Sorrel during pregnancy

With the onset of the gestation period, almost every future mother has to revise her diet and take more careful attention to the food she consumes. Knowing this fact, often women in the situation think about whether such a plant as a sorrel is during pregnancy, is it useful? Let's try to answer it.

What is sorrel?

This plant belongs to perennial grasses. Its height can reach 30 cm. The first shoots of sorrel can be observed almost immediately after the snow comes down. By the end of May, young leaves appear that have an arrow-shaped shape, very juicy, with sourish taste. The period of vegetation (growth) of this herb is short, - by the middle of July the leaves are very coarse, but at the same time the concentration of oxalic acid in them is the largest.

The use of sorrel is indisputable, which is why during pregnancy it is not prohibited. Using this plant as food, the future mother will receive vitamins such as C, K, B1. In addition, the leaves contain essential oils, organic acids (tannic, oxalic). Not sorbed sorrel and trace elements - molybdenum, iron, potassium, phosphorus - are present in it in great concentration.

A similar composition and properties of the plant is particularly widely used in the treatment of such diseases as angina, cystitis, liver disease, disruption of the intestine (diarrhea).

Can everyone get sorrel during a baby?

Having dealt with the fact that sorrel for pregnant women is useful, it must be said that not all women expecting a child can take it for food.

Thus, among the contraindications for eating sorrel during pregnancy, we can distinguish:

• urolithiasis disease;
• violation of the purine metabolism in the body (observed with gout, accompanied by the accumulation of uric acid crystals in the body);
• diseases of the gastrointestinal tract (increased acidity).

How correctly to use sorrel?

In order to completely eliminate the negative impact on the body of the future mother of oxalic acid, supplied together with sorrel in a large concentration, it is best to eat it along with fermented milk products.

The fact is that the calcium cations included in such products, together with oxalic acid, form a fairly sparingly soluble compound, which, moreover, is not absorbed in the intestine. As a result, excessive accumulation of oxalates in the tissues of the body is not observed.

Calcium-containing preparations taken during the gestational period will also promote the binding of an excess of this type of organic acid.

As for the peculiarities of the preparation of this plant, in this case everything depends on the goal pursued by the future mother. For example, in the treatment of diseases of the throat and sore throat, the leaves of the sorrel boil with boiling water, insist for half an hour, and the resulting broth rinse the throat.

During the fight against digestion disorders (with diarrhea), the plant is recommended to eat in raw form, adding it to the composition of various salads.

In the presence of liver diseases, sorrel is eaten both raw and prepared from it with decoctions, using not only leaves, but shoots.

Thus, as can be seen from the article, sorrel is a very useful plant that can be consumed in food and during pregnancy. However, in the presence of the contraindications described above, it is mandatory to consult a doctor, which will avoid negative consequences. After all, some of them during pregnancy can lead to the death of the baby ( renal colic, stomach ulcer, etc.).