During pregnancy, women have to be selective about what enters their body. And this is not so much about food as medical products. Even a harmless ascorbicum is scary to drink without knowing how it will affect the fetus. Therefore, you need to understand how useful ascorbic acid is during pregnancy.
Ascorbic acid - what is it?
Ascorbic acid is a well-known vitamin C. By its physical properties, ascorbic acid in its original form is a white crystalline powder that dissolves well in water. The taste is sour and probably familiar to everyone since childhood.
Ascorbic acid is available in the form of tablets, powder, dragees and even a solution, which is used for carbon monoxide poisoning. In addition to pharmacology, vitamin C is also used in cosmetology, cooking, food processing and even photography. Ascorbic, or rather its organic compound, is widely used as a developing substance not only in industry, but also in amateur photography.
History tour
The name ascorbic acid comes from the ancient Greek prefix “à” and the Latin word scorbutus, which means “no scurvy”. It seems rather strange, but only until you get acquainted with the history of the discovery of ascorbic acid.
Humanity has learned about the importance of vitamin C thanks to sailors. It was they who, eating food on the ship, devoid of this substance, faced with a disease such as scurvy. Her symptoms were expressed in bleeding gums, weakness, muscle pain. However, sailing to the tropical islands, sailors noticed that their inhabitants had never heard of such a disease.
This, as it seemed then, coincidence led to the idea that scurvy develops due to a lack of ascorbic acid in food, which is abundant in citrus fruits growing in tropical latitudes. This assumption led to the fact that in 1928 the chemist Albert St. György removed vitamin C as an organic compound in its pure form. And 4 years later, he proved that scurvy is a disease that is caused by its acute shortage in the body.
The benefits of ascorbic acid
To understand whether ascorbic acid is possible during pregnancy, you need to find out its effect (beneficial and not so) on the body. You should start with the beneficial properties of vitamin C.
The benefits of ascorbic acid:
- It stimulates the production of interferon, therefore, increases immunity.
- Participates in the formation of collagen - a substance on which the state of bone tissue, skin, and hair directly depends.
- Strengthens the walls of blood vessels, participates in hematopoiesis.
- Improves blood coagulation with hemophilia.
- Participates in the deoxidation of the body, that is, it removes harmful substances from it (free radicals and metals), which are formed during food poisoning.
- Cleanses blood vessels from harmful cholesterol.
- Enhances the action of vitamins A and E, which improves metabolism.
In addition, ascorbine slows down the aging process. Therefore, it is often prescribed for an age-related decrease in cognitive abilities (memory, perception, attention, etc.) and Alzheimer's disease.
Given all the beneficial properties of vitamin C, we can conclude that ascorbic acid during pregnancy is simply irreplaceable. However, you should not draw premature conclusions without familiarizing yourself with its harmful effects on the body.
Harmful properties of ascorbic acid
The harmful properties of vitamin C can be detected only with its excess in the body. In itself, it is only beneficial, but, like with other medications, you must prevent an overdose of ascorbic acid during pregnancy.
Harm of Vitamin C:
- Increases the risk of thrombosis due to a strong effect on increasing blood coagulation.
- In case of an overdose, stomach pain, heartburn, and vomiting are possible, since acid can corrode the intestinal wall.
- Ascorbic acid with glucose during pregnancy greatly disrupts the metabolism, which increases the risk of allergies in the child.
- With regular overdose, kidney stones may form.
- An excess of vitamin C can cause a malfunction of the pancreas.
- The risk of allergies.
An overdose of ascorbic acid during pregnancy can also lead to sleep disorders, headaches, and fever. Therefore, it is still not worth abusing it.
Ascorbic acid when planning pregnancy
Thinking about taking ascorbic acid is still at the stage of pregnancy planning. For completely healthy women, as a rule, doctors recommend taking only folic acid and vitamin E. In individual cases, this list will be supplemented by multivitamin complexes and other macro- and microelements.
Ascorbic acid will benefit smoking women and those who have only recently overcome nicotine addiction. The fact is that when smoking a large amount of vitamin C is neutralized (about 25 mg per cigarette). Therefore, smokers a priori have a deficiency of this substance in the body.
In addition, ascorbic acid will have a positive effect on the body in case of anemia and vascular disorders. For the prevention of toxicosis during pregnancy, ascorbic acid is also a good helper.
First 12 weeks of pregnancy
A lot of prohibitions for pregnant women are in the first trimester. All because the female body at this time undergoes tremendous stress associated with adaptation to a new position. However, ascorbic acid during pregnancy in the first trimester does not pose any threat to either the woman or the fetus.
On the contrary, vitamin C, stimulating the natural production of interferon, will improve immunity and, as a result, the body's resistance to viral diseases. The main thing is not to exceed the daily dose, which is 2 g per day. Otherwise, an overdose can cause hypertension, which is fraught with spontaneous miscarriage.
Second and third trimesters of pregnancy
Faced with the question of whether ascorbic acid can be taken during pregnancy, doctors usually give an affirmative answer, regardless of its duration. The fact is that throughout the entire period of bearing a child, a woman's body needs vitamin C not only to increase immunity, but also for proper intrauterine development of the fetus.
In addition, the vast majority of women in this period are susceptible to anemia, which is why they are prescribed iron preparations, forgetting about the beneficial properties of ascorbic acid. Usually it is prescribed in the form of tablets, but there are exceptions.
The use of ascorbic acid intravenously during pregnancy is necessary to increase blood coagulation and the prevention of labor bleeding. Also, a solution can be prescribed to eliminate late toxicosis, which affects women in the third trimester.
Contraindications
Uncontrolled use of ascorbic acid, you can cause real harm to the body. Therefore, do not ignore contraindications and recommendations of doctors.
Contraindications for use:
- increased blood coagulation;
- tendency to thrombosis (thrombophlebitis);
- diabetes;
- allergy.
Pregnant women are better off getting vitamin C from food than taking pharmacy drugs. Moreover, it is contained in such products that are available to everyone.
High Vitamin C Foods
Contrary to prevailing stereotypes, champions in vitamin C content are not citrus fruits at all. Therefore, to make up for the deficiency of ascorbic acid, you should look at other products that are richer in its content than oranges.
Vitamin C content per 100 g of product:
- Barbados cherries - 1000-3000 mg.
- Fresh rose hips - 650 mg.
- Red bell pepper - 250 mg.
- The fruits of sea buckthorn - 200 mg.
- Blackcurrant - 200 mg.
- Parsley - 150 mg.
For reference: oranges contain only 38-60 mg of vitamin C. At a daily rate of 75 mg per day, you need to eat only 200 g of oranges to replenish the body's natural supply.
As can be seen from the list, there are a lot of foods rich in ascorbic acid. The main rule is not to overdo it. Indeed, an overdose can happen not only from the use of pure vitamin, but also from the uncontrolled eating of its natural sources.