Food and Pregnancy
Taking care
of the new life in your womb
It's true that during this time, you
need just 300 calories extra daily. However, they should not be empty
calories.
Photo by MontanaRaven. Courtesy of Flickr.com
Food and pregnancy is an important topic for the mothers taking care
of the new life in their womb. It's true that during this time, you
need just 300 calories
extra
daily. However, they should not be empty calories. Nutrition is the
word here.
Food and pregnancy are often a concern for vegetarian moms. It's not
difficult at all to follow a well balanced vegetarian nutrition
diet during pregnancy.
Drink Gallons of Water
Frequent intake of water during pregnancy can help deal with a whole
lot of issues during pregnancy. A number of problems ranging from
early pregnancy symptoms to infections can all be dealt with, by
taking in good quantities of water during the 40 weeks of pregnancy.
Calcium
According to doctors your calcium intake at this time should range
from 1200-1500 mg daily. Calcium is vital for the
healthy
growth and development of your baby's bones, muscles, heart, and
teeth. If you do not take adequate calcium, your baby will use your
calcium reserves. This increases the risk of osteoporosis in you. Calcium
helps strong bone formation. Calcium further assists in normal functioning
of the nervous, circulatory and muscular systems.
Your pregnancy nutrition chart should contain milk and its products.
For lactose intolerant women, there are lactose-free milk products,
buttermilk, soy milk, or cultured yoghurt. If this doesn't work, ask
your doctor for calcium supplements.
Protein
Considering food and pregnancy, you need about 60 grams of protein
daily for the healthy growth of your baby. Besides, it keeps your placenta,
uterus, and breasts in a healthy state; it increases the volume of blood,
and produces adequate amniotic fluid. Protein is a repairing agent and
is crucial during the mid and later stages of pregnancy. Right consumption
of protein throughout helps create a reserve which can then be utilized
by the body and fetus.
Iron
According to the pregnancy nutrition guidelines, iron is important
for production of hemoglobin in the mom-to-be and her fetus. Besides
this, in the last trimester, your baby takes iron reserves from your
body to keep anemia at bay in the first six months of it's life. Also,
you lose a certain amount of blood during delivery. For all these reasons,
it's crucial to increase the intake of iron. Right quantities of iron
can help avoid underweight deliveries and infections. Extremely essential
for body’s development, iron by making hemoglobin, assist the
child with blood supply.
Your body needs only 27 mg of iron daily yet you need to take 60 mg
because not all ingested iron is absorbed in the body. If you are found
to be anemic, it's good to take pregnancy nutrition supplements of iron.
One of the tricks to absorb iron better is to take it with vitamin
C enriched foods. Tomato juice, orange, or grapefruit are good options.
Avoid taking them with milk, cheese, or other calcium enriched foods,
as calcium hampers the absorption of iron.
Vitamins
Pregnancy nutrition
guidelines recommend a 25-50 % increase in the intake of vitamins. The
requirement of folic acid doubles to 400 micrograms daily at this time.
Eating a variety of foods in your pregnancy diet leads to the fulfillment
of vitamin requirement.
Vitamin A – Essential at all stages of life, vitamin A becomes
even more important during and post pregnancy period when the pregnant
woman’s body is sensitive and needs re-nourishing from all sources.
Vitamin B - Vitamin B and especially folic acid must be included in the
pregnancy nutrition diet, as it helps deal with various abnormalities
and neural tube defects.
Even if you think that you are taking a nutritious diet during pregnancy,
it's important to have a look at pregnancy nutrition guidelines and
read pertinent articles and books.
If you are breastfeeding, take special care to
nurture
yourself and the baby accordingly.
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