3rd Trimester: CELERY
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00Angela00
Posts: 1,077 Member
Crisp and delicious, celery is more than a healthy snack: Consider it your new skin-beautifying food during your pregnancy. Celery is rich in silica, a mineral that is important to the tone and firmness of your skin. With all the stretching and expanding going on during this final trimester of pregnancy, your skin needs all the support it can get. In fact, silica can help your skin hold water, keeping it hydrated and healthy while it gets pulled to its fullest extent.
CELERY AT A GLANCE
Serving Size: 1 cup
Calories: 16
Saturated Fat: 0 g
Protein: 1 g
Fiber: 2 g
Calcium: 4%
Vitamin A: 8%
Vitamin C: 4%
Iron: 4%
* Even though silica is the second most abundant element on earth, people commonly suffer from a silica deficiency and have wear, saggy skin as a result. During pregnancy, your skin is stretched to its limits, and then after birth, the skin contracts back toward its normal position.
* If you're an older mom, it's especially important to make sure you're getting enough silica. Men and premenopausal women who had higher dietary intake of silica seem to have higher mineral density, which could reduce the risk of osteoporosis. You need more silica as you age, because as you get older, you become less able to absorb silica; your stomach acids weaken, making it difficult for your body to digest this mineral properly. For these reasons, you need plenty during pergnancy and lactation to help your skin survive this ordeal.
* Celery is a source of many nutrients, including potassium and sodium, the most important minerals for controlling fluid balance in your body. Celery was used traditionally as a diuretic and can help you get rid of excess fluid, such as the puffiness that can build up under your eyes and in your feet during pregnancy.
* Celery is a source of a potent antioxidant, vitamin C, that can help you and your baby fight off damage caused by free radicals.
* Celery is a source of vitamin C, another nutrient known to give you a natural skin support. Vitamin C is needed for specialized cells in your skin called fibroblasts to make collagen. Collagen is like scaffolding of your skin--it keeps it strong and gives it structure.
* Celery has a very high water content, which helps hydrate your body, your baby, and your skin. You may not feel as thirsty as you did during your first trimester, but your need for water is ramping up now.
TASTY TIPS
I love to eat celery with a spoonful of peanut or almond butter on it as a filling snack. Or vary your routine by dipping a stalk in hummus or plain yogurt, with or without shredded cheese mixed in. It's so easy to pack some celery sticks and carry them with you or chop up a stalk or two and throw it on a salad or into soups, stews, or pot roast.
But here's my favorite way to enjoy celery: juiced. Surprised? Toss a few cut-up stalks into the blender with a cut-up pear and a couple of inches of peeled ginger root and then strain and serve over ice for a spicy, refreshing pick-me-up. (Actually, if you don't mind it pulpy, you don't even have to strain!) Better yet, if you have a juicer, just juice the celery, pear, and gingerroot. I think you'll love it as much as I do!
One work of warning: The environment Working Group put celery on its 2003 list of twelve foods most contaminated with pesticides. For your sake and your baby's buy organic celery to be safe.
CELERY AT A GLANCE
Serving Size: 1 cup
Calories: 16
Saturated Fat: 0 g
Protein: 1 g
Fiber: 2 g
Calcium: 4%
Vitamin A: 8%
Vitamin C: 4%
Iron: 4%
* Even though silica is the second most abundant element on earth, people commonly suffer from a silica deficiency and have wear, saggy skin as a result. During pregnancy, your skin is stretched to its limits, and then after birth, the skin contracts back toward its normal position.
* If you're an older mom, it's especially important to make sure you're getting enough silica. Men and premenopausal women who had higher dietary intake of silica seem to have higher mineral density, which could reduce the risk of osteoporosis. You need more silica as you age, because as you get older, you become less able to absorb silica; your stomach acids weaken, making it difficult for your body to digest this mineral properly. For these reasons, you need plenty during pergnancy and lactation to help your skin survive this ordeal.
* Celery is a source of many nutrients, including potassium and sodium, the most important minerals for controlling fluid balance in your body. Celery was used traditionally as a diuretic and can help you get rid of excess fluid, such as the puffiness that can build up under your eyes and in your feet during pregnancy.
* Celery is a source of a potent antioxidant, vitamin C, that can help you and your baby fight off damage caused by free radicals.
* Celery is a source of vitamin C, another nutrient known to give you a natural skin support. Vitamin C is needed for specialized cells in your skin called fibroblasts to make collagen. Collagen is like scaffolding of your skin--it keeps it strong and gives it structure.
* Celery has a very high water content, which helps hydrate your body, your baby, and your skin. You may not feel as thirsty as you did during your first trimester, but your need for water is ramping up now.
TASTY TIPS
I love to eat celery with a spoonful of peanut or almond butter on it as a filling snack. Or vary your routine by dipping a stalk in hummus or plain yogurt, with or without shredded cheese mixed in. It's so easy to pack some celery sticks and carry them with you or chop up a stalk or two and throw it on a salad or into soups, stews, or pot roast.
But here's my favorite way to enjoy celery: juiced. Surprised? Toss a few cut-up stalks into the blender with a cut-up pear and a couple of inches of peeled ginger root and then strain and serve over ice for a spicy, refreshing pick-me-up. (Actually, if you don't mind it pulpy, you don't even have to strain!) Better yet, if you have a juicer, just juice the celery, pear, and gingerroot. I think you'll love it as much as I do!
One work of warning: The environment Working Group put celery on its 2003 list of twelve foods most contaminated with pesticides. For your sake and your baby's buy organic celery to be safe.
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