Compote is a fruit salad that is usually cooked and marinated in fruit juice with added sugar. It often contains a small amount of flavorful alcohol. Pregnant women can eat fruit compote, but should avoid recipes with alcohol. MayoClinic.com notes that it is unknown how much alcohol pregnant women can consume safely. Eating alcohol-free compote during pregnancy helps minimize constipation. Preparing it with a minimal amount of sweetener makes it even healthier.
Fruit Compote Recipes
Even when cooked, fruit salads offer essential fiber, minerals and vitamins that are particularly important during pregnancy. Compotes are a kind of fruit salad that often are served as desserts with cake, ice cream and other creamy treats. Unlike most fresh fruit salads, they also often contain dried fruits. While many compotes contain wine, brandy or other alcoholic beverages, there are also numerous recipes that exclude alcoholic ingredients. The Taste of Home website offers a fresh fruit compote that is cooked briefly in a syrup of water, honey and lemon juice with a bit of lemon peel to give it extra zing.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
When mothers consume alcohol in any quantity during pregnancy, they place their babies at risk of developing defects from fetal alcohol syndrome, according to MayoClinic.com. Problems caused include physical deformities, vision and hearing difficulties, mental retardation and poor impulse control. Alcohol crosses the placenta, which is a temporary organ connected to the fetus by the umbilical cord. The placenta delivers nutrients to the baby, but it can also deliver problematic substances. MayoClinic.com reports that while adults metabolize alcohol rapidly, fetuses don't. Alcohol "interferes" with oxygen delivery to a baby's developing brain and organs.
Sweet Cravings
The Today's Parent website recommends not to ignore your cravings for sweets during pregnancy, but to think of strategies to limit the amount consumed. It suggests buying small cartons of ice cream and wrapping cookies or slices of baked goods individually to freeze. Similarly, homemade compote can be frozen in single-portion containers to avoid overeating. Another strategy is to cut back on the amount of sugar or honey in a compote recipe. The Mostly Eating website offers low-sugar, alcohol-free recipes for apple and plum compotes to freeze.
Constipation
During the third trimester of pregnancy, hemorrhoids often develop. They are painful, swollen (varicose) veins in the rectum that develop partly due to constipation. To prevent hemorrhoids, the American Pregnancy Association recommends eating a high-fiber diet containing plenty of fruits and vegetables. Small servings of non-alcoholic fruit compote can be part of your anti-constipation plan. In "The Mother of All Pregnancy Books," author Ann Douglas suggests eating a small serving of compote twice daily. She offers a speedy recipe: Add "a splash" of water to four pieces of dried fruit and microwave the mix for about 20 seconds.
References
- MayoClinic.com; Fetal Alcohol Syndrome -- Prevention; May 2011
- Today's Parent; Sweet Cravings in Pregnancy; Ellen Desjardins, RD, MHSc Public Health Nutritionist; Winter 2002-2003
- Mostly Eating; A Low Sugar Way to Preserve Fruit: Plum and Apple Freezer Compotes; Sophie Clarke; September 2007
- American Pregnancy Association; Pregnancy and Hemorrhoids; March 2007
- Google Books; "The Mother of All Pregnancy Books"; Constipation; Ann Douglas; 2011
