Prenatal and Postnatal Nutrition Comprehensive Guidance

Author: Dong Shouhong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-02-01
Features: Why Shouldn't You Take Sleeping Pills Before Conception?
Some young couples, due to overwork and poor adaptation to life after marriage, often experience insomnia, fatigue, dizziness, and blurred vision, and in some cases, mental health issues that affect their normal married life. Some newlyweds even rely on sleeping pills to control their symptoms. This practice is extremely wrong—it not only goes against scientific principles but is also harmful to the body. Analysis shows that sleeping pills can damage the physiological and reproductive functions of both men and women. Medications like diazepam, librium, and imipramine, for example, can affect the interbrain, influencing the secretion of pituitary gonadotropin. In men, taking sleeping pills can reduce testosterone production, leading to impotence, premature ejaculation, and decreased libido, thereby affecting fertility. In women, sleeping pills can impair hypothalamic function, alter sex hormone levels, resulting in the absence of a peak during the menstrual cycle, causing menstrual disorders or amenorrhea, and leading to dysfunction, thus affecting fertility and causing temporary infertility. To avoid affecting both partners' fertility, newlyweds or couples planning to conceive should never take sleeping pills. If insomnia occurs, it is best to address it through proper rest, increased exercise, better nutrition, and regulating daily routines to fundamentally enhance physical health.
Before conception, it is advisable for couples to avoid consuming pickled and smoked foods such as salted meat, ham, sausages, pickled fish, and various grilled meats like lamb skewers, chicken skewers, quail skewers, and fatty intestine skewers. Despite their appealing aroma, these foods produce strong carcinogens—benzo[a]pyrene and nitrosamines—during processing. When ingested, these substances form nitrosamines in the acidic environment of the stomach, both of which can cause mutations in the genetic material (DNA) of sperm and eggs, leading to abnormal fertilized eggs. Therefore, couples planning to have a baby should preferably minimize or avoid these foods.
How Should Women of Childbearing Age Drink Water?
Water nourishes all things in nature. A person can survive for several days without food but will quickly suffer from poisoning if they go without water for a week, as toxic metabolic byproducts excreted by the kidneys must dissolve in water to be expelled through urine. Without sufficient water, these byproducts cannot be effectively removed, potentially leading to kidney stones. Water is also essential for the chemical processes involved in digestion and metabolism. It transports oxygen and various nutrients to body cells through the bloodstream and helps regulate body temperature through respiration. Water also lubricates joints throughout the body. Even each breath requires water. The lungs must operate in a certain humidity environment to absorb oxygen and expel carbon dioxide.
Water is also a natural remedy. Numerous studies and surveys have shown that drinking a large amount of water daily can enhance the body's resistance and prevent diseases. A healthy adult should drink 1,500–2,000 milliliters of water per day, and more if their physical activity is high or the climate is dry.
What Kind of Water Is Best for Women Before Pregnancy?
Mineral water is pure in quality, pleasant to drink, and contains various trace elements essential for the body, with the ability to regulate