Is It Right To Do Intermittent Fasting During Pregnancy?

Pregnancy is the most precious and blissful time for any woman, alongside, the most delicate stage also. Body fluctuates frequently during pregnancy and these changes will become even faster and furious as you get closer to your delivery date. For some ladies or those for whom this for the first time, these changes will become little disconcerting.

But if you are worried about these changes that includes health, weight gaining, your taste then it is not a matter of concern because mood swing and changes during pregnancy is obvious. It is very important to know for the pregnant ladies that a wide range of changes is considered healthy.

If you are much concerned about your weight then Intermittent Fasting can help you to manage your weight and other health concerns. And if you’ve already been following intermittent fasting then should you continue for 9 months of pregnancy or you should stop it here? It is the predominant question arises in pregnant women’s mind.

But, before doing changes in your diet, it is strictly suggested to concern your doctor about the pros and cons of intermittent fasting.

What is intermittent fasting?

Before opting for intermittent fasting it is indispensable to know first what is intermittent fasting. According to the studies, intermittent fasting is one of the health and fitness trends currently. And it basically involves an alternating cycle of eating and fasting. It is also observed with some studies that it could the one of the reason to weight loss, alongside, it ameliorate metabolic health and protect against several diseases.

In intermittent fasting, fasting doesn’t mean what to eat and what not, rather it allows to eat each and everything but on the respective period. There are several methods that come under intermittent fasting, all of which split the day or week into eating and fasting period. While doing intermittent fasting, people eat the bulk of calories within a certain period of time.

For example:

a) Some people choose a specific window to eat. In the 16:8 methods, you might choose to eat between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. hours, it means you are eating in the 8-hour window. The rest 16 hours out of the 24 hours are considered to be as fasting.

b) Alternatively, some people choose to eat a few days in a week, say 5 days and keep fast on the rest of another 2 days, it means 5:2.

c) A good amount of research on intermittent fasting told that fat-burning is not the only reason behind it. Beyond that fasting with proper routine may also help to –

• Reduce inflammation in the body
• Decrease blood sugar and blood pressure
• Lower cholesterol levels.

Is It Safe To Do During Pregnancy?

Pregnancy is the most delicate and graceful period in a woman’s life. So, it needs more care and attention during this period. Before making any significant changes to your diet other & routines during your pregnancy time, it is recommended to concern your doctor first. According to a lot of research, it is generally not recommended to do intermittent fasting to women during pregnancy.

An old report noted that fasting may lead to big changes in women’s glucose, insulin, triglyceride levels, and in other health makers. It also affects the baby’s weight if we compare it to non-fasting women’s babies. It is also noted that fasting during pregnancy may have health complications for baby and mother both, that may appear later in life, therefore it should be avoided.

Notably, pregnancy is the time that should focus on your health more. As it helps your and baby health as well.

a) It helps in gaining weight in the baby.

b) Develop maternal fat for breastfeeding.

c) It helps in providing nutrition for brain and body development.

There are so many other possible outcomes that can be faced due to fasting during pregnancy such as alter hormone level, nutritional deficiencies, risk of pregnancy loss and later effects on the baby.

Risk Of Intermitted Fasting During Pregnancy

Fasting during regular days doesn’t affect your body much, in fact, sometimes it balances your body’s immune system. But, long fasting during pregnancy time may lower glucose levels; as a result, it took women a long time to detect fetal movements. The low frequency of fetal movements generally shows a warning sign that you need to take too seriously especially when you are closer to your delivery date. Your baby should make around 10 movements within 1-2 hours and you should be able to feel 10 movements within half an hour.

On the other hand, deficiency of anemia is also a common issue in pregnant women. And it also affects on baby’s health in order to the third trimester they may be at higher risk of first anemia before one year. Unfortunately, this is quite a serious matter but the intake of good nutrition makes this risk go away.

Eventually, intermitted fasting is good for health in regular days. But it is probably not a good idea to delve into fasting during pregnancy especially if you’ve never tried it before. Don’t be dishearten, pregnancy doesn’t last forever, you can surely try this after your delivery but still not while breastfeeding.

It is also recommended if you are not feeling too strong and feeling overwhelmed, don’t try this.