Diet taboos after medical abortion

First, there are foods/medicines with clear blood-activating effects; second, foods that strongly stimulate the gastrointestinal tract; and third, all drinks containing alcohol. Other than that, there is no need to be overly taboo. Most of the "no room temperature fruits", "no salt" and "no beef and mutton" spread online are old experiences without scientific basis, which may lead to insufficient nutritional intake and slow down recovery.

Two years ago, I accompanied my best friend to a public maternal and child hospital for medical abortion. After taking the medicine, the doctor specially gave me a dietary precautions list. When I came back, I couldn't follow half of the rules I told the elderly at home. I just took this opportunity to clarify all the pitfalls that the doctor told me at the time and the pitfalls we actually stepped on.

First of all, the most controversial issue is "can we eat it cold?" This issue does have different views from Chinese and Western medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that after medical abortion, Qi and blood are deficient, and cold food will cause Qi and blood to stagnate, affect the discharge of lochia, and even cause uterine cold. Therefore, many elderly people are not allowed to touch oranges and apples at room temperature, and must be boiled until soft before eating. ； But the view of modern Western medicine is that as long as your gastrointestinal function is normal and you don’t suffer from diarrhea at all times, you can eat fruits and vegetables at room temperature directly. Even if you are really craving for a few sips of iced milk tea in summer, as long as the amount is not large, it will not directly cause any irreversible damage to the body.

My best friend ate half of a room-temperature watermelon on the third day after her medical abortion, and nothing happened. The little girl in the same ward usually has a weak stomach. She had diarrhea for two days after taking a bite of a peach just taken out of the refrigerator. So this taboo is actually "depending on the dish."

The most uncontroversial and must be strictly enforced are blood-activating food, medicinal materials and alcohol. No matter if the elders in the family say that Angelica sinensis can replenish blood, Panax notoginseng can remove blood stasis, or rice wine can warm the palace, don’t listen. After the medicine has flowed out, the endometrium is full of fresh wounds. Blood-activating food will directly speed up blood circulation. At least it will increase the amount of bleeding and lengthen the bleeding time. In severe cases, it may cause massive bleeding and require you to go to the hospital for uterine evacuation. Don’t believe it, during the two hours we were in the hospital for observation, a girl drank so much Angelica hen soup stewed at home the day before that she bled so much that she fainted in the bathroom, and was pulled back for rescue. It’s really not alarmist. There is also anything containing alcohol, whether it is red wine, beer or the so-called "confinement wine". Alcohol will dilate blood vessels and aggravate bleeding. It may also react with the anti-inflammatory drugs you are taking. This is something that both Chinese and Western medicine require to be avoided. You should wait at least a week after the bleeding has completely cleared before touching it.

There are also things that are particularly spicy, oily, and ice-cold, so touch them as little as possible. After all, the misoprostol taken during medical abortion itself will irritate the gastrointestinal mucosa. Many people will suffer from nausea and diarrhea in the first two or three days after taking the medicine. If you eat spicy hot pot or ice cream that is so cold that your teeth will sour, it will simply put a burden on the gastrointestinal tract. If you are really dehydrated, your already weak body will recover more slowly. My best friend was eager to eat crayfish the day after the medical abortion, but I slapped her away. Later, during the re-examination, she was very lucky, saying that a little girl in the same patient group ate spicy skewers and suffered from vomiting and diarrhea for three days. She lost almost five kilograms in weight. During the re-examination, her uterine recovery was particularly poor.

There are also many people who automatically start drinking motherwort granules and brown sugar ginger tea after medical abortion. In fact, this is not necessary. If your bleeding is smooth, the amount is similar to your usual menstrual period, and you don’t have obvious abdominal pain, you don’t need to drink it at all. Drinking it may prolong the bleeding time. ； If the doctor says that your uterine contractions are not good and your lochia discharge is slow, then follow the doctor's instructions and don't just buy a bunch of supplements and stuff them into your mouth.

As for the rumors posted on the Internet about not eating salt, not eating beef and mutton, and not eating seafood, they are really all nonsense. As long as you are not allergic to these foods, you can eat them normally. Instead, you should eat more lean beef, pork liver, egg whites, and dark green vegetables that are high in iron and high-quality protein. After all, medical abortion will cause blood loss to some extent, and adequate nutrition is the key to recovery. My best friend was eating pork liver and spinach noodles, tomato stewed beef, and steamed shrimp every now and then. During the reexamination, the hemoglobin did not drop at all, and she recovered much faster than the girl in the same ward who only dared to drink millet porridge every day.

In fact, to put it bluntly, there really aren’t that many restrictions on diet after medical abortion. The core is to eat comfortably and not put a burden on the body. If you are unsure, ask your attending doctor directly. It is much more reliable than searching for half a day of random information on the Internet. After all, everyone’s physique is different, and what is suitable for others may not be suitable for you.