How can I incorporate olive oil into my current diet (to help with constipation during pregnancy)?

Question

I've heard olive oil will can help with constipation, but I don't know how I would incorporate it in my current diet. I'm 8 months pregnant and here is what I ate yesterday:
Breakfast: Fiber One cereal mixed w/ some All Bran Yogurt Bites cereal w/ 1 cup milk and 1 glass of orange juice with 2 heaping teaspoons of Benefiber mixed in (this is more or less what I eat EVERY morning except sometimes I'll have Kellogg's Shredded Wheat cereal instead of the All Bran)
LUNCH: Homemade chicken soup which consisted of very little shredded chicken, white rice (I usually use brown whole grain rice, but it wasn't on hand yesterday), lots of baby carrots, some potatoes and some shredded cabbage. I had a big glass of water w/ 2 heaping teaspoons of Benefiber.
DINNER: 2 homemade Potato Pancakes topped w/ homemade salsa and a side salad of shredded leaf lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes (no dressing on top). Big glass of water w/ 2 more heaping teaspoons of Benefiber & I drink 112 oz water daily.

I ran outta room but I also wanted to add that I also do some light walking on the treadmill 20-30 minutes for 3-4 times a week. I NEVER or hardly ever eat any refined foods like white rice, white bread, white flour etc. (I've switched to whole grain everything to try and get more fiber into my diet) and I NEVER or hardly eat frozen dinners and processed foods anymore. I'd say about 98% of my diet consists of homemade meals. O yeah, and I very rarely eat red meat, but I do eat it occassionally w/ meals like tacos or hamburgers etc. Reason I want to try the Olive Oil is because I think I'm getting too much roughage with all the fiber and I'm not getting enuf fat in my diet to help move things along. In other words I think I don't have enuf lubrication inside, but like I mentioned in my question, I don't know how to incorporate the olive oil into my current diet. Should I just take a few spoonfuls a day or how should I use it? Thanks.

Answer 1

Use the oil to cook with.
Eat pasta with olive oil on it.
Use it as a salad dressing.

If you are taking iron pills, switch to CHELATED iron which is better absorbed by your body and less likely to cause constipation.

Answer 2

Yikes, that's a lot of fibre. Have you considered a stool softener? But, that's not what you asked. So...

Make aioli.

http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/recipe_aioli.htm is a reliable recipe. Leave out the garlic, and you have mayonnaise. Yeah, yeah, yeah -- raw eggs. Big deal. Get the pasteurized kind if worried.

Make salad dressings.

Put some olive oil in the fridge; it'll solidify, and you can use it like butter.

Make a basic 'aglio e olio' pasta. Try:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_30512,00.html

Try here, too:
http://www.oliveoilsource.com/recipes.htm

You can use it for most things you use regular oil for. It has a low 'smoke point,' though, so it's not great at high temperatures, but you can negate that by cutting it with a bit of peanut oil or other oil that does well at high temperatures.

Marketing boards usually have pretty good recipes using a lot of whatever they're promoting -- try
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_oil#International.2C_national.2C_and_regional_promotion_groups

And if that's not enough -- ask in the cooking and recipes section...

Answer 3

Best Constipation Cures

Answer 4

I have not had any problems with constipation during my current pregnancy due to a few things my doctor recommended. He said to use fiber pills and colace (sp?) - both are all natural and are not diuretics (you just have to make SURE it's not colace mixed with a diuretic - like some dulcolax pills, etc). Fiber is obviously great for regularity and colace is a natural stool softener. I am 41 weeks pregnant right now and have been using both before bed for about 5 months now. No constipation, never a hemorrhoid - nothing. Ask your doctor about these 2 things!

Answer 5

you could take a small quantity of olive oil and combine it with grated cheese, and pepper, and you will dip italian or olive bread bread in it. while you're making a spectacular unfold of cheeses, wine, and in keeping with threat some clean olives and vegetables, that's a competent midday snack with an excellent sort of well-being advantages. no longer a extensive lunch yet the two as filling. The wine is likewise useful on your heart. once you're seeking to bypass healthful, I additionally opt to reccomend Lipton green Tea w/ citrus. Very tasty and clean.

Answer 6

Substitute OLIVE OIL for the butter!

Make a Salad Dressing from OLIVE OIL!

I also believe that you may have TOO MUCH fiber in your diet and Should SUBSTITUTE some of it WITH FRESH FRUIT!

Thanks, RR

Answer 7

You can put a little olive oil in your orange juice. You can add it to soup. Toss potatoes in it. Put a little in your rice when you cook it. Add it to Salsa, etc.

However the problem is probably your prenatal, in which case the olive oil won't help.

Answer 8

it sounds like you're getting fiber but to incorporate olive oil anything you fry instead of using butter of pam spray or veggitable oil use olive oil.