Pomegranate fruit, which has botanical name Punica granatum, is widely cultivated throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. At the beginning, this fruit was introduced into America and by Spanish settlers in 1769. This fruit is commonly consumed directly, while many people also using it as a juice, or as garnishes in various kinds of food.
As any other fruits, pomegranate fruit also offers you tons of benefits for your health, But, do you know that pomegranate juice is one of the best fruits to consume when you’re getting pregnant? Because of its proven benefits for pregnant women, ancient Egyptians use a pomegranate fruit as a symbol of fertility. Before we provide you with the health benefits of pomegranate fruit for pregnant women, firstly let’s see the nutrients that contained in a pomegranate fruit.
Nutritional Facts Of Pomegranate Fruit
| Energy | 346 kJ (83 kcal) |
| Carbohydrates | 18,7 gram |
| Sugars | 13,67 grams |
| Dietary Fibers | 4 gram |
| Fat | 1.17 gram |
| Protein | 1.67 gram |
| Vitamins | |
| Thiamine (B1) | 0.067 mg (6%) |
| Riboflavin (B2) | 0.053 mg (4%) |
| Niacin (B3) | 0.293 mg (2%) |
| Panthothenic Acid (B5) | 0.377 mg (8%) |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.075 mg (6%) |
| Folate (B9) | 38 µg (10%) |
| Choline | 7.6 mg (2%) |
| Vitamin C | 10.2 mg (12%) |
| Vitamin E | 0.6 mg (4%) |
| Vitamin K | 16.4 µg (16%) |
| Minerals | |
| Calcium | 10 mg (1%) |
| Iron | 0.3 mg (2%) |
| Magnesium | 12 mg (3%) |
| Manganese | 0.119 mg (6%) |
| Phosphorus | 36 mg (5%) |
| Potassium | 236 mg (5%) |
| Sodium | 3 mg (0%) |
| Zinc | 0.35 mg (4%) |
Health benefits of pomegranate fruit during pregnancy is very important for pregnant and fetal development. These are the benefits that you and your upcoming baby can get if you consume pomegranate fruit during your pregnancy.
1. An Excellent Source of Fibers
Many experts say that half cup of pomegranate fruit contains five grams of fiber. This fiber is esential for you during pregnancy. If you are getting pregnant, you will be most likely to have problems related to gastric distress and constipation.
But, you don’t have to worry as that problem is harmless for you and your child, although it makes you feel the pain and discomfort. Eating pomegranate that contains a high amount of fiber would help you to ease the pain caused by this constipation.
2. An Excellent Source of Iron
During your pregnancy, ensuring that you have sufficient amount iron in the body is one of the most important things to do. When you are suffering a lack of iron during your pregnancy, it will lead to the risk of anemia.
This anemia, if untreated well, will bring some serious problems for your baby’s health, such as premature labor or your baby will born in such a low weight.
To prevent this iron deficiency problem, pomegranate fruit is one the best natural cure rather than the iron pills that your doctor gave to you. Pomegranate is one of the fruit that contains perfect amounts of iron.
3. Great Source of Vitamin C
Just like most of the fruits, pomegranate contains high amounts of Vitamin C. The Vitamin C is truly beneficial for every woman that getting pregnant. These are the benefits of Vitamin C during your pregnancy.
- This vitamin can help to absorb the iron from various foods into your body, which will facilitate you to gain the full benefit of iron that already described above.
- This vitamin is also a fundamental aspect to repairing your tissue and healing your wound as quickly as possible, especially right after you giving a birth when your body need to recover.
- This vitamin will help your body to make collagen, which is a structural protein to keep you and your baby’s bones become stronger and healthier.
- Based on some studies, vitamin C is also essential to maximizes the mental development of your baby.
4. An Excellent Source of Vitamin K
Pomegranate fruit also contains a high level of Vitamin K which will truly beneficial for pregnant women. These are the advantages the Vitamin K could bring to you during your pregnancy.
- Vitamin K can take a vital role in strengthening your bones and also it will help to develop the strength of your baby’s bones.
- Vitamin K is also an herbal cure for blood clotting that could happen to you and your baby during the pregnancy, enables your wound to cure properly. This is really important, especially after you are giving a birth and your body need to recover as quickly as possible.
- Vitamin K is truly beneficial for your baby’s health immediately right after you are giving a birth. If your baby is suffering from Vitamin K deficiency, that would increase their risk to have a lot of bleeding after the birth.
5. High Amount of Potassium
Potassium is one of the minerals that played an important role to everything that related in maintaining fluid and the balance of your electrolyte in the body. So, it is truly beneficial for pregnant women to consume pomegranate, which is an excellent source of potassium and here are the benefit that you could get if you are consuming pomegranate related to its potassium component.
- During your pregnancy, that is no doubt that your blood volume will expand up to 50 percent than the normal women. As the consequences, you need more electrolytes like potassium to keep the extra fluid in the right chemical balance.
- Potassium is also essential to help your muscle to contract, especially when your pregnancy is already at the later stage and you are about to giving a birth to your baby.
