**Special Nutrition and Recovery Plans During Special Periods: From Special Nutrition During Pregnancy and Postpartum Care to Menopausal Diet and Pre- and Post-Surgery Supplementation**

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What special foods are needed during pregnancy?

Pregnancy requires you to consume more calories and protein; your protein needs will double. Almost every food contains protein to some extent. You also need to eat a variety of foods because other nutrients are distributed throughout different foods.

(1) Folic acid. Leafy green vegetables contain folic acid, which is essential for protein synthesis in early pregnancy and for the formation of blood cells and new cells. Fetal growth depends on folic acid. Anemia and fatigue are symptoms of folic acid deficiency (anemia can also be caused by other factors). If you are anemic, you must supplement with folic acid through your daily diet because the body cannot store it. If you have taken birth control pills and are now pregnant, you should supplement with vitamin B6, B₁2, and folic acid, as these substances may have been depleted. If you are planning to become pregnant, supplementing with folic acid before conception can reduce the incidence of spina bifida in the fetus by 70%.

(2) Iron. Iron can be obtained from plum juice, dried fruit, beans, brown sugar, lean meat, liver, egg yolks, and foods cooked in iron pots. Iron is the main component of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a complex molecule containing protein and iron that carries oxygen to the fetus and your own tissue cells. The fetus also obtains iron from your iron storage organs, storing it in its liver until it is breastfed after birth. During childbirth, you also need oxygen (provided by hemoglobin) to supply the uterus, and the fetus's brain cells need even more oxygen. If you have a balanced diet rich in iron, your body will store enough iron. Otherwise, you will need to supplement with ferrous gluconate or ferrous fumarate. Remember not to use ferrous sulfate, as it can bind with vitamins and be excreted from the body. Organic iron is the naturally occurring form of iron, and it is found in many healthy foods.

(3) Calcium. Similarly, the need for calcium increases during pregnancy and lactation.

(4) Fluids. Fluids help with blood and body fluid circulation, promote the distribution of minerals in the body, and aid in the digestion and absorption of food. Drink 8-10 cups of fluids daily. Be mindful of your caffeine intake, as all cola contains excessive amounts of caffeine.

What supplements should postpartum women take?

Because new mothers expend a lot of energy during childbirth and immediately have to take on the responsibility of breastfeeding, it is extremely important to provide them with appropriate nutritional supplements.

(1) Brown sugar. Brown sugar is high in iron and can be used to replenish blood in postpartum women. It is rich in various trace elements and minerals, and can promote urination, prevent postpartum urinary incontinence, and promote the discharge of lochia. It should be noted that: it should generally not be consumed for more than 10 days. If the consumption is prolonged, it will increase bloody lochia, and in summer it will cause postpartum women to sweat more, leading to a decrease in salt in the body.

(2) Eggs. Eggs are rich in protein with high utilization rate. They also contain lecithin, lutein, and various vitamins and minerals. The fat they contain is easily absorbed, which helps postpartum women recover their strength and maintain the health of their nervous system. However, they should not be eaten in excess. Four to six eggs a day is enough. Too many eggs can lead to protein overload and induce other nutritional diseases.

(3) Millet. Millet is rich in vitamins B₁ and B₂, and also has a high fiber content, which can help postpartum women recover their strength, stimulate intestinal peristalsis, and improve appetite. Millet porridge should not be too thin, and postpartum women should not rely solely on millet as their staple food to avoid a lack of other nutrients.

(4) Sesame. Sesame is rich in protein, fat, calcium, iron and vitamin E, which can improve the quality of dietary nutrition. Black sesame is better than white sesame.

(5) Chicken soup, fish soup, and meat soup. These soups contain easily absorbed proteins, vitamins, and minerals. They are delicious, can stimulate gastric juice secretion, improve appetite, and promote lactation. Because postpartum women sweat and secrete milk easily, their water needs are higher than those of ordinary people, so drinking plenty of soup is very beneficial.

How should menopausal women plan their diet?

