Being pregnant can bring a lot of changes to a woman’s body. One of the most harrowing is morning sickness. A lot of women suffer from extreme bouts of vomiting and diarrhea while they are pregnant.
Pregnancy hormones and the changes made to accommodate growing a little human can make a woman pretty sick. Sometimes vomiting and indigestion can be caused by changes your body makes while your child develops and at other times, your body might not tolerate foods it once did. The key to staying healthy is staying rested and hydrated.
Hydrate. Hydrate. Hydrate!
To answer the question, yes, Gatorade is safe to drink while pregnant. Not only Gatorade but any electrolyte drink is safe as long as it doesn’t have artificial sweeteners or other chemicals that might hurt your baby.
Gatorade and similar drinks are easy to get, relatively inexpensive and are a great remedy for dehydration and nausea. So, if you’re sick, vomiting, have loose stool, feel generally run down and lifeless, grab a Gatorade, it’s completely fine.
If you are just trying to stay hydrated, which is essential to a healthy pregnancy, there are some other, and perhaps better options you might want to try.
When Gatorade and Commercial Electrolyte Drinks Are Not Safe For Pregnancy.
Gatorade and similar commercially available electrolyte drinks are not safe for people who have gestational diabetes or high blood pressure.
Gatorade and commercial electrolyte drinks contain a lot of sugar. If you have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes or have any form of the disease, you should not drink Gatorade. Instead, you would need to find an electrolyte drink that hydrates but does not contain added sugar.
Gatorade and other electrolyte drinks are also very high in salt. While electrolytes are essentially a salt compound, too much can be detrimental to a pregnant woman with high blood pressure.
Make sure you check with your doctor if you have a high-risk pregnancy because of gestational diabetes or high blood pressure before drinking Gatorade or any similar drink.
Natural Electrolyte Replacement
The key to hydration is electrolytes and fluid. When you’re sick, you lose liquid and nutrients, so getting those back in your system as fast as you can is essential to a healthy pregnancy. Since vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea are part of pregnancy, replenishment is the key.
If you are going for hydration, just plain ol’ water is best, however, if you are experiencing vomiting and diarrhea, you might need more. Coconut water is excellent for hydrating the body and is a natural choice, however, it does contain some sugar.
Bai, antioxidant water is infused with electrolytes and is safe to drink during pregnancy.
Recipe For A Homemade Electrolyte Drink
If you are worried about the sugar, salt, and chemicals in a commercial sports drink, you might consider making your own concoction at home.
¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 cups coconut water
¼ tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp of raw honey
To avoid all the processed sugars and chemicals in store-bought electrolyte drinks try making your own at home. If you need less salt or sugar you can modify the recipe per your doctor’s recommendations.
Freshly squeezed lemons have citric acid that helps with digestion, bloating and nausea. Coconut water is nature’s sport’s drink. Sea salt is a natural salt which is easily absorbed and not over processes and honey is easily is a good carbohydrate for energy and simple to digest.
When to Worry
Those first few months of pregnancy can be brutal. For some, they breeze through it, for others it’s a daily struggle.
Doctors recommend that pregnant women drink at least two glasses of milk for calcium and protein. You should also drink ten glasses of water and a glass of fresh juice for optimum hydration and health.
The problem with this is, some women can’t tolerate water, milk or juice during the first trimester. Eating or drinking anything can be horrible, so, Gatorade, for some women is the only drink they can keep down. If this is the case for you, drink it.
Even though it has chemicals, sugar, and salt if it is the only thing your body will accept, definitely drink it. If you can, try watering it down or adding fruit juice to get some of the other liquids you need.
If you can’t tolerate Gatorade or any other electrolyte drink and you have constant diarrhea and vomiting, please seek medical attention immediately. Dehydration is detrimental not only to your health but to the health of your baby and can radically impair their development.
You may need intravenous fluids if you go more than twenty-four hours without drinking and keeping down any liquid. Make sure you go to urgent care or the emergency room if you are not able to drink fluids during your pregnancy.
Trust Your Body
Your body will take care of you and your unborn baby. If you crave Gatorade, drink it. If it is the only thing you can keep down, be happy it works. Your body will know when it’s time to add something new. Do your best to follow the recommendations for an ideal pregnancy, but listen to your body, usually, it knows best.