- The potassium deficiency will make you have a high risk to suffer from various cramps during the pregnancy. So, it is really important to consume pomegranate to ensure that you will prevented from cramps, especially leg cramps.
6. High Amount of Folate
Pomegranate fruit contains high amount of folate. Folate is one of the most important components to consider during your pregnancy because it will boost both of you and your baby’s development.
Every pregnant woman needs to consume pomegranate fruit to take an extra folate as it would ptotect you from neural tube defects that can cause various disabilities such as loss of bladder, bowel control, or paralysis in the leg.
If you consume pomegranate fruit on a daily routine during your early pregnancy, you will be most likely to avoid from seven out of ten cases related to neural defects .
7. Great Number of Phytochemical Compounds
Pomegranate fruit contains high amounts of phytochemical compounds. This component is essential to fight against cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. During your pregnancy, it is very important to maintain your blood pressure.
During your last stage of pregnancy, your blood pressure will rise suddenly and this is not good. Eating pomegranate fruit will help you to lowering your blood pressure and also it will protect you from serious problem associated with pre-eclampsia during your pregnancy.
8. Source of Antioxidant
Pomegranate contains a rich source of vitamin C which without a doubt will make this fruit can release the antioxidant. During your pregnancy, antioxidant is one of the most important compounds that you need to get a healthy pregnancy.
With antioxidant, you will be protected from problem associated with placental injury, because of its ability to fight against free radicals which will beneficial to repair the damage that occur in the cells of the placenta. This antioxidant will also reduce the risk of injury within the embryo’s brain.
9. Prevents Brain Damage
There are some studies that conducted in mice, that the pomegranate fruit will be an effective way to protect yourself from the brain damage due to poor oxygen with its polyphenols compounds.
During the pregnancy, your brain will be at risk due to lack of oxygen which will lead to problems such as premature labor and developmental irregularities. Eating pomegranate will be the best way to protect you from that.
10. Keep You Hydrated and Fulfills the Calories
During your pregnancy, the requirements of calories that you must fulfill will be increased because your baby needs some nutrients from the food that you just ate.
Eating pomegranate fruit will help you to fulfill the needs of calories as it is contains pretty high amounts of calories and nutrients.
Pomegranate is also one of the most juiciest fruits that contains a lot of water, something that is essential to keep you hydrated during your pregnancy.
Tips to Consume Pomegranate Fruit
Pomegranate fruit is very delicious, juicy, and of course can give you a lot of benefits for your health. Either you want to consume it directly or mix it with many variations, we assure you that you will still like it anyway. Here we served you several tips to consume a healthy pomegranate fruit.
- Eat it Directly
If you want to eat it directly, you need to follow these steps.
- You should pick a pomegranate fruit that has thin, tough, and heavy on its weight because the heavier the pomegranate is, the juicier it will be.
- Cuts the pomegranate fruit with your knife.
- Then, soak it in the cold water as the water would help to loosen its seed.
- While the fruit is in under water, try to separate the seeds with your hand.
- After that, scoop the seeds that floated on top of the water. Let it dry for 5 minutes.
- You can eat the seeds rightly afterwards
- If you don’t want to eat it afterwards, store it and refrigerate it for no more than three days.
- Mix it With Various Foods
Sometimes you will be pretty boring with the foods that you usually eat every time and you need some variaton, so adding pomegranate fruits to your ordinary foods is the great solution. Here are the variations you could try with pomegranate fruit.
- Pour your pomegranate seeds into your morning oatmeal, or cereal.
- Mix the pomegranate seeds into your tea.
- Mix the pomegranate juice into your fruit juice
- You can add pomegranate seeds into various kinds of salad
- Make Your Own Pomegranate Juice
You can make your own pomegranate juice by putting your pomegranate seeds into a blender until they are liquified. Then, pour the pomegranate liquid with your strainer, add an ice cube, and a healthy and juicy pomegranate juice is ready to accompany your day.
Pomegranate Warnings For Pregnant Women
While the pomegranate fruit will give you tons of benefits for you and your upcoming baby, you still need to give an attention on the following things regarded to this fruit before you decide to consume it. Here are some warnings that you should take a look at regarding to this fruit.
- You must avoid pomegranate extract when you decide to consume it. Based on a research conducted by the University of Maryland Medical Center, pomegranate seed extract could stimulate uterine contractions. Meanwhile, eating the fruit directly or drink it as a juice doesn’t have the same effects. So, you shouldn’t worry to consume this fruit during your pregnancy as long as you eat it, or drink it as a juice.
- Pomegranate fruit contains pretty high amounts of calories. So, you should consider to not over-consume it since the high amount of calories in the body will lead to many consequences related to your pregnancy such as pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, and premature labor.
Now you already know that is truly beneficial for you to consume pomegranate fruit during pregnancy, especially if this is the first time you are getting pregnant. We know that every woman would hope that they can get through a healthy pregnancy. So, pomegranate fruit is one of the fruits that will help you to get a healthy pregnancy.