In addition to paying attention to mental and psychological well-being, a proper diet is also very important for women during menopause. B-complex vitamins are highly beneficial for maintaining nerve function, promoting digestion, preventing headaches and dizziness, and maintaining memory. Whole grains such as millet, oatmeal, and corn, as well as mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms, are rich in B-complex vitamins, and menopausal women should eat more of these foods.

Menopausal women often experience water and electrolyte imbalances, leading to water and sodium retention, edema, and potentially high blood pressure. Therefore, salt intake should be limited to half that of younger women. Menopausal women also frequently experience disordered glucose and lipid metabolism, leading to elevated blood sugar, elevated blood lipids, obesity, diabetes, and atherosclerosis. Therefore, menopausal women should reduce their intake of sweets, animal fats, and organ meats, and increase their consumption of whole grains. As women age, their basal metabolic rate decreases, making them more prone to excess energy intake. Therefore, women who are becoming obese should limit their intake of staple foods. Their diet should ensure adequate protein intake, with plenty of lean meat, chicken, fish, eggs, dairy products, and soy products. Generally, vegetable oils, such as soybean oil, rapeseed oil, corn oil, sesame oil, and sunflower oil, are high in unsaturated fatty acids and contain high calories; excessive consumption can lead to excess energy intake. Some reports suggest that excessive intake of unsaturated fatty acids may also increase the incidence of cancer.

Many menopausal women experience menstrual irregularities, including heavy bleeding, prolonged periods, and shortened cycles, which can often lead to anemia. Therefore, the first step is to actively treat the menstrual irregularities. Simultaneously, it's important to supplement with protein, iron, and vitamins A, G, B12, and folic acid. Consuming more animal liver, lean meat, chicken and duck blood, and fresh vegetables is beneficial. Fruits, red dates, red beans, longan, and glutinous rice also have spleen-strengthening, qi-boosting, and blood-nourishing effects.

Menopausal women often experience calcium and phosphorus metabolism disorders, making them prone to osteoporosis; therefore, calcium supplementation is essential. They should consume more calcium-rich foods such as fish, dried shrimp, sesame seeds, and soy products. Milk is an ideal source of calcium due to its high calcium content and easy absorption. Menopausal women should avoid smoking, alcohol, coffee, strong tea, and other stimulating beverages. Sour dates and red dates have calming and blood pressure-lowering effects and can be consumed more frequently. "Food is worse than medicine." If menopausal women pay attention to mental health and maintain a balanced diet, they can not only navigate menopause smoothly but also experience many symptoms that resolve spontaneously.

How should one nourish the body before and after surgery?

In medicine, surgery is divided into "emergency surgery" and "elective surgery." Emergency surgery refers to procedures performed immediately for acute illnesses. Elective surgery is mostly for certain chronic diseases, and doctors can schedule the surgery based on factors such as the patient's physical condition, changes in their condition, and weather conditions.

Regardless of the type of surgery, all procedures cause some trauma to the body, and proper nutrition is essential for wound healing and tissue regeneration. A deficiency in these nutrients can weaken the immune system, hindering recovery and potentially increasing the risk of infection. Therefore, nutritional supplementation before and after surgery should be taken seriously. For emergency surgeries, the focus is primarily on post-operative supplementation. For elective surgeries, nutritional supplementation may be necessary before surgery depending on the patient's condition, but it must be done rationally and according to the specific circumstances. Blindly supplementing the diet and overeating is detrimental to recovery. For example, a patient with an inguinal hernia had a scheduled surgery, but in the days leading up to it, he overate and drank excessively, consuming chicken, fish, turtle, and ginseng at every meal. This aggravated his gastrointestinal burden, causing nausea, vomiting, and severe abdominal pain. He was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis. Although he recovered after treatment, the scheduled inguinal hernia repair surgery had to be postponed.

