From a few days of queasiness to nine months of nausea, mothers experience various levels of morning sickness during pregnancy. Finding relief from morning sickness seems like a priority to most mothers in their first trimester. Even more challenging can be finding foods that you can tolerate or keep down. Here is a list of foods that are gentle on your stomach and known to help with pregnancy-related nausea.
Lemons are Known to Relieve Morning Sickness
Although they might not seem like a logical food choice, lemons can be one of the most effective foods to curb pregnancy-related nausea. Many moms enjoy sucking on a slice of lemon or adding a slice of lemon to a glass of warm or cool water can also be soothing. Why not try sipping on home-made lemonade? There are tons of great recipes online for making fresh lemonade that can help to quell nausea.
Bananas Can Help Curb Morning Sickness
Because of their high vitamin B6 content, bananas are one of the favorite foods to beat morning sickness. (Vitamin B6 has been shown to reduce symptoms of morning sickness.) They are easy on the stomach and are known to be acid fighters to help protect against stomach ulcers. Bananas are also jam-packed with other healthy nutrients such as vitamin C, potassium and they even contain about 10% of your dietary intake of fiber.
Crackers are a Tried-and True Method for Morning Sickness
Perhaps it is just due to the fact that crackers, (especially saltines) can help to absorb some of the stomach acid and they are easy to digest that they have become a favorite morning sickness food. You might find that eating a few crackers before you get out of bed in the morning can help curb some of your pregnancy-related nausea symptoms. Some mothers take along a few in their handbag or purse to snack on throughout the day since having a completely empty stomach worsens morning sickness.
Baked or Mashed Potatoes are Easy on Digestion
Another easy to digest food that is a favorite for mothers with morning sickness is a baked or mashed potato. Potatoes are always a big comfort food for many Americans and are easy to boil, bake or microwave. They are loaded with vitamin B6 and if you avoid all of the butter, cheese and sour cream, one potato only contains about 132 calories.
Finding Foods That Ease Your Morning Sickness
If you are struggling with finding your own best foods to beat morning sickness, you might experiment with a variety of foods just to see what agrees with you or not. Sometimes you might find that fresh vegetables or a salad make your symptoms worse, while cooked vegetables are fine. Some mothers find that carbs tend to work better for pregnancy-related nausea than harder to digest proteins such as beef or pork. Feel free to explore with many foods in your pregnancy diet so that you can find what works best for you until your morning sickness symptoms subside.
Brenda Lane - Brenda Lane is a published author, Lamaze certified childbirth educator, DONA certified birth doula and approved birth doula trainer.
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