Dr. Christine Cui 2018-Oct-04

It is important for a couple who would like to conceive to consider a healthy diet. In this case, it is best to consume a different kind of food. There is no doubt that nutrition is essential for your fertility and overall health. It makes a big difference in your body and its readiness to sustain a healthy pregnancy. Therefore you need to take good care of what you have to eat for daily consumption and this includes avoiding spicy food.

The following are reasons why spicy foods affecting fertility and pregnancy:

1. Spicy food can also increase the contraction of pregnant women. This means that pregnant women must avoid spicy food in their first trimester and last trimester.
2. Furthermore, spicy foods may affect pregnancy because it causes heartburn in many women. Heartburn is most common in the last trimester, as your growing baby causes stomach acids to push up into the oesophagus.
3. Spicy foods can cause yin deficiency which leads to poor quality of eggs, therefore can trigger polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).
4. Although spicy food is mostly safe for the baby, pregnant women need to take consideration if they are allergic to it. This means a healthy pregnant woman without any kind of gastrointestinal (GI) or gastroesophageal issues should be fine eating spicy food.

There are also other considerations that women need to think about spicy foods. These include the following:

1. Does it make you aggravate morning sickness? Pregnant women usually very sensitive with their smell and have a delicate stomach in the first trimester. If this happens, then you should avoid spicy food.

2. Will it induce heartburn acid reflux?  This means that if you feel heartburn, you should avoid spicy food. Acid reflux results in heartburn, burping/regurgitating, and nausea.

3. Does it cause Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)?  The symptoms include experience heartburn during the night, have the difficulty breathing, coughing, weight loss and black stool. It may indicate that you have GERD and you should stop eating spicy foods.

Spicy foods, in this case, are not recommended for pregnant women or those who are willing to conceive. It is better to consume a wide variety of food which contains folic acid, protein, low in fat, starches such as white rice and flour. More example of a food with high in protein includes chicken, beans, tofu, fish, peas, kale, broccoli and mushrooms. However, fish with high mercury is not recommended because it linked to fertility issues. Hence, avoid fishes such as; marlin, tilefish, swordfish, shark, king mackerel and bigeye tuna.

In conclusion, spicy foods are to be avoided if you are willing to conceive because it may cause heartburn and increase contraction as well. Dr Christine recommends taking healthy diet, reduce alcohol intake and do regular exercise.