For some patients who were previously in good physical condition undergoing non-digestive tract surgeries, such as breast surgery, thyroid surgery, and inguinal hernia repair, eating is generally not affected after surgery. Once they regain consciousness from anesthesia, they can begin eating, and their diet and portion sizes are largely unrestricted. As long as the food is properly balanced, they can recover quickly. Of course, if gastrointestinal absorption and digestion are normal, it is acceptable to appropriately increase nutrition while maintaining normal eating habits. For patients with pre-operative malnutrition, they should be encouraged to eat orally as much as possible, adopting a method of small, frequent meals. They should appropriately increase easily digestible and absorbable foods such as fish, soy products, and steamed eggs, while avoiding excessive consumption of high-protein and high-fat foods. For major gastrointestinal surgeries, such as partial gastrectomy and radical resection of rectal cancer, to ensure anastomotic healing and increase the success rate of the surgery, patients should follow the doctor's instructions and fast before surgery, or consume only liquid foods for a few days before surgery. They should never secretly consume so-called "supplements" or similar products. Some patients, such as those who have undergone laryngectomy for pharyngeal tumors, cannot eat orally for about two weeks. However, they can make full use of the digestive function of their gastrointestinal tract by inserting a nasogastric tube to administer liquid food or hospital-prepared enteral nutrition solution every 2 to 3 hours.

Milk is a nutritionally complete and easily digestible food, but people who did not have the habit of drinking milk before surgery should be careful when drinking milk after surgery. Many Asians, especially Chinese, have a significant reduction in the enzymes that can digest lactose in their gastrointestinal tract after adulthood, making it difficult to completely digest and absorb the lactose in milk, and are prone to "lactose intolerance".

Postoperative recovery is a gradual process, and it is unrealistic to expect a complete recovery all at once through "supplementation." Surgical patients must supplement their nutrition appropriately under the guidance of a doctor, based on their specific condition and physical state.

Will the effects of dietary supplements appear immediately?

Many people think of taking supplements when they are overworked or feel tired, believing that after taking supplements, they will immediately have the energy of Popeye after eating spinach. In fact, it is not that simple, nor can it be effective "instantly". Usually, after eating protein-rich meat, you will feel hungry temporarily. This is because even after taking supplements, it takes some time to digest and absorb them. If digestion is good, you will feel hungry more easily.

After we eat food, it is first digested by various enzymes contained in gastric or intestinal juices, and then broken down into small molecules that are easy to absorb before they can be absorbed into the body and have the necessary effects on it.

Everyone knows that protein is a source of energy. Unless you've always had sufficient protein intake, what you eat immediately can only replenish what your body lacks and cannot be used immediately. Therefore, if you know you'll need a lot of energy, you should start replenishing your protein intake at least three to four days in advance, even if your body isn't deficient in protein. Food takes at least half a day to take effect after you eat it, so if you need to work hard in the afternoon, a hearty breakfast is essential; if you need to work late at night, lunch is crucial; and if you need to work overtime at night, it's obviously too late to replenish protein at dinner; moreover, eating too much can cause bloating and affect work performance. In short, replenishing energy shouldn't be done at the last minute.

Some might say, "Can't I just drink some tea or coffee to stay alert?" That's true; the caffeine in coffee or tea can make one's mind clear and temporarily increase work efficiency. However, this is only a temporary effect. Sufficient energy still depends on one's own body's reserves. Energy drinks are only effective for one or two days at most, and usually cannot last until the third day. If you maintain a balanced diet regularly, drinking coffee when necessary will be much more effective. We know that the camel's hump is a reservoir of nutrients and water, but its towering hump isn't obtained by eating a large meal; it's the result of years of accumulation. Therefore, it's clear that nutrients also need to be accumulated and stored over time.

When people are malnourished and their physical strength declines, they are often more prone to becoming irritable; they are also more likely to get angry when their stomach is empty or they are too hungry. Therefore, it is best not to go to the negotiating table on an empty stomach or when you are too hungry, otherwise you are more likely to get angry and lose to the other party.

Among various dishes that can replenish nutrients and energy, stir-fried pork liver with chives is an ideal choice. Pork liver, in particular, contains a variety of vitamins and minerals; although excessive consumption may lead to high cholesterol levels, moderate intake is beneficial to health. Furthermore, chives are no less nutritious than liver, containing excellent nutrients, especially their unique aroma, which, like garlic, promotes the absorption of vitamin B₁ and extends its retention time in the body. Pork liver is rich in B₁, so eating it with chives enhances absorption, helps eliminate fatigue, and increases physical strength.