Both these tidbits are referring to pregnancy. After Joy commented on my earlier morning sickness post about the possibility of Dandelion being a diuretic I did some research on it. I referenced three pregnancy books, all of which reported Dandelion to be safe and none of which had it listed in their “avoid these herbs for the diuretic action” list. However, I also referenced James A. Duke’s books on herbal medicine and the Dandelion entry clearly states it has diuretic properties. Dr. Duke is a respected herbalist and his books are well researched.
I’m unsure about this apparent conflict, having it considered safe by noted women’s herbalists but it clearly have diuretic properties. I have an appointment with my midwife tonight and I’ll ask her opinion. For now I think it best to go with other morning sickness remedies. Reference Joy’s comments in the original post for some ideas on other remedies and a link explaining why diuretics are hazardous during pregnancy.
I also wanted to comment a bit on weight gain. I’m a member of the pregnancy club for the month around my due date on one of the forums I post on. These women are from 12-16 weeks pregnant or so, and today already one was mentioning the nurses were warning her about her weight gain! Sudden, drastic weight gain can indeed be a warning sign in pregnancy, but by and large paying attention to your nutrition is FAR more important than keeping track of the pounds. If you’re worried about it you should read this page on pregnancy weight gain – also a page done by reader Joy. In fact, I’d recommend you take the time to read the entire site, it’s an absolute treasure trove of information on having a healthy pregnancy and provides a lot of information hard to find elsewhere.
