What To Eat After Abortion for Fast Recovery

Abortion or miscarriage is a heartbreaking experience for a woman. If a wannabe mother unintentionally loses her hope planted into her womb, it’ll be an unbearable agony that’ll haunt her for days. In such cases, she’ll need mental support from her family along with a proper diet, physical and social activities. But what to eat after abortion for fast recovery?

However, medical conditions aren’t the major causes behind abortion. Most women decided on abortion due to priority for education or work, financial crises, partner problems, avoiding early motherhood, etc. But the trauma may contribute to the delay of a speedy recovery. However, you should eat nutritious foods after an abortion for fast recovery. And also, avoid some foods that may delay the recovery process.

The fast recovery from abortion depends on the types of procedures you’ve undergone. Abortion in the first trimester needs a little medical intervention and heals fast. But if you do abortion in the 2nd or 3rd trimester, surgical options like dilatation and evacuation or vacuum aspiration are available. These measures take a high toll on health. So they need a longer time to recover from this post-abortion trauma.

What To Eat After Abortion for Fast Recovery

Be patient and follow the natural way of healing rather than taking supplements. Consuming some superfoods and avoiding certain unhealthy foods may help you recover fast after abortion.

Here we’ve compiled the best foods to eat after an abortion. We’ve put them in a broader aspect of food types (proximate principles) so that you can have the most effective and available foods to eat after abortion. During an abortion, uterine contents are expelled with lots of blood. So selecting foods according to the loss will contribute to the fast recovery after abortion or a miscarriage.

The proximate principles of foods are always necessary for our body to function properly. But you need to eat selective foods in a proportion that’ll help you recover fast. Some nutrients excel in speeding the recovery process by boosting immunity. Let’s find out the best food options to keep your health level optimum and quicken the healing process after abortion.

Get Foods Rich in Iron

Due to medication, the basal layer of the endometrium (mucus layer lining the uterus) sheds away with the developing zygote. Your body loses a significant amount of blood which should be corrected as soon as possible. 

Iron takes part in the production of red blood cells. Hemoglobin consists of four iron molecules. Providing iron in a greater quantity meets the demand for increased hemoglobin production due to blood loss in abortion. So putting iron-rich foods into your diet will enhance the recovery rate after abortion. 

Usually, two types of iron are found- heme iron in animals and non-heme iron in plants. We absorb mostly heme irons. If you want to increase iron consumption, try more animal products. Here’s a list of iron-rich foods.

• Beef or chicken liver
• Shellfish e.g. oysters, mussels
• Spinach
• Legumes 
• Red kidney beans
• Mint
• Broccoli
• Brown rice
• Lentil
• Molasses

Crave for Folate-rich Foods

Folate-rich foods are necessary for recovering fast after an abortion. Folate or folic acid is known as vitamin B9, and the activated form is tetrahydrofolate. They are essential for recovering internal damage as they act as transporters of single carbon complexes like methyl, methenyl, etc. Folate helps produce DNA, nitrogenous bases like purine, pyrimidine, etc. which are essential as our body building blocks.

As folate controls the foundation of our body at the molecular level, you need to pay heed to this essential nutrient. Here are some foods high in tetrahydrofolate.

• Organ meat
• Celery
• Kale
• Dark green vegetables
• Avocado

Eat Foods Crammed with Antioxidants

A diet rich in antioxidants may speed the healing process. Cells in your body go through metabolic changes during this period. The body remains vulnerable to infections for a period. It may induce inflammation resulting in the production of free radicals. Antioxidants prevent such consequences by neutralizing free radicals. 

Some antioxidants participate in collagen synthesis and thus thicken the endometrium layer of the uterus. Antioxidants like vitamin E fight off oxidative stress in the cells and prevent unwanted blood clotting by dilating the vessels.

Keep foods that are crammed with antioxidants in your diet plan. You can pick bright-colored fruits, such as red, pink, yellow, orange, or green ones for a fantastic antioxidant profile. Here are some suggestions.

• Citrus fruits e.g. lemon, orange, pineapple, etc.
• Red fruits i.e. lychee, rambutan, red grapes, etc.

Probiotics

Probiotics are the microorganisms that help revive and restore the normal conditions of the normal flora in the gut. You can consume them naturally through foods, or you may eat them through supplements. After an abortion, women may feel some postoperative symptoms due to rupture in the delicate balance of healthy bacteria in the gut. Taking probiotics helps you digest food and fight off gut diseases.

Probiotics are the healthy aspect of foods you should maintain for a better GIT. An abortion puts pressure on the delicate immune system as hormone pills and antibiotics are prescribed. So if you want a fast recovery after an abortion, you can consider taking probiotics for some days. And the natural ways are far better than the allopathic ones. Here are some foods having probiotic properties.

• Yogurt
• Kefirs
• Kimchi

Lean Proteins

Proteins are essential to maintain a healthy body structure and promote strong stature. As you already know, our building blocks are amino acids. After a surgical procedure, your body needs to repair it through the accumulation and covalent connection of amino acids. And animal meats are the best sources of amino acids. If you can cut the fat portion minimally out of the meat, they’ll be fantastic resources to start your quick healing process.

Lean proteins not only satisfy your hunger but also meet the nutritional requirements. Keeping lean proteins in your diet helps in the total specific calorie calculation, shunting possible fat parts involvement. You can go along these lean protein foods below.

