Diet and Food Guidance for Eclampsia

Food cannot prevent or cure eclampsia, but a healthy diet supports a healthy pregnancy, and a few points are worth knowing.

What is helpful

• Balanced meals. Vegetables, fruit, pulses, whole grains, dairy and enough protein.
• Calcium. The WHO advises calcium supplements for pregnant women in places where dietary calcium is low, to lower the risk of pre-eclampsia. Ask your doctor before starting, and do not take it on your own in large doses.
• Fluids. Drink enough water, unless your doctor tells you otherwise.
• Healthy weight gain. Gain weight as advised. Obesity raises risk, but do not diet during pregnancy.

What to limit

• Very salty foods, pickles and packaged snacks, which add to swelling and blood pressure for some women. Do not cut salt out completely unless the doctor advises it.
• Caffeine in large amounts, and sugary drinks.
• Alcohol and tobacco, which are unsafe in pregnancy.

What does not help

• Extreme salt-free diets, fasting, or "detox" plans.
• Herbal teas and home remedies for blood pressure. Some are unsafe in pregnancy.
• Diet alone cannot manage pre-eclampsia once it has started. It needs medical treatment.

The classical view. Ayurveda advises light, warm, easily digested, nourishing food in pregnancy and avoiding heavy or very spicy food. That fits common sense, but it is a general guide and not an eclampsia treatment.

Any woman with high blood pressure, swelling or headache should see the doctor the same day, not change her diet and wait.