Maybe you haven’t always thought about eating healthy while you were not pregnant, but now, with a new life growing inside your body, the situation changes drastically. Of course, you have known, even back then, that you should be careful about your overall nutritional health, but there’s new responsibility that you have towards your baby, because it completely depends on what you eat. Even if you totally neglect advices that would enable you to have healthy pregnancy diet, the baby would eventually take nutrients it needs right from your body, so you might end up with osteoporosis in the years to come simply because you didn’t take enough calcium during pregnancy.
That’s why it is important to follow some plain advices for well balanced pregnancy nutrition in order to have two healthy individuals in the future: your baby and yourself.
First advice goes opposite from common myths and tales: pregnant woman does not have to eat for two and double calorie intake. Instead, she should be more careful about what she eats, meaning she should thing quality rather than quantity. Studies have shown that if you are pregnant, you should increase your daily calories for 300-500 calories per day if you are carrying one or 600-1000 if you are carrying two babies.
Here are some more rules about what each pregnant woman should include in her healthy pregnancy diet:
- Folic Acid, which is very important in the early pregnancy for baby’s spinal cord and brain; some experts recommend that enough folic acid should be taken into the body even before woman gets pregnant, because brain and cord form in those early days when some women don’t yet know they are pregnant. Although Folic Acid can be found in broccoli, spinach, peas, beans, grains, it is recommended that you take supplements of Folic Acid in order to be sure you have taken recommended dosage.
- Iron, your blood volume becomes as twice as big and you need iron to avoid being anemic and make sure that your red blood cells are in good health. Iron can be found in red meat, fish, poultry, spinach and dried fruit. Iron from food can be absorbed more easily than the one from supplements, but your doctor may prescribe you supplements if he thinks you are not taking enough iron through food.
- Calcium and Vitamin D, to build your baby’s bones and teeth to be strong, but also to keep your bones and teeth in good condition during pregnancy. Calcium and Vitamin D can be found in milk and dairy products. Although soy and its products contain calcium and Vitamin D, you should not take them too much since they can harm your baby if taken excessively.
- Vitamin C, keeps away the risk of your baby’s premature birth. It can be found in oranges, cabbage, watermelon, kiwi, strawberries, grapes, broccoli, and tomatoes.
- Healthy fats and essential fatty acids, such as nuts and nut oils, olives and olive oil, avocado and certain types of fish like salmon.
In addition to those advices, there are also some items that pregnant women should forget about or at least significantly decrease their consumption. Those are: caffeine, alcohol, excess salt, medications not prescribed by your doctor.
So now, after you have adopted all these suggestions, all you have to do is enjoy your pregnancy and love the baby inside you.
