Nine months is a lot of time when you can taste various seasonal fruits. During pregnancy you will crave for different food items. Fruits and veggies are of course the best items that you need to include in your pregnancy diet on a daily basis. Custard apple is one such lovely and delicious seasonal fruit that is ideal to have during this period.

• Is It Safe To Consume Custard Apple During Pregnancy?
• 10 Benefits Of Eating Custard Apple During Pregnancy
• Side Effects of Custard Apple During Pregnancy
• How To Eat This Fruit?

Is It Safe To Consume Custard Apple During Pregnancy?

This fruit  originated in South America. It is also known by various other names like sitaphal, sharifa and sugar apple. Custard apple has been found to be extremely nutritious for both the unborn baby as well as the mother to be. The fruit is sweet, delicious and absolutely safe to consume during your pregnancy.

10 Benefits Of Eating Custard Apple During Pregnancy

1. Lowers labor pain, agony during delivery: It has been found that custard apple is quite effective in reducing labor pain. This fruit has also been found to lower the risks associated with miscarriage
2. Averts constipation Issues: Custard apple is loaded with fiber that helps to normalize bowel movements and reduces the constipation issues that pregnant women commonly face during this period
3. Helps to lower morning sickness symptoms: Packed with vitamin B6, this delicious fruit is ideal to avoid symptoms of nausea and morning sickness that is one of the most common woes of pregnant women. Vitamin B6 is found to be excellent in averting nausea
4. Helps to detoxify the body: Since custard apple has wonderful anti-oxidant properties, this fruit is helpful to cleanse your body of toxins present in your system. This lovely fruit has also been found to be quite effective in dealing with mood swings
   and also numbness that are other common woes of pregnant women
5. Loaded with all essential vitamins: Custard apple is found to be packed with all vital essential vitamins in desired quantities like Vitamin C and Vitamin A .Both these vitamins play an important role in proper fetal development and growth. Daily consumption of this fruit aids healthy development of fetal nerves, immune system and brain. Vitamin A is also excellent for building good eye sight, hair and skin. Vitamin C on the other hand helps to combat free radicals present in your system
6. Helps to cure dysentery and diarrhea: This wonderful fruit is an excellent cooling agent and has wonderful expectorant properties. It is a natural cure for diarrhea and dysentery
7. Provides relief from tooth pain: Pregnant women face all kinds of dental issues during their pregnancy phase like a gum inflammation or toothache. It has been proven that custard apple helps to provide significant relief from these dental issues
8. Excellent skin benefits: The juicy flesh of this fruit is ideal to cure various kinds of infections of the skin especially abscesses and ulcers. For this you are required to prepare a pulpy paste of the flesh of the fruit and locally apply this twice daily on the infected area
9. Provides your muscles with the much needed relaxation: Magnesium is one important element that is absolutely vital during pregnancy as it is found to avert cardiac issues and is also ideal in helping your muscles to relax. And custard apple contains sufficient amount of magnesium in it
10. Lower the chance of premature delivery: Custard apple is loaded with copper. The daily requirement of copper in a pregnant woman is approximately 100 mg. Copper is known to improve the hemoglobin levels and thus prevent premature labor. Moreover, it also helps in the healthy development of fetus skin, muscles and blood vessels

Side Effects of Custard Apple During Pregnancy

Even though this lovely fruit is a perfect pick to add to your daily diet during pregnancy period, there are some simple precautions that need to be kept in mind.

• Never eat seeds of the fruit as it can cause unwanted issues and even harm you and your baby
• As this fruit has a very high content of sugar level, you need to steer clear of this fruit if you are a suffering from gestational diabetes
• If you consume unripe custard apple, there is a chance that you stomach can get irritated and trigger some kind of digestion issues. So you should eat only a fully ripe, soft and plump custard apple
• Make sure you consult your doctor before you start eating them during pregnancy phase

How To Eat This Fruit?

If you know the simple technique to define the fruit and eat it, having custard apple becomes very easy.

• First cut or pull the fruit apart in half
• Scoop all the flesh out with the aid of a spoon
• Avoid the seeds and enjoy the delicious and succulent fruit
• You can also prepare a fresh smoothie with the flesh of custard apple or even eat it with ice-cream
• You could also try adding a dash of lime juice to this pulp for a wonderfully different flavor

You can happily eat fresh and ripe custard apples during pregnancy as they are not only tasty but also healthy. If you crave for something sweet, you can easily replace a dessert for this fruit and reap the maximum benefit of this fruit. However, like everything, moderation is key here in order to avoid any side effects.