Foods To Eat During Pregnancy:
“Let food by thy medicine and medicine thy food”
This millennia old saying from the father of medicine himself – Hippocrates – shows that even in the ancient times, when old wise men gathered in the temples to discuss the ways of the world, they had evidence that food can heal.
So without further ado, if you are pregnant one or foods should be featuring in your pregnancy diet and on your breakfast, lunch or dinner plate each day!Pregnancy diet should not only be followed when you are pregnant but also while you are trying to conceive.Everything you eat affects your entire body – from your blood to your hormones and your body tissues.
Maintaining a healthy pregnancy diet is very important, not just for you but for your baby. Unlike the popular myth, baby doesn’t just take what it needs from mom. The nutrients in your bloodstream are most available to your baby.
Getting pregnant can be a challenge. Once pregnant your body undergoes many changes during pregnancy.When you are pregnant, it is especially important to avoid consuming toxins in your diet. For that reason, we recommend that you only eat organic food. You should also avoid all processed and packaged foods as they contain unhealthy chemicals.Yes, that means that you really need to prepare your own food while you are pregnant to be sure you are getting the best possible nutrition with no harmful chemicals.
The Pregnancy Diet divides all the baby-friendliest foods into 12 easy groups. Just eat the recommended number of portions from each group, or thereabouts, and you’re done for the day. Actually, if you choose foods that fill two or more groups in the same serving (for example, yogurt fills protein and calcium), you’ll be done even faster. Don’t stress. Just do your best (and during those queasy months, your best may be…not much), and your baby will benefit.
You will need an additional 200 to 300 extra calories from nutrient-dense foods compared with how you ate prior to your pregnancy. It will be important to carefully consider the foods you consume during your pregnancy. This is a time to eat more foods that are nutrient-dense, and fewer sweets and treats. Use these guidelines to choose a healthy diet:
Calories: 300 extra each day. you can continue to eat your normal daily amount of calories during the first trimester. During the second and third trimesters, you should aim to add about 300 calories a day. Those extra 300 calories can come from an extra glass of milk or soy milk, another piece of fruit and an extra serving of beans or tofu each day.So you were planning to take everything you normally eat and double it, now that you’re eating for two? Not the best plan. Because your baby is only a fraction of your size (just pea-sized, in fact, early on), you’ll need to add an average of only 300 calories a day to your prepregnancy calorie intake. Have no idea how many calories you eat and not keen on counting them? No need to. Just keep your eye on the scale — if it’s moving up at the recommended rate, your calories are right on target. Exceptions to the 300-calorie formula? If you’re carrying twins, are very active, or were significantly underweight prepregnancy, you’ll probably need more calories. If you were seriously overweight before becoming pregnant, you might be able to get along on fewer calories. Check your recommendations with us.
Protein: 3 servings daily. Protein’s amino acids (the building blocks of human cells) are essential to growing a healthy baby. Aim for three servings of protein daily (which adds up to about 75 g). Need some help figuring out which protein-rich foods to eat during pregnancy? Choose from these:
Pregnancy is a critical time for a woman to consume more calcium. Even if no problems develop during pregnancy, an inadequate supply of calcium at this time can diminish bone strength and increase your risk for osteoporosis.
Here are some calcium-rich foods to eat during pregnancy.
Green Leafy Vegetables, Yellow Vegetables, and Yellow Fruits: 3 to 4 servings daily. They’re rich in vitamin E, B6, riboflavin, folic acid, magnesium, beta-carotene (the phenom phytochemical that’s vital to your baby’s skin, bones, eyes, and cell growth), and a host of other essential minerals. Color is a clue to nutritional superstar status, so look for bright, deep hues (which in fruit you’ll often find under a rind):
Whole-grain breads, cereals, rice, and pastas (check the label to see if a product is made with whole grain — it’ll say so: whole wheat, whole oat, whole rye, whole barley, whole-grain corn, and so on)
Iron-Rich Foods: some daily. Your body is working overtime to generate enough blood cells to make a baby, which means you need to pump iron big time. No need to eat your spinach (unless you’d like to), because there are plenty of other iron-rich foods to include in your pregnancy diet:
Healthy fats and oils are essential for your body to absorb key fat-soluble vitamins like vitamins A, D, E and K. They also make your skin more stretchable, preventing stretch marks and preventing tearing during delivery.
