Expert: Pat G - 3/1/2010

Question
QUESTION: Dear Sir, anytime my wife gets pregnant, she always want to eat a lot of hot chilli. She has had one miscarriage before but i want to know if this could be as a result of eating hot chillies.

ANSWER: Hi, Ebenezer,

Hot chilis or chillies (cayenne) are good for your wife, and for the baby. Miscarriage is caused by something else. Please don't worry about it. It's fine for her to eat them. She should eat them in moderation. Although I have done extensive research on this spice, I have found no information that it is harmful during pregnancy in any way. As I am sure you are aware, people in Mexico, India, Thailand, Malaysia, and other countries, eat a lot of chili with no harm to their children. In fact, chili can act as a preservative, and is often used in fish dishes to keep the fish from going bad. This is also helpful, because fish that is no longer fresh might prove to be a health hazard. Using chili helps preserve food in countries where refrigeration is not available.

Chili is one of our best herbs, because it is used for so many things. It will open up circulation and help prevent hemorrhage. It will help reduce swelling. It is good for heart trouble, and can be used to cause wounds to close and stop bleeding. It is also helpful to stop hemorrhage due to gynecological problems.

I have used and eaten chili extensively for a long time. I have never had any problems with it. Some people have trouble digesting it, but that seems to be the extent of the problem.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you very much sir for your last correspondence. I have one more question.

if a pregnant woman is always feeling weak and down, what can she do about it? I mean to be able to get up in the mournings and going because se has to go to work.

Answer
Hi, Ebenezer,

I forgot to mention I am female.

A pregnant woman needs a couple more hours of sleep a night. This would probably help quite a bit. Also, she needs to eat a good diet. I assume that your wife is not having trouble with morning sickness, then she can eat well. One thing some people do is they eat a vegetarian diet. A vegetarian diet isn't very healthy, actually. There are several critically important nutrients missing from a vegetarian diet. A person needs to get some meat, eggs, or milk in her diet. Also, there are some ingredients that are poisonous, such as monosodium glutimate and artificial sweeteners. It can depend on a number of things, then.

Encourage your wife to get ten hours of sleep a night for about a week and see if this makes any difference. If she's waking up tired, or lacking in energy or alertness, this could be the problem.

We can talk about it more. Let me know what else your wife likes to eat.

Please take good care of her.