Pregnancy diet for healthy mothers. Pregnancy, the most vital phase in a woman's life, makes her go through several psychological, emotional and physical changes. With the evolving baby in your body, your body begins to demand more than the average food intake. This is where a balanced pregnancy diet bridges the gap for the additional nutrients your body needs for a healthy pregnancy.
Plan Your Diet Wisely
Although the demand for nutrients increases during pregnancy, it is always wise to plan and choose foods from different food groups. Ensure your nutrition during pregnancy have foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and dairy products that are rich in calcium, protein, Vitamins A, B and C. In addition to this combination of foods, you should ensure that you Having certain nutrients it contains is very important for you and your child's growth during this stage of your pregnancy. For the sake of convenience, let's list the nutrients that play an important role in our pregnancy diet:
• Folic acid in pregnancy diet
Folic acid, more commonly known as Folate, is rich in B vitamins and is mostly found in green leafy vegetables such as spinach, orange juice, and kale (a type of Cabbage). Folate prevents your child from serious abnormalities in the brain and spine. Folic acid deficiency causes inadequate fetal growth, underdeveloped brain, incomplete spinal cord closure, premature delivery, and low birth weight.
• Calcium in pregnancy diet
Calcium is another important nutrient, which should be a part of your pregnancy diet. Calcium is used by the body. When a woman's body begins to lack calcium, the body itself begins to take the calcium from the bones it needs for the baby, thereby making the bones weak and eventually brittle enough to break (osteoporosis). Having dairy products like fat-free milk, hard cheeses, green leafy vegetables like kale, fortified foods like orange juice and cereal will help you deal with calcium deficiency.
• Iron in pregnancy
During your pregnancy, the need for iron intake also increases. The iron in our blood helps carry oxygen to the blood cells. During pregnancy women have an excess volume of blood, so this excess blood requires an excess amount of iron. During pregnancy not only your blood cells but your growing child's cells need oxygen, this is where again the demand for this amount of oxygen is met by iron.
Iron deficiency causes Anemia, which can lead to premature birth or low birth weight babies, excessively low iron can make your child anemic in infancy. Iron deficiency can be overcome by eating red meat, shellfish, beans, potatoes, and iron-fortified cereals.
Concerns About Pregnancy Weight Planning
Pregnant weight is always a problem for women during pregnancy. Weight varies from woman to woman and from pregnancy to pregnancy, so you shouldn't worry too much.
If you are underweight try to gain a little weight because underweight women mostly have underweight babies. Doctors usually try to ensure that you gain weight through your pregnancy diet. Otherwise, your body fat is used to support pregnancy.
If you are overweight you obviously don't want to gain more, but losing weight during pregnancy is not a good idea as it can affect your child. Thus, overweight women should try not to gain anything more than 15 pounds during their pregnancy.
In closing, do a balanced and disciplined pregnancy diet to be a happy and healthy mother.