What you eat is what you are is a common saying many people use when they want to hint at people eating healthy or unhealthy. It is common knowledge that the food you eat has a direct impact on your physical health. What about your mental health? Can your food affect your emotional stability? Especially when pregnant?
A diet rich in all essential vitamins and minerals can support the emotional well-being of an expecting mother. Nutrients like folate, iron, B vitamins, magnesium, and a few minerals play an important role in mood regulation. The food you eat will impact your energy levels which in turn can affect your moods.
Let’s try to understand this with a simple example. During pregnancy, it is quite common for the expecting mother to feel tired or crave something sweet. When she eats too much sugar, her body has a glucose spike and will be filled with energy. She finds the mental and physical energy to get a lot of her work done. Then the sugar levels dip once they are used up. Both her energy levels and mood crash. Now, she is more tired and irritable than before. A similar pattern exists with all essential nutrients.
Mood swings are very common in any pregnancy. The hormonal fluctuations impact the expecting mother’s moods to a great extent. However, her nutrition also plays a key role in balancing all these hormones and her moods. Emotional stability in pregnancy is important for the following reasons:
Maternal emotional state of mind can affect the fetal nervous system development
Babies born to more depressed mothers have a lesser connection between the parts of the brain responsible for controlling behaviour, speech, reasoning, and reactions.
An increase in stress hormones in the mother during pregnancy can increase the risk of anxiety and ADHD in the baby after birth.
The foods you eat have a direct impact on your moods. Studies show that the quality of a pregnant woman’s diet can affect her mental health. Poor diet quality can cause depressive symptoms, as well as stress.
Let’s take a deeper look into how a pregnant woman’s diet can influence her moods.
1. Sugar – As mentioned earlier, fluctuations in sugar levels can cause fluctuations in her energy levels, making her irritable, tired, and also gloomy. Eating foods rich in protein and complex carbs can ensure slow steady release of sugar and maintain the glucose balance in the blood.
2. Magnesium – Magnesium is an essential mineral that can help with stress, anxiety, depression, and mood regulation. Most prenatal vitamins include magnesium, as it is very important during pregnancy.
3. Folate – Many are aware that folate helps develop the fetal brain and spine and reduces the risk of birth defects. Some studies show that low levels of folate can lead to depression, affect cognitive function, increase the risk of dementia, and can also cause neuropsychiatric disturbances in the expecting mother.
4. Water—Hydration is very important during pregnancy. Increasing water intake can not only avoid dehydration and increase blood supply but also prevent irritability and improve digestion. Feeling thirsty, having a headache, or having indigestion due to dehydration can really tire out an expecting mom.
5. Caffeine—Excess caffeine can overstimulate the mother-to-be and also impact fetal brain development. It can also interrupt food consumption and sleep patterns and cause energy spikes and crashes. All of these can affect the emotional stability of any person.
6. Omega 3 – Omega 3s during pregnancy are important for the brain health and emotional stability of the mother. You can find Omega 3s in fish, nuts, and seeds. They can help reduce the risk of depression and anxiety during pregnancy.
Just like the above components of a diet, fats, carbs, proteins, other vitamins, and minerals play a role in both the physical and mental health of a pregnant woman. Consuming a well-balanced nutritious diet can ensure emotional stability during pregnancy.
So, what can you do? Here are a few dos and don’ts with regard to your diet during pregnancy for better emotional stability:
Avoid consuming foods with excess sugar. You can consume sugar as long as you don’t suffer from gestational diabetes, but limit your intake and space it out throughout the day.
Don’t consume more than two cups of coffee a day, and try to have it on the first of the day so that all the caffeine effects can wear off before bedtime.
Follow a nutrient-rich diet. Take help from a dietician if necessary.
It’s okay to give into cravings as long as they are in limited quantities.
Ensure you keep hydrating as dehydration can be mistaken for hunger, making you eat anything you can reach first.
Practice yoga or some activity to keep you both fit and calm. Reducing stress can prevent you from stress eating – which in turn can increase your mood swings. It can be a vicious cycle.
Chew and eat your food slowly. Rushing your meals can cause you to eat more than you need, leading to unnecessary weight gain, feeling too full or uncomfortable later, sugar spikes, and postprandial somnolence (food coma).
Be mindful of the food allergies and sensitivities. Avoid consuming foods that can make you feel bloated or nauseous.
Opt for healthy snacks for pregnancy instead of heavily processed food rich in cholesterol or sugar.
A pregnant woman’s emotional stability does not depend entirely on her food. While your diet is under your control, your emotions and feelings are not completely under your control. If you are feeling anxious or depressed during pregnancy and a change in your diet does not seem to help much, seek professional help. Mental health during pregnancy is not to be ignored. Getting the right help at the right time can positively impact both mother and baby’s health.
The food you eat has a direct impact on your energy levels and, in turn, affects your moods. Lack of certain nutrients can increase the risk of depression, anxiety, lack of motivation, etc.
Hydration is essential to maintain the delicate balance and communication between the brain and body parts. Dehydration can affect the way signals are sent and received, thus affecting both physical and mental health in pregnant women.
Prenatal vitamins contain various essential nutrients in different combinations. They can help ensure the pregnant woman gets all her essential nutrients but may not help stabilise her mood. She may require more specific medicines to address the mood swings.
