Be sure to ask your doctor about folic acid if you're considering becoming pregnant. Calcium is another important nutrient. Because your growing baby's calcium demands are high, you should increase your calcium consumption to prevent a loss of calcium from your own bones.
Your doctor will also likely prescribe prenatal vitamins for you, which contain some extra calcium. Your best food sources of calcium are milk and other dairy products. However, if you have lactose intolerance or dislike milk and milk products, ask your doctor about a calcium supplement.
Signs of lactose intolerance include diarrhea, bloating, or gas after eating milk or milk products. Taking a lactase capsule or pill or using lactose-free milk products may help. Other calcium-rich foods include sardines or salmon with bones, tofu, broccoli, spinach, and calcium-fortified juices and foods.
Doctors don't usually recommend starting a strict vegan diet when you become pregnant. However, if you already follow a vegan or vegetarian diet, you can continue to do so during your pregnancy — but do it carefully.
Be sure your doctor knows about your diet. It's challenging to get the nutrition you need if you don't eat fish and chicken, or milk, cheese, or eggs.
You'll likely need supplemental protein and may also need to take vitamin B12 and D supplements. To ensure that you and your baby receive adequate nutrition, consult a registered dietitian for help with planning meals. You've probably known women who craved specific foods during pregnancy, or perhaps you've had such cravings yourself. Some old theories held that a hunger for a particular type of food indicated that a woman's body lacked the nutrients that food contains.
Although this turned out not to be so, it's still unclear why these urges occur. Some pregnant women crave chocolate, spicy foods, fruits, and comfort foods, such as mashed potatoes, cereals, and toasted white bread.
Other women crave non-food items, such as clay and cornstarch. The craving and eating of non-food items is known as pica. Consuming things that aren't food can be dangerous to both you and your baby. If you have urges to eat non-food items, notify your doctor. But following your cravings is fine as long as you crave foods that contribute to a healthy diet.
Often, these cravings let up about 3 months into the pregnancy. Talk to your provider or a dietitian if you have a special diet, such as:. Pregnant women should also drink plenty of fluids. Avoid drinks with caffeine and sugar. Ask your provider how much fluid you should get each day. You should also take a prenatal vitamin that has folic acid, iron, and the other vitamins and minerals that all women need. Your provider may give you a prescription for vitamins.
You can also get prenatal vitamins over-the-counter. Though no one knows why, many pregnant women have cravings for certain foods. It may be because of hormone changes. These cravings will often pass after the first 3 months. As long as you are getting all the nutrients you need for you and your baby, it is fine to have some of the foods you crave every now and then.
Sometimes, pregnant women will get strange cravings for things that are not food, such as dirt, clay, laundry detergent, or ice chips. This is called pica, and it may be caused by too little iron in the blood, which leads to anemia.
Let your provider know if you have these cravings. Nutrition during pregnancy. Gabbe's Obstetrics: Normal and Problem Pregnancies. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; chap 6. Cline M, Young N. They are rich in vitamin C and K 8 and make a good side-dish for your meals. It can either be steamed or microwaved until cooked or stir fried with spring onions, garlic, and ginger.
The third trimester is associated with the brain development of your baby. However, you can have salmon in limited quantities and only if it is properly cooked. Go for home-made salmon. Eggs are a good source of choline, which helps in proper functioning of cells and in the rapid development of the baby. Choline aids in memory development and reduces the risk of renal and pancreatic disorders. You can have a thoroughly boiled egg in your breakfast. It is a good source of vitamin C, fiber, potassium, and folate 9.
It also helps in preventing heartburns that are common during the third trimester. However, do not eat unripe papaya because it contains pepsin, which can induce contractions and early labor. Green smoothies are a rich source of fiber, calcium, vitamin B6, magnesium, and potassium A blend of baby spinach or kale with ice makes an excellent green smoothie.
You can use coconut water and add other ingredients like berries, pineapple, orange, mango, mint or ginger to enhance the taste of the smoothie. These are rich sources of calcium. By the third trimester, your calcium requirement increases For this reason, it is important to eat plenty of iron-rich foods throughout pregnancy, such as meat, oily fish and eggs.
Plant-based sources include bread and iron fortified breakfast cereals; dark green, leafy vegetables like watercress, curly kale and broccoli; dried fruit such as figs and apricots; and pulses 4.
Most pregnant women can maintain adequate iron levels in the blood from diet alone. But you may be prescribed a supplement if your iron levels become low 5. It is worth remembering that some foods inhibit iron uptake while others improve it. Vitamin C aids iron uptake from plant sources, so it is a good idea to drink a glass of vitamin C-rich fruit juice or eat a piece of fruit at mealtimes 6.
Calcium can have the opposite effect, as can the tannins found in tea and coffee. You should be able to get the iron you need from a well-balanced diet. Deans A. NHS UK. You and your baby at weeks pregnant [Online]. Available at: www. OJ L , Vitamins, supplements and nutrition in pregnancy [Online]. Effect of tea and other dietary factors on iron absorption. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr ;40 5
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