As soon as you find out you’re pregnant, you’ll also find out that there are plenty of foods you can’t eat anymore, like certain seafood, cold lunchmeat, and even eggs in certain areas.
What about olives though? Thankfully, you can eat olives during pregnancy. In fact, there are quite a few benefits to eating olives that both you and your baby will enjoy.
In this article
Benefits Of Eating Olives While Pregnant
Olives are extremely healthy for both you and your baby. These tiny fruits are packed with vitamins and nutrients that can encourage both of you to be healthier than ever before.
They also pinpoint some of the specific problems that you might see during pregnancy.
Olives Have Plenty Of Iron
- Sanniti Pitted Castelvetrano Olives are Italian green olives with the pits removed. Castelvetrano olives have a mild, buttery flavor and a crisp bite.
- Enjoy Sanniti Pitted Castelvetrano Olives on their own as a snack, or accompanied by your favorite cheeses and spreads on a charcuterie board.
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Most women of childbearing age in developed nations are iron deficient. Most of the time, it’s not a large enough deficiency that we notice.
However, once you’re pregnant and forced to share everything with another person, you can quickly start to feel the effects of not having enough iron.
You’ll feel like you don’t have the energy to get out of bed, and it doesn’t go away until you up your iron intake. Olives are a great way to do that, and to prevent iron deficiency.
They Can Kill Cancer
Olives are believed to kill cancer by not only preventing it but also by attacking cancer cells and killing them. Granted, olives are not going to be enough to replace chemotherapy.
However, they can play an important role in preventing it combined with other strategies.
Olives Have Few Calories
Did you know that you’re only going to eat about 60 calories if you consume 10 black olives? That’s barely any calories for a fruit that is so good for you!
It makes it the perfect snack for you, even if you’re pregnant. It’s important that you gain weight, but you don’t want to gain too much weight.
Olives Are Very High In Vitamin E
One olive has almost 4 mg of vitamin E. The recommended daily amount for pregnant women is 22-30 mg per day. It’s shown that a high amount of daily vitamin E can help prevent the adverse effects of diabetes on the fetus.
Vitamin E can also provide several other benefits, such as:
- This is a powerful antioxidant that can protect your body against free radicals
- Increasing energy and stamina
- It can increase blood circulation
- Supports healthy hair
- Can decrease the growth of facial hair in women
- Reduce stress on the liver
- Improve immune system function
- Promotes healthy skin and eyes
Vitamin E is important to many of the vital organs in your body. It can help fight off free radicals to prevent things like heart disease, cancer, and more. This vitamin can also help your body clear itself of toxins that can make you unwell.
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Promote Healthy Skin By Eating Olives
Olives have oleic acid, which can help give healthier skin. In studies, it was discovered that consuming oleic acid can help reduce the appearance of wrinkles by at least 20%.
This is because oleic acid helps skin retain its elasticity, and keeps it softer.
Olives Can Help Ease Inflammation
If you have a condition that causes inflammation, like arthritis, you’ll appreciate the powerful properties of inflammation.
This is because olives have plenty of antioxidants in them. Antioxidants will help naturally reduce inflammation in the body, and the pain that can come with it.
Risks Of Eating Olives
While olives are mainly good for you, it’s important to note that there should be a balance with everything. Instead of eating hand fulls of olives, try to limit yourself to about 6-7 a day.
This guarantees that you won’t have to deal with any of the risks that come with eating too many olives.
Olives Have A Lot Of Salt
One green olive is packed with 110 mg of sodium. It’s recommended that people only consume approximately 1100 mg of sodium per day. That means 6 green olives will get you to a little over half of your daily recommended amount.
If you’re pregnant and swelling, eating salty foods can make you retain even more water. It’s important to keep that in mind.
Vitamin E Toxicity
As with everything, moderation is important. Olives have plenty of Vitamin E inside of them. However, too much vitamin E is a bad thing.
It can increase your risk of death from any condition, and it can make your blood thinner. Symptoms of vitamin E toxicity include:
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
- Upset stomach
- Cramps
- Headache
- Fatigue
- Bruising easily
Toxicity is the first sign that you’ll notice before the overdose. Make sure that you watch how many olives you eat to avoid coming close to being in a dangerous situation.
How To Eat Olives
Olives are wonderful for you, but there are quite a few of us that just can’t stomach eating a handful of olives, myself included. Instead, you can put them on some of your favorite dishes.
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Try to avoid cooking them, though. A lot of foods lose some of their nutritional power when they are cooked. You can dice or slice olives and add them to:
- Salads
- Pizza
- Spaghetti
- Soup
- Stews
- Flatbread
Olives are great for adding flavor to almost anything! They’re a great addition to casseroles, soups, and your go-to meals. They add a tiny bit of flavor without making the entire dish taste like olives.
If you’d like to try some new recipes, check out this website. It has plenty of easy-to-make olive recipes so that you can include olives in your diet.
In Conclusion
Olives are an important part of anyone’s diet. they have plenty of health benefits and offer quite a few vitamins that your body, and baby, need.
The main concern is that if you eat too many you can easily consume too much salt or vitamin E. Eating them in moderation will help you avoid eating too many, but it will also make sure that you enjoy all of the benefits of this fruit.
