent for the building block of DNA while vitamin B is important for the building of nervous system.
Negatives Side of Bacon
- Higher Risk of Contamination
Bacteria and parasite contamination could cause serious infection for the unborn infant that could lead to miscarriage or a baby born with birth defect condition. The best way to deal with it is an expectant mother should make sure to avoid consuming any raw meat products, including bacon. Besides that, making sure that raw bacon you store won’t contaminate any foods stored by the bacon is also very important, especially type of foods that you could eat directly like fruits or vegetables.
- Preservatives in Processed Food
Bacon is processed food so the using of preservatives is unavoidable. However, processed food is not always bad; consuming it in adequate quantity is still safe for pregnant mother.
- Contained Too High Sodium Nitrate
How to eat smartly is not the only thing an expectant mother should learn, how to shop wisely is also one important thing a mother should know. Do you know that right now there is Nitrate-free bacon which is widely offered today? It could be one of the solutions to avoid consuming too much sodium.
- Rich in Saturated Fat
Well, as mentioned above even the saturated fat has quality to assist a pregnant mother dealing with their craving but still consuming this bad fat could be dangerous. Making sure that the daily diet program has been approved by the specialist.
The best thing to do to get all the nutrients from bacon and avoid all the bad effects is simply just by cooking it properly and consuming it wisely. By cooking it properly you could make sure all the bacteria and parasites won’t enter your body system and by consuming it wisely an expectant mother could make sure all important nutrients found in bacon could be absorbed without endanger the unborn infant.