Having custard apples during pregnancy is a healthy choice. It is a seasonal fruit that you would not want to miss. This fruit is a healthy and nutritious choice for both you and your baby. This fruit has its origins in South America and is traditionally known as cherimoya in that part of the world. These fruits are also known as Sharifa, sitaphal, and sugar apple in the other parts. Keep reading this post to know the benefits of having custard apples while pregnant. We also present you with the techniques you can use while eating this fruit and a few delicious recipes that you can try making with it.
Is It Safe To Eat Custard Apple During Pregnancy?
Custard apple is considered safe during pregnancy due to its diverse nutritional profile and nearly negligible side-effects on moderate consumption. The nutrient-rich fruit has good amounts of fiber, magnesium, iron, vitamin-B6 and vitamin-C (1). Also, it has natural sugars that could be helpful for underweight pregnant women to gain weight. Regular consumption of custard apple is believed to lower the risk of abortion. This fruit is generally palatable even when you develop a distaste for other foods, a common tendency during pregnancy. However, you should not overeat the fruit, just like any other food.
What Are The Benefits Of Eating Custard Apple During Pregnancy?
The fruit is sweet, tasty, and is safe to eat during pregnancy. But this does not end here. There are some more benefits of the fruit that you could have, provided you eat it in moderation.
1. Vitamins
A custard apple contains vitamins A, B6, and C (2), which are essential for fetal development. Vitamin A aids in good vision, skin and hair, while vitamin C could help fight off the free radicals in the body. Vitamin B6 may help alleviate nausea (3).
2. Calories
100g of custard apple provides approximately 101Kcal (4). These calories help you add to your daily caloric requirement.
3. Copper
The daily requirement of copper during pregnancy is 100mg (5), and custard apple contains this mineral in fair amounts.
4. Fiber
The high fiber content in custard apples can help ease the bowel movements and lower the chances of constipation and other digestion-related problems. However, you should not overconsume the fruit to get these benefits.
5. Antioxidant
Custard apples have potent antioxidants that could possibly help fight free radical damage (6).
6. Magnesium
Magnesium protects you from cardiac problems and aids in muscle relaxation. 100g of custard apple contains 18mg of magnesium, against the RDA of 450mg for a pregnant woman (7).
7. Expectorant
Custard apple is believed to have some medicinal properties due to the presence of phytochemicals such as terpenes, phenolic and flavonoid compounds (8). It is also believed that the fruit has coolant, stimulant, and expectorant properties, which may help address diarrhea and dysentery. In addition to these nutrients, custard apples also contain other nutrients. The following table shows the nutritional values per 100g of custard apple: Source: Fooddata Central (4), RDA (5) Can a fruit with such nutritional values be completely safe or can it harm you in any way?
When Can Custard Apple Be Harmful?
There are no clinical indications regarding the safety of custard apples during pregnancy. Here are some general beliefs.
Unripe fruit may irritate your stomach leading to digestion problems. So, consume only a fully grown, soft and plump custard apple.
Do not consume seeds as they might disturb your health.
If you have gestational diabetes, avoid taking the fruit as it is high in sugars.
How Do You Eat A Custard Apple?
Know the right technique to remove the pulp to eat the fruit easily.
Open the fruit using your hands or cut it to half.
Take a spoon and scoop out the flesh.
Sometimes the flesh closest to the skin and the central spine may taste a little bitter.
Selecting the best fruit: Ripe custard apples have pale green skin. They are juicy and sweet. You can also buy darker green fruits and store them at room temperature to ripen. You may eat custard apples in a variety of ways during pregnancy.
Add a little lime juice for a complementary flavor.
Make it as a dessert and add a handful of nuts.
Prepare a smoothie, milkshake or add to ice cream.
Add some honey instead of sugar, if you have a sweet tooth. You may also try brown sugar. However, custard apples in itself are sweet and you may not need a sweetner.
If you are bored of eating whole fruits, you may also make some delicious recipes.
Simple Recipes With Custard Apple
1. Custard apple milkshake
You will need:
Custard apple – 3 medium Skimmed milk – 4 cups Brown sugar – 3tsp Fresh cream – 2tbsp Ice cubes – As required
How to:
2. Custard apple ice cream
You will need:
Custard apple – 3 to 4 cups pulp Skimmed milk – 2 cups Milk powder – 1 cup Powdered brown sugar – 1/3 cup Fresh cream – 1/2 cup Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
How to: Note: Choosing the right ingredients is important during pregnancy. Small changes like replacing full cream milk with skimmed milk or castor sugar with brown sugar could help maintain health.