Because fat will contain a higher toxin load than proteins and vegetables, it is essential to consume only organic sources of fat as part of your healthy pregnancy diet.
Salty Foods: in moderation. The good news for salt lovers: Salt doesn’t have to be off-limits during pregnancy. The bad news for salt lovers: Eating large amounts of salty foods during pregnancy isn’t a healthy move, either. A certain amount of sodium is needed to allow for pregnancy’s higher fluid volume, but too much salt in some women can lead to complications (such as high blood pressure) — not to mention excessive swelling. Salt to taste at the table, but limit your intake of foods infamously loaded with sodium (fries with your salt?).
Fluids: at least eight 8-ounce glasses daily. Here’s a pregnancy factoid that may have you turning to your tap: Up to a third of your total weight gain can be chalked up to fluids. With fast increasing fluid levels, you’ll have to drink up to keep up. On the plus side of hydration for you: Extra fluid during pregnancy helps rid your body of toxins and waste products, keeps constipation and (paradoxically) swelling in check, reduces the risk of urinary-tract infections, and keeps your skin baby soft. And you’re not the only one in need of a daily fluid infusion: Some of that fluid flows to your fetus, delivering nutrients for building body cells and allowing your baby-to-be to excrete wastes (yes, your baby pees). So aim for eight cups of fluid a day (more if it’s hot outside, you’re exercising, or you’re losing fluids through vomiting); include in your count such fluids as milk, fruit and vegetable juices, soups, coffee or tea.
Prenatal Vitamin: 1 daily. While there’s no substitute for a well-balanced pregnancy diet, sometimes life (especially pregnancy life) gets in the way of healthy eating. And that’s where a prenatal vitamin and mineral supplement comes in.Prenatal vitamins are specially formulated multivitamins that mothers-to-be are advised to take for their own health as well as for the health of their babies. These vitamins make up for any nutritional deficiencies in your diet during your pregnancy. While the supplements contain numerous vitamins and minerals, their folic acid, iron, and calcium content are especially important. And the proof is in the research: Moms-to-be who take prenatal vitamins before and during pregnancy may be less likely to deliver prematurely and they dramatically lower their risks of having babies with neural-tube defects, among many other major benefits. Check with your doctors/practitioner for a recommendation.
Taking folic acid can reduce your risk of having a baby with a serious birth defect of the brain and spinal cord, called the "neural tube." A baby with spina bifida, the most common neural tube defect, is born with a spine that is not completely developed. The exposed nerves are damaged, leaving the child with varying degrees of paralysis, incontinence, and sometimes mental retardation. Neural tube defects develop in the first 28 days after conception. Because about half of all pregnancies are unplanned.
There are natural sources of folic acid: green leafy vegetables, nuts, beans, and citrus fruits. It's also found in many fortified breakfast cereals and some vitamin supplements.
The body absorbs iron more efficiently during pregnancy. Therefore it is important to consume more iron while you are pregnant to ensure that you and your baby are getting enough oxygen. Iron will also help you avoid symptoms of tiredness, weakness, irritability, and depression.
The best sources of iron include enriched grain products,enriched rice and pasta,leafy green vegetables,fruits like:all berries,apricots,dried fruits,grapes,grapefruit,oranges,plums,watermelon.Breads and cereals,Black-eyed peas,Broccoli,Spinach
Disclaimer: The information included in this section should not be treated as a substitute for medical treatment. Please see your doctor if you have serious medical conditions and need treatment.
Dr Unnati Chavda
www.ayurvedapanchkarma.in
“Let food by thy medicine and medicine thy food”
This millennia old saying from the father of medicine himself – Hippocrates – shows that even in the ancient times, when old wise men gathered in the temples to discuss the ways of the world, they had evidence that food can heal.
So without further ado, if you are pregnant one or foods should be featuring in your pregnancy diet and on your breakfast, lunch or dinner plate each day!Pregnancy diet should not only be followed when you are pregnant but also while you are trying to conceive.Everything you eat affects your entire body – from your blood to your hormones and your body tissues.