• Skinless chicken
• White-fleshed fishes
• Plain Greek yogurt
• Tofu
• Lean beef
• Skimmed milk

Whole Grain

After a stressful abortion process, your body may get exhausted. And mental trauma is inevitable due to hormonal reasons and other situations. In such challenging times, your body needs a constant supply of energy. Hence carbohydrate is the right choice to help you recover fast after an abortion. Our regular diet should include half of the whole grains since they contain the best part of the nutrition profile i.e., vitamin B12, iron, fibers, folate, etc.

The only food for our brain is glucose. And carbohydrates are the main source of our glucose supply to the brain. Someone going through a rough and tough stage of life needs extra energy to keep the immune system less vulnerable. Though grains consist of one-fourth of the meal plate, try to select whole-grain as much as possible. Here’s a list of whole grain foods to help your speedy recovery from abortion.

• Brown rice
• Quinoa
• Whole wheat
• Oatmeal
• Popcorn

Healthy Fat

Not all fats are harmful to your health. Saturated fats like palm oil, coconut oil contribute to plaque formation in coronary arteries by increasing bad cholesterol levels. But unsaturated fats like vegetable oil, nuts, seeds, and fish are blessings for us. They are useful in fighting the bad cholesterol in the blood and also promote skin health. Vegetable oils, such as soy, corn, and olive oil, have fantastic contributions to our overall immunity.

Moreover, some vitamins, including vitamin A, D, E, K, are only fat-soluble. Only fat can help in their absorption from the gut and transportation in the blood, which is enormously important to maintain proper health. Fats are also precursors to eicosanoids, a vital complex in our immunity. To get it all, you can consume healthy fats without any fear and harness their potential.

• Cod liver oil
• Vegetable oil
• Nuts
• Seeds 

Leafy Vegetables

Leafy vegetables might not attract you like fast foods or yummy fats. But know this, leafy vegetables are your savior in the days of your fights against diseases. They are jam-packed with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients like vitamin A, E, and C. The antioxidants are diversely distributed in different colored vegetables. Green leafy vegetables have other antioxidants, such as quercetin which is different from lutein, present in the red ones. So switching between these leafy vegetables will give you a total range of antioxidant powerhouses.

Leafy vegetables are densely packed with dietary fibers, which come in handy after an abortion. Constipation is a common problem after abortion which can be dangerous in some cases. So eating fiber-rich foods should be mandatory to maintain bowel habits. You can pick these dark leafy green vegetables to promote gut health.

• Lettuce
• Arugula
• Swiss chard
• Spinach
• Bok choy

Cruciferous vegetables

Cruciferous vegetables are crucial in the stage when you crave an array of vitamins and minerals for fast recovery after abortion. Thanks to these cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli and cauliflower, they are the storehouse of nutrients essential for a smooth and safe recovery after a medical procedure like abortion. 

As soon as you consume a cruciferous vegetable, your body converts the glucosinolates into isothiocyanates. Isothiocyanates are effective warriors in the fight against inflammation, necrosis, and boosting immunity. As the abortion process needs the shedding of cells from the uterus, necrosis should occur in an organized way to keep the immune system upfront against further infections. You should try some of these cruciferous vegetables in your diet to include a wide range of nutrition.

• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Kale
• Brussels sprouts 

Organ Meats

Organ meats have an excellent nutrition profile that’s been cherished by all. Though nowadays the trend has fallen a bit down, a health-sensible person always senses the cramming nutrition in organ meats. They are also known as offal or variety meat. These animal body parts store the important minerals which eventually benefit other omnivores like us.

Organ meats are rich in tetrahydrofolate, iron, vitamin B12, choline, etc. They normally protect your health from different aggressive disorders. But their rich profile in iron and choline seems like a definitive way of fast recovery from abortion. But which organ meats are the best for a speedy recovery? Here are a few of them.

• Liver
• Kidney
• Heart
• Brain
• Tongue

Calcium-Magnesium-Zinc Trio

If you can start this trio as early as possible after an abortion, you’ll recover swiftly due to the fantastic combo of these nutrients in mental health and overall immunity. After an abortion, mental health poses a risk to a fast recovery after an abortion. If you can manage to stay strong after the hormonal turmoil, you’ll recover very fast after abortion.

Zinc and magnesium have strong effects in signaling our brain for cognitive processes. In searching for a possible novel micronutrient solution to adult depression, researchers found that zinc and magnesium are way more effective than antidepressants. 

After analyzing 18 research papers, a review study concludes that magnesium interventions effectively attenuate symptoms associated with anxiety disorders. However, the study dealt with the subjective structure of depression. A recent study refuted the connection of magnesium with mood disorders.

Zinc plays an important role in boosting your immunity. It’ll help restore your taste for foods. A large-scale cross-sectional study found the impact of zinc, iron, copper on mental health. These micronutrients reportedly decrease the onset of depression in people who meet the recommended level of intake.

Drink plenty of water

Last but not least, drink as much water as possible as hydration can ward off further chronicity in your ailments. Your body loses a large fluid portion due to the expulsion of uterine contents during an abortion. You should drink water regularly to correct the plasma volume and aid the reactions in the running smoothly in the blood.

Wrap Up

Abortion isn’t the right choice after you do something wrong. If you think the time isn’t suitable for having a child, take all the precautionary measures. However, the advanced healing mechanism will activate as soon as you undergo an abortion. If you want to recover fast, you can follow the dietary suggestions. 

So what to eat after abortion for fast recovery? Here is what you need. Try the most available and reasonable foods, and hopefully, you’ll recover fast from this awful and heartbreaking experience.