During pregnancy it is essential for every woman to take care of self and the baby she is carrying in her womb. In fact pregnancy warrants you to have a healthy diet and healthy drinks which are nutritious and flavorful. Coconut water is a great drink that is recommended for everyone, including the pregnant women. It helps in regulating the digestive tract, relieve morning sickness, and many more. So, if you are pregnant then you should try adding coconut water to your daily diet.
Coconut water is free from cholesterol and it can be taken anytime. There are a lot of essential health benefits of drinking coconut water during pregnancy. Let us take a look on some of the benefits in the following array of the article.
Nutritional Facts Of Coconut Water:
Coconuts are grown in abundance in tropical countries and coconut water is consumed since centuries because of its excellent medicinal properties. Pregnant women are often benefited from coconut water as it is cholesterol-free and contains minerals like potassium, magnesium, and several other minerals which help in increasing the output of urine in pregnant women which is quite important during pregnancy. It can be said that coconut water is a balanced nutritive drink and is also quite refreshing.
100 grams of tender coconut water contains around 94.99 grams of water, 19 Kcal of energy, 2.61 grams of sugars, 24 mg of calcium, 25 mg of magnesium, 20 mg of phosphorus, 250 mg of potassium, and 105mg of sodium. Coconut water also contains chlorides, electrolytes, Riboflavin, and vitamin C in it.
15 Essential Benefits Of Drinking Coconut Water During Pregnancy:
1. Coconut Water Hydrates You:
One of the most essential health benefits of drinking coconut water during pregnancy is that it hydrates you well. Coconut water is around, 95% pure water.(1) So, this can be an excellent option during pregnancy to drink, as the water keeps you well hydrated and provides required electrolytes.
2. It Is A Natural Diuretic:
Coconut water is known to be a natural diuretic. This water increases your urge to urinate and this is because of the presence of minerals like magnesium, potassium and many others. These minerals help in flushing away the toxins and also clearing the urinary tract. This antilithogenic property of coconut water, could, thus, help in preventing infections of kidney and kidney stones. It might also play an important role in the prevention of Urinary tract infections, and thus reducing the chances of preterm labor.
While using coconut water during pregnancy is pretty good; the quantity that you consume should be always kept in control.
3. Coconut Water Contains Essential Electrolytes:
The requirement for electrolytes really increases during pregnancy as conditions such as morning sickness, diarrhea, and nausea, dehydrate the body. Coconut water supplies all the important essential electrolytes; minerals like calcium, sodium, potassium, phosphorous, all of which can soothe the body and provide enough energy. These electrolytes also help in the transmission of electrical charges in the body and support your muscle in functioning well. These electrolytes even support maintaining the pH levels of the body and control levels of blood pressure.
4. It Is Good For Digestion And Relieves Constipation And Heartburn:
During pregnancy there occur hormonal changes which could result in various digestive issues, like constipation, heartburn, and indigestion. A considerable dietary fiber content present in coconut water might help you strengthen your digestive system, enhance the process of digestion, regulate pH levels, and also prevent constipation.
It is considered by Ayurveda that coconut water could be a potential laxative and it is known to improve body’s metabolism and support body’s detoxification. This water is a natural acid neutralizer, and thus it can prevent heartburn.
5. Coconut Water Improves Immunity and Helps Combat Infections:
Coconut water has got considerable amounts of essential minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants in it, all of which enhance your immunity, thus providing you resistance from infections. It even contains lauric acid, which is a medium-chain fatty acid fairly responsible for the production of potential antimicrobial compound known as the Monolaurin. Lauric acid is actually a disease-fighting acid that is known to kill harmful bacteria and several infections, such as HIV, flu, and retains all the good bacteria.
So, coconut water increases the immunity levels of the expectant mothers and also protects the baby in her womb as it is loaded with some vital antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins.
6. Benefits of Coconut Water in Maintaining Heart Health:
Low electrolytes level spikes your blood pressure. When you drink coconut water, you can improve the levels of potassium, magnesium, and lauric acid, which could help in regulating your blood pressure. If you suffer from high blood pressure during your pregnant phase, coconut water might help you as it is rich in potassium, which is a known contributor to regulating the blood flow and your blood pressure.
A small study conducted in the year 2005 even found that by drinking coconut water constantly for 2 weeks, could reduce systolic blood pressure in 71% of participants.(2)
Moreover, coconut water is also known to improve the HDL or the good cholesterol and combats the LDL or the bad cholesterol, which is a phenomenon important for maintaining your heart health.