Maintaining a healthy pregnancy diet is very important, not just for you but for your baby. Unlike the popular myth, baby doesn’t just take what it needs from mom. The nutrients in your bloodstream are most available to your baby.
Getting pregnant can be a challenge. Once pregnant your body undergoes many changes during pregnancy.When you are pregnant, it is especially important to avoid consuming toxins in your diet. For that reason, we recommend that you only eat organic food. You should also avoid all processed and packaged foods as they contain unhealthy chemicals.Yes, that means that you really need to prepare your own food while you are pregnant to be sure you are getting the best possible nutrition with no harmful chemicals.
The Pregnancy Diet divides all the baby-friendliest foods into 12 easy groups. Just eat the recommended number of portions from each group, or thereabouts, and you’re done for the day. Actually, if you choose foods that fill two or more groups in the same serving (for example, yogurt fills protein and calcium), you’ll be done even faster. Don’t stress. Just do your best (and during those queasy months, your best may be…not much), and your baby will benefit.
You will need an additional 200 to 300 extra calories from nutrient-dense foods compared with how you ate prior to your pregnancy. It will be important to carefully consider the foods you consume during your pregnancy. This is a time to eat more foods that are nutrient-dense, and fewer sweets and treats. Use these guidelines to choose a healthy diet:
Variety
Eating a variety of foods, from fruits and vegetables to grains and protein sources, is imperative while you are pregnant. You need a mix of foods to make sure you get the nutrients you need.Calories: 300 extra each day. you can continue to eat your normal daily amount of calories during the first trimester. During the second and third trimesters, you should aim to add about 300 calories a day. Those extra 300 calories can come from an extra glass of milk or soy milk, another piece of fruit and an extra serving of beans or tofu each day.So you were planning to take everything you normally eat and double it, now that you’re eating for two? Not the best plan. Because your baby is only a fraction of your size (just pea-sized, in fact, early on), you’ll need to add an average of only 300 calories a day to your prepregnancy calorie intake. Have no idea how many calories you eat and not keen on counting them? No need to. Just keep your eye on the scale — if it’s moving up at the recommended rate, your calories are right on target. Exceptions to the 300-calorie formula? If you’re carrying twins, are very active, or were significantly underweight prepregnancy, you’ll probably need more calories. If you were seriously overweight before becoming pregnant, you might be able to get along on fewer calories. Check your recommendations with us.
Protein: 3 servings daily. Protein’s amino acids (the building blocks of human cells) are essential to growing a healthy baby. Aim for three servings of protein daily (which adds up to about 75 g). Need some help figuring out which protein-rich foods to eat during pregnancy? Choose from these:
- Milk, cheese, and yogurt (which do double duty as calcium foods)
- Whole-grain breads and cereal
- Protein-rich grains like
- Soy, beans, and nuts
Pregnancy is a critical time for a woman to consume more calcium. Even if no problems develop during pregnancy, an inadequate supply of calcium at this time can diminish bone strength and increase your risk for osteoporosis.
Here are some calcium-rich foods to eat during pregnancy.
- Milk
- Some soy products
- Cheese
- Yogurt,milk and, yes, even ice cream (just keep in mind your calorie count)
- Broccoli
- Vegetables
- Nuts
- Fruits such as orange, kiwi, mango, berries, melon, grapefruit, papaya, pineapple, watermelon, and grapes
- Vegetables such as tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and spinach
- Foods high in Vitamin C include orange juice, grapefruit juice, green peppers, broccoli, melon, strawberries, and cabbage.
- Vegetables such as spinach, romaine lettuce, broccoli, carrots, red bell pepper.
- Fruits such as mango, apricots, peaches, and cantaloupe
- Fruits such as apples, bananas, blueberries, cherries, pears, plums, and avocado
- Vegetables such as green beans, beets,corn, cucumber, mushrooms, and parsnips
Whole-grain breads, cereals, rice, and pastas (check the label to see if a product is made with whole grain — it’ll say so: whole wheat, whole oat, whole rye, whole barley, whole-grain corn, and so on)
Iron-Rich Foods: some daily. Your body is working overtime to generate enough blood cells to make a baby, which means you need to pump iron big time. No need to eat your spinach (unless you’d like to), because there are plenty of other iron-rich foods to include in your pregnancy diet:
- Soy products (such as soy beans and tofu)
- Leafy greens, including spinach (of course)
- Dried fruit
Healthy fats and oils are essential for your body to absorb key fat-soluble vitamins like vitamins A, D, E and K. They also make your skin more stretchable, preventing stretch marks and preventing tearing during delivery.
Because fat will contain a higher toxin load than proteins and vegetables, it is essential to consume only organic sources of fat as part of your healthy pregnancy diet.
Salty Foods: in moderation. The good news for salt lovers: Salt doesn’t have to be off-limits during pregnancy. The bad news for salt lovers: Eating large amounts of salty foods during pregnancy isn’t a healthy move, either. A certain amount of sodium is needed to allow for pregnancy’s higher fluid volume, but too much salt in some women can lead to complications (such as high blood pressure) — not to mention excessive swelling. Salt to taste at the table, but limit your intake of foods infamously loaded with sodium (fries with your salt?).
Fluids: at least eight 8-ounce glasses daily. Here’s a pregnancy factoid that may have you turning to your tap: Up to a third of your total weight gain can be chalked up to fluids. With fast increasing fluid levels, you’ll have to drink up to keep up. On the plus side of hydration for you: Extra fluid during pregnancy helps rid your body of toxins and waste products, keeps constipation and (paradoxically) swelling in check, reduces the risk of urinary-tract infections, and keeps your skin baby soft. And you’re not the only one in need of a daily fluid infusion: Some of that fluid flows to your fetus, delivering nutrients for building body cells and allowing your baby-to-be to excrete wastes (yes, your baby pees). So aim for eight cups of fluid a day (more if it’s hot outside, you’re exercising, or you’re losing fluids through vomiting); include in your count such fluids as milk, fruit and vegetable juices, soups, coffee or tea.
Prenatal Vitamin: 1 daily. While there’s no substitute for a well-balanced pregnancy diet, sometimes life (especially pregnancy life) gets in the way of healthy eating. And that’s where a prenatal vitamin and mineral supplement comes in.Prenatal vitamins are specially formulated multivitamins that mothers-to-be are advised to take for their own health as well as for the health of their babies. These vitamins make up for any nutritional deficiencies in your diet during your pregnancy. While the supplements contain numerous vitamins and minerals, their folic acid, iron, and calcium content are especially important. And the proof is in the research: Moms-to-be who take prenatal vitamins before and during pregnancy may be less likely to deliver prematurely and they dramatically lower their risks of having babies with neural-tube defects, among many other major benefits. Check with your doctors/practitioner for a recommendation.
Taking folic acid can reduce your risk of having a baby with a serious birth defect of the brain and spinal cord, called the "neural tube." A baby with spina bifida, the most common neural tube defect, is born with a spine that is not completely developed. The exposed nerves are damaged, leaving the child with varying degrees of paralysis, incontinence, and sometimes mental retardation. Neural tube defects develop in the first 28 days after conception. Because about half of all pregnancies are unplanned.
There are natural sources of folic acid: green leafy vegetables, nuts, beans, and citrus fruits. It's also found in many fortified breakfast cereals and some vitamin supplements.
Increasing Iron in Your Diet During Pregnancy:
Iron is a mineral that makes up an important part of hemoglobin, the substance in blood that carries oxygen throughout the body. Iron also carries oxygen in muscles, helping them function properly. In addition, iron helps increase your resistance to stress and disease.The body absorbs iron more efficiently during pregnancy. Therefore it is important to consume more iron while you are pregnant to ensure that you and your baby are getting enough oxygen. Iron will also help you avoid symptoms of tiredness, weakness, irritability, and depression.
The best sources of iron include enriched grain products,enriched rice and pasta,leafy green vegetables,fruits like:all berries,apricots,dried fruits,grapes,grapefruit,oranges,plums,watermelon.Breads and cereals,Black-eyed peas,Broccoli,Spinach
Disclaimer: The information included in this section should not be treated as a substitute for medical treatment. Please see your doctor if you have serious medical conditions and need treatment.
Dr Unnati Chavda
www.ayurvedapanchkarma.in
