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Importance Of Folic Acid {Pregnancy}

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During pregnancy, the doctors advise and prescribe few supplements like folic acid, iron and calcium. As I said, I had severe nausea so I could barely eat anything. Because of this, I never cared about taking any of these supplements. When my husband shared the importance of these supplements, I felt really guilty. These supplements are really very important during pregnancy. Today I shall be sharing the importance of Folic acid for the baby.

So why is folic acid so important? 

Folic acid plays a huge part in the development of a baby’s neural tube. Insufficient folic acid has been shown to increase the chances of a neural tube defect in the unborn baby. A baby’s neural tube is the first part of the central nervous system that grows. By the time this part is fully developed, and baby is born, it has become the baby’s brain and spinal cord.

My husband suggested me to also get this supplement from food sources apart from taking the tablets. Some excellent food sources of folic acid include green leafy vegetables – dark lettuces, spinach, greens of all types, broccoli, beet root, lentils and beans and even calf’s liver, fruits sources – oranges, grape fruit, raspberries. If you find these foods too unpalatable for you, then it’s an excellent idea to take a folic acid supplement. Folic acid is also found in copious amounts in non-vegetarian sources such as turkey and chicken livers.

For a pregnant woman, per day intake of folic acid should be 400-600mcg. These are the things I am sharing with my own experience and a bit of knowledge but it is always advisable to consult your doctor before blindly taking anything.

Thanks for such a great post Punam 🙂 And, hope you all find this helpful. Btw, I would like to tell you all about Punam’s blog as well – be beautiful with Punam.
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Is rheumatoid arthritis hereditary? {Your Opinion}

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I would request you all to please answer the question in case you know any doctor, you are a doctor or you have any one in your family or friends with such cases. I need some information regd. this disease.
For the uninitiated, rheumatoid arthritis is an auto-immune disease which occurs mainly in the joints but not necessarily restricted to it. The cause of the disease is as of yet unknown but a mistaken identity flares up the disease. The white blood cells start killing the body’s own cells thinking them to be foreign substances. In case of rheumatoid arthritis, they mainly attack the joints.
Apparently, according to wiki, low levels of vitamin D can also trigger this disease. For those who do not know, Vitamin D is extremely important to prevent any disease related to the bones. So, if you are getting less of Vitamin D, I would suggest you to eat a balanced diet and get good dose of sun everyday. Also, deficiency of calcium leads to arthritis so better to get a good dose of it. Waiting for your comments 🙂

How to deal with nausea? {Pregnancy}

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Motherhood is a divine emotion. It’s obviously a good news to know that you are going to be a mother but one has to be more responsible and caring coz your body is going to face drastic changes and you have a new life inside. Pregnancy starts with the feeling of nausea and morning sickness for almost all the pregnant women. Today I am sharing my own experience of the first trimester and how I managed them.

What is nausea? 
It’s feeling of uneasiness that makes you urge to vomit. It’s not always necessary that one vomits.
In pregnancy this feeling is stronger in morning. The reasons given are hormonal changes. As I am not a doctor (I am just a doctor’s wife), so I am not going to go into the details. I had severe nausea and vomits till the 5thmonth and then it reduced gradually. But, the degree of nausea differs from body to body.
Few things that can help you deal with this problem – Do’s
  • As soon as you wake up in the morning, eat something. Don’t keep yourself starving. 
  • If you have a habit to start your day with tea, change it now. Either skip it or add some toast or biscuits with it and even ginger tea can help you but my mom used to say take ginger tea only in colder climate so I avoid it in the summers. 
  • It’ll be great if you take an apple early morning and even before going to bed coz this will help clean your stomach and keeps you energetic.
  • Citrus fruits are a great help in feeling of nausea. I always used to eat or chew lemon or orange slices whenever I felt nausea.
  • Place potato chips or crackers near your bed so that whenever u feel hungry, you can eat them. This can suppress vomit but remember excess of anything is harmful, so just take few bites.
  • Try to get up during night to eat something so that u may not feel too sick and weak in the morning.
Dont’s:
  • Stay way from strong smells.
  • Don’t starve at all.
  • Stay away from spicy food, colas and caffeine.
  • Don’t get over-tired.
  • Stay away from stress.
About the Author: This post has been written by Punam. Thank you so much Punam for sharing your experience and I am looking forward to more posts from you 🙂 What say, guys sorry, gals?