It is also said that on glass of coconut water regularly is believed to be pretty useful in the final trimester when there occurs a brewing tension of labor that can really increase your blood pressure.
7. Coconut Water Is A Natural Drink:
Coconut water is a natural drink that is tasty and is free from any artificial flavor or harmful components. Getting dehydrated during pregnancy is quite common. So you can try taking coconut water as it can nicely quench your thirst and also refresh you without adding any sort of harmful substances to your body.
8. Benefits of Coconut Water In Maintaining A Healthy Body Weight:
Coconut water is free from fat and is low in calories. So, consuming a moderate amount of the water instead of sugar-laden drinks could be helpful in maintaining your weight during the pregnant phase. As pregnancy already adds extra weight to your body, you can prevent it from getting any worse by adding coconut water to your diet and by controlling the total consumption of calorie and also by controlling hunger pangs.
9. It Is Low In Sugar Content:
Lethargy is quite common during pregnancy. Thus, you might look for energy drinks. Though it does not seem to be bothersome at times, however, consuming excessive of intake of sugar could result in an increase in your overall blood sugar levels.
100 grams of coconut water provide 2.1 grams of sugar; which is lesser than any other energy drinks. This would not add to any weight during your pregnancy, and a diet low in simple sugars obviously reduces the risk of getting gestational diabetes.
10. Coconut Water Might Help Fetal Growth:
During pregnancy, magnesium supplementation is known to be associated with an increased birth weight and also a reduced risk of preeclampsia in the newborn.(3)
Researchers have found that tender coconut water has some biologically active compounds and also growth promoting factors. Apart from this, coconut water even provides all essential nutrients to the pregnant other that are known to be helpful in the growth as well as development of the fetus.
11. It Works As An Exercise Drink And Helps To Rehydrate After Workout:
Coconut water is also known to be a great exercise drink for pregnant women, who are advised to remain physically healthy and perfectly fit and perform light and low impact workouts.
Coconut water being a natural isotonic drink, it helps to rehydrate and supply you energy when you are dehydrated, exhausted and fatigued. If you are exercising during your pregnancy and need energy drink, you can choose coconut water.
An analysis of studies have found that coconut water is equally hydrating as that of plain water for restoring enough of hydration after an exercising session, and it even offers more complete hydration than water as it contains a little sodium.(4)
12. Coconut Water Improves Amniotic Fluid Levels:
Coconut water when taken in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy improves the levels of the amniotic fluid and enhances blood volume and circulation.
13. It Helps In Reducing Stretch Marks:
It is also believed that coconut water could help in reducing stretch marks that occur during pregnancy. This water hydrates your body, which increases the skin elasticity and thus reduces your stretch marks that are caused during your pregnant phase.
14. Benefits of Coconut Water in Combating Morning Sickness:
Coconut water is known to combat morning sickness and it is also helpful in reliving fatigue during pregnancy, which is a common symptom pregnant women suffer from.
15. It Offers Overall Protection:
Coconut water offers an overall protection to pregnant women. A research study has shown that this water when taken during pregnancy offers protection against maternal high-fat-diet-included changes. This is very important as it is demonstrated in several researches that maternal diet fairly impacts the growth as well as the development of the fetus. However, we need more research on this so as to validate the claim.
Few Recommendations On Coconut Water and Pregnancy:
Intake of coconut water when you are pregnant is highly recommended. There are a lot of benefits of drinking coconut water; however you need to keep in mind some of the important things which are mentioned below.
You should remember that moderation is always the real key. Make sure that the top priority is always clean and filtered water. And you should not intake coconut water as a constant or regular substitution of pure mineral water.
You must note that you should drink the coconut water as soon as you cut the coconut is cut when it is fresh and filled with nutrients.
Make sure that you use clean straw while drinking coconut water.
Do not drink the coconut water if you react to it or if you do not like it.
NOTE: Coconut water alone cannot fulfill all kinds of nutritional requirements of a pregnant woman. But again, it is not also right to say that any particular food item could offer all the essential nutrients required during pregnancy. So, if you are pregnant you should consider taking a whole combination of vegetables, fruits, health drinks, cereals, pulses, and meat items, containing adequate amount of essential nutrients.
Conclusion:
Coconut water can not only be refreshing, but also well hydrating and a pretty safe beverage choice that pregnant women can take in their pregnancy. So, if why not add this refreshing and nutritious drink to your daily diet and make your pregnancy more of a healthy and delightful one!
Also Read:
