I know that many white-collar workers now like to bring their own meals, because it is clean and healthy and is better than the fast food packed lunches from outside. Not only white-collar workers bring meals, but pregnant women also like to bring their own meals to the company. At noon, heat it up in the microwave. But is it healthy for a pregnant woman to bring her lunch and heat it in the microwave? Let’s take a look below.

Is it healthy for pregnant women to bring their own meals to work

Experts say that in order to ensure nutrition during pregnancy, some expectant mothers prepare nutritious dinners at night and then bring them to work the next day to microwave them. heating. So, is it more nutritious and scientific for pregnant women to bring rice at noon?

Experts remind: In fact, overnight meals are not necessarily safe and healthy, and in some cases, bringing rice to heat is not necessarily hygienic.

Many people believe that cooking at home is far more hygienic and nutritious than lunch outside. It is true that cooking at home is more reliable and the taste is more suitable for you. But overnight leftovers are not as healthy as you might think. For example, the amount of nitrite in vegetables stored overnight will increase with the storage time, especially green leafy vegetables. Moreover, the nutritional content of meals that are heated repeatedly will decrease accordingly, such as vitamin C, which is much less than freshly cooked meals. Expectant mothers don’t get as much nutrition as they imagine.

In addition to nitrites, overnight meals can cause other problems. For example, although most packed lunch boxes are stored in the refrigerator, the temperature will still rise on the way to work. Especially in warm and hot seasons, pathogenic bacteria will multiply in large numbers, such as E. coli, salmonella, etc., which can easily cause gastrointestinal diseases in pregnant women. Studies have shown that a large number of bacteria can grow in meals left out for a few hours.

Experts remind:

It is not advisable to bring fish or seafood when bringing your own lunch, because fish and seafood tend to produce protein degradation products after being left overnight, which is harmful to health.

It is not advisable to bring green leafy vegetables when bringing your own lunch. Green leafy vegetables contain varying amounts of nitrates. If heated in a microwave or stored for too long, the vegetables will turn yellow and change flavor, and the nitrates will be reduced by bacteria. It turns into toxic nitrite, which is carcinogenic.

Rice is the best staple food. Staple foods such as steamed buns and flatbreads should not be included in the packed lunches. From the perspective of microwave heating, heated rice can basically maintain its original state, but steamed buns and flatbreads are very easy to dry out and should not be heated in a microwave oven.

Compared with green vegetables, solanaceous vegetables are not easy to deteriorate, and the color and aroma of dishes are not easily changed after being heated in a microwave oven.

It should be reminded that the vegetables you want to bring should be stir-fried until they are half-cooked or half-cooked to prevent further damage to their nutrients when heated by microwaves. Classic dishes such as scrambled eggs with tomatoes and roasted eggplant are more suitable for "bringing rice". In addition, you can eat some protein that can relieve fatigue. Meat and soy products are the best choices for lunch.

Improper use of lunch boxes is also detrimental to the health of pregnant women.

We have discussed before that the materials of some lunch boxes are not as safe as we think, especially plastic lunch boxes. Because the material is not up to standard, repeated heating at high temperatures will release harmful substances to the human body, threatening expectant mothers. and fetal health. For details, please refer to the article "Pregnant women should be careful when using plastic lunch boxes for hot meals."

Of course, if it is really impossible to ensure a hygienic and healthy lunch at the work, bringing a meal is also a relatively safe option. It is best to choose some fruits and vegetables that can stay fresh and pay attention to the nutritional mix.