NUTRITION DURING PREGNANCY

When I’m working with a pregnant mom to help her optimize her nutrition, we go through her specific needs for nutrients, and how she can plan her meals to get those through food.

Most women know it is important to eat a varied diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, calcium-rich dairy or dairy alternatives, lean meats or vegetarian sources of protein (i.e. legumes, soy), nuts and seeds, and healthy fats. But now you have specific and/or increased needs for calories and protein, along with the micronutrients iron, vitamin C, folate (folic acid), vitamins B6 and B12, zinc, calcium, vitamins D and A, iodine, choline, and DHA (an omega-3 fat). Water/fluid needs increase as well. By getting these necessary nutrients through food and pure water (in addition to your prenatal vitamin, if recommended by your nutritionist and/or doctor), you’ll be maximizing the nutrition your baby receives.

One of the most important nutrients, omega-3s (especially DHA) serve key functions during pregnancy. They make up almost half the structure of the human brain, and are essential when the fetal brain is forming. Omega-3 intake during pregnancy is also associated with improvements in your mood and memory.

Eating for two also means you need to pay extra attention to protein. Your developing fetus needs extra protein, one place in particular: structural development of the placenta.

While you have increased needs for the majority of the vitamins and minerals listed above, and each are essential for proper growth and development of your baby, you will get most of these when you eat a varied diet including lots of fruits and vegetables, nuts and legumes. If salads and steamed vegetables make you gag, try incorporating them into smoothies, soups or egg dishes to make them more palatable.

Don’t stress if you just can’t eat a lot of vegetables- you can use fruits and nuts and seeds to get many of the same nutrients, in addition to a good prenatal vitamin for extra folate. 

Similarly, if beans and lentils turn you off, try blending them and sneaking them into your dishes. And if you can’t tolerate dairy during pregnancy, make sure you are getting enough calcium through leafy greens, beans and lentils, and/or fortified plant-based milks. Getting enough calcium may help you stave off leg cramps, and preserves your own stores of calcium while baby takes what he or she needs for the formation of bones and teeth.

Iron is another key mineral worth mentioning on its own. Most women choose to ensure they are meeting this increase by taking a prentatal vitamin with iron, but you can also reach this by consuming a targeted amount of green, leafy vegetables, lean meat and poultry, legumes, organic soy, and whole grains.

Another key nutrient that most women know that we need more of is folic acid. I recommend getting it from folate-rich food sources such as citrus fruits and juices, and fromthe dark-green leafy vegetables, nuts, and legumes and whole grains.

And finally, the last nutrient I’ll mention here specifically is zinc. You’ll meet your increased zinc needs by including meat, fish, dairy and/or eggs in your diet daily. If you are vegetarian, you might want to consider a prenatal with added zinc, as vegetarian sources (ie whole grains, wheat germ, black eyed peas) have less absorbable zinc.

There is so much you can do to ensure a healthy pregnancy, and optimizing your nutrition is just one of the things you can do to feel your best. So eat well, relax, sleep, stretch, move often, and enjoy this amazing and powerful time in your life!

Before incorporating anything in your diet, your doctor's/Gynecologist advice must required.

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Sometimes though, it can also be overwhelming, worrying whether what we are doing is the best thing for baby, or reading and hearing conflicting information - especially about what we should and shouldn’t eat while pregnant. Rest assured, if you are taking care of your body, staying hydrated, eating enough to gain some weight but not too much unnecessary weight, exercising if you are able, and not engaging in other harmful activities, your baby should grow just as he or she should. That said, paying closer attention to your nutrition during pregnancy can help you have an easier, happier pregnancy, better birth experience, healthier baby, and make it easier to return to pre-pregnancy weight.

The phrase “eating for two” is correct in this sense, but your calorie needs don’t actually increase that much.

In fact, during your first trimester you don’t need to consume any more calories than you used to (as long as you were meeting your nutrition needs and not underweight before pregnancy). After that, you’ll need to consume about 300 extra calories per day during your second and third trimesters.

Gaining too much weight can make pregnancy, delivery and returning to pre-pregnancy weight more difficult, is linked with obesity later in life, and increases your risk for pre-eclampsia, pregnancy induced hypertension , and gestational diabetes.

It is equally important to remember that pregnancy is not a time for weight loss or restrictive eating. It’s important to follow your obstetrician’s recommendation for weight gain that is right for you specifically. And remember, a healthy pregnancy does include some fat storage- you’ll need this during