References:
title: “Custard Apple Sitaphal During Pregnancy Benefits Recipes” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-20” author: “Vivian Wilson”
Having custard apples during pregnancy is a healthy choice. It is a seasonal fruit that you would not want to miss. This fruit is a healthy and nutritious choice for both you and your baby. This fruit has its origins in South America and is traditionally known as cherimoya in that part of the world. These fruits are also known as Sharifa, sitaphal, and sugar apple in the other parts. Keep reading this post to know the benefits of having custard apples while pregnant. We also present you with the techniques you can use while eating this fruit and a few delicious recipes that you can try making with it.
Is It Safe To Eat Custard Apple During Pregnancy?
Custard apple is considered safe during pregnancy due to its diverse nutritional profile and nearly negligible side-effects on moderate consumption. The nutrient-rich fruit has good amounts of fiber, magnesium, iron, vitamin-B6 and vitamin-C (1). Also, it has natural sugars that could be helpful for underweight pregnant women to gain weight. Regular consumption of custard apple is believed to lower the risk of abortion. This fruit is generally palatable even when you develop a distaste for other foods, a common tendency during pregnancy. However, you should not overeat the fruit, just like any other food.
What Are The Benefits Of Eating Custard Apple During Pregnancy?
The fruit is sweet, tasty, and is safe to eat during pregnancy. But this does not end here. There are some more benefits of the fruit that you could have, provided you eat it in moderation.
1. Vitamins
A custard apple contains vitamins A, B6, and C (2), which are essential for fetal development. Vitamin A aids in good vision, skin and hair, while vitamin C could help fight off the free radicals in the body. Vitamin B6 may help alleviate nausea (3).
2. Calories
100g of custard apple provides approximately 101Kcal (4). These calories help you add to your daily caloric requirement.
3. Copper
The daily requirement of copper during pregnancy is 100mg (5), and custard apple contains this mineral in fair amounts.
4. Fiber
The high fiber content in custard apples can help ease the bowel movements and lower the chances of constipation and other digestion-related problems. However, you should not overconsume the fruit to get these benefits.
5. Antioxidant
Custard apples have potent antioxidants that could possibly help fight free radical damage (6).
6. Magnesium
Magnesium protects you from cardiac problems and aids in muscle relaxation. 100g of custard apple contains 18mg of magnesium, against the RDA of 450mg for a pregnant woman (7).
7. Expectorant
Custard apple is believed to have some medicinal properties due to the presence of phytochemicals such as terpenes, phenolic and flavonoid compounds (8). It is also believed that the fruit has coolant, stimulant, and expectorant properties, which may help address diarrhea and dysentery. In addition to these nutrients, custard apples also contain other nutrients. The following table shows the nutritional values per 100g of custard apple: Source: Fooddata Central (4), RDA (5) Can a fruit with such nutritional values be completely safe or can it harm you in any way?
When Can Custard Apple Be Harmful?
There are no clinical indications regarding the safety of custard apples during pregnancy. Here are some general beliefs.
Unripe fruit may irritate your stomach leading to digestion problems. So, consume only a fully grown, soft and plump custard apple.
Do not consume seeds as they might disturb your health.
If you have gestational diabetes, avoid taking the fruit as it is high in sugars.
How Do You Eat A Custard Apple?
Know the right technique to remove the pulp to eat the fruit easily.
Open the fruit using your hands or cut it to half.
Take a spoon and scoop out the flesh.
Sometimes the flesh closest to the skin and the central spine may taste a little bitter.
Selecting the best fruit: Ripe custard apples have pale green skin. They are juicy and sweet. You can also buy darker green fruits and store them at room temperature to ripen. You may eat custard apples in a variety of ways during pregnancy.
Add a little lime juice for a complementary flavor.
Make it as a dessert and add a handful of nuts.
Prepare a smoothie, milkshake or add to ice cream.
Add some honey instead of sugar, if you have a sweet tooth. You may also try brown sugar. However, custard apples in itself are sweet and you may not need a sweetner.
If you are bored of eating whole fruits, you may also make some delicious recipes.
Simple Recipes With Custard Apple
1. Custard apple milkshake
You will need:
Custard apple – 3 medium Skimmed milk – 4 cups Brown sugar – 3tsp Fresh cream – 2tbsp Ice cubes – As required
How to:
2. Custard apple ice cream
You will need:
Custard apple – 3 to 4 cups pulp Skimmed milk – 2 cups Milk powder – 1 cup Powdered brown sugar – 1/3 cup Fresh cream – 1/2 cup Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
How to: Note: Choosing the right ingredients is important during pregnancy. Small changes like replacing full cream milk with skimmed milk or castor sugar with brown sugar could help maintain health.
