Probably one of the biggest stresses you will face during pregnancy is what to eat. Not just because there is an ever changing list of things you can't eat according to the doctor, but because what your body tells you you can or can't eat also changes. Then all the Latinas in your life chime in.
Even if you are one of the lucky ones and you never experience morning sickness (don't hate on me, but I never got morning sickness), it is true what they say about your tastes changing and your cravings kicking in. If you are one of the unlucky ones and spend your whole pregnancy puking (my sisters–and they did hate me for my relatively easy pregnancy) don't worry. There is miracle food that will not make you puke and is packed full of nutrients and you eat it all the time anyway.
Rice and beans will save your pregnancy!
At least they did for all the women in my family, including my Mom, who is not Latina.
Basically, rice and beans are just starch and protein and most pregnancy women, even those having trouble keeping food down, can handle starch–that's why people suggest eating crackers and bread when you are feeling nauseous. And you definitely need to eat protein when you are pregnant and beans, being not from an animal, are easier on your digestion.
Plus, they taste good. And familiar. I have absolutely no science to back this up but eating something familiar also calmed my nerves, which calmed down my digestive system. There was something about the rice pot being on the stove that just sent a message to my gag reflex that everything was going to be OK.
Another tip–common wisdom is that you should eat ginger to help with the nausea but that never worked for me and if one more person suggested I drink/eat/snort/or otherwise ingest ginger I was going to smack them. What did work for me was a plain old-fashioned Maria cookie (you know, those vanilla wafer things your grandmother always had on hand). Keep some of them in your purse.
What are your pregnancy eating tips and tricks?
Image via Jen Montes/Flickr
