Doctors all over the world have been answering this question very frequently, and their answer is YES. Doctors do not advise the mothers to discontinue eating spicy food, till the time she herself doesn’t feel the “heart burn”, or the child being “colicky” after eating them. If the mother feels anything of this sort she can discontinue eating spicy food.

Heart burn, is a very common problem which is faced by woman after they eat spicy food or food full of fiery gravy.

Rumours related to effects of spicy food on a pregnant woman:

• Women craving for spicy food, expect a baby boy, and those expecting girls, crave for sweets.
• Spicy food induces labour.
• Consumption of spicy food, can lead to birthing of an ill- tempered baby.
• Eating fiery food can lead to birth of a blind baby.
• Excessive spicy food reduces the amount of hair on the infants scalp.
• All these are mere rumours, without any documented medical evidence.

Spicy food is in no way harmful for the pregnant woman, if at all she feels uncomfortable in eating spicy food, she can consult her doctor, or discontinue eating.
Interestingly, it is said that the child can “taste” the food while it is in the mother’s womb.

EFFECTS OF SPICY FOOD:
Generally, such food has no such impact on the health of the unborn baby or the mother, but doctors suggest keeping away from spicy and peppery food, especially during the “third trimester”.
When expecting a baby, such type of food may cause

• Heart burn
• Bloating
• Diarrhoea
• Gas trouble. Etc.

Precautions

• When one opts to indulge in spicy food, then it is very important to maintain her balanced diet side by side.
• Enough rest and sufficient physical activities helps the baby grow properly and even helps the mother to cope up with the various hormonal and body changes.
• If one is planning to breast feed the baby after child birth, then one must desist having food with gaseous and pungent taste, because the flavours from such food may mix with the milk and cause irritation to the sensitive digestive system of the baby.
• There are spices being sold out loose without proper packing’s, which might be adulterated, and might even contain “clay” and “non –edible” dyes.
• They can be very harmful for both the child as well as the expecting mother. One must be very careful while purchasing the spices from the market. Those spices being sold out loose should never be consumed.
• Lastly, it is very important to note, that the spicy foods should not be high in the sodium content because sodium can cause fluid retention and high blood pressure.

Mothers should be very cautious about their diet during pregnancy as it has a direct affect on the child. They should try and take as much as healthy food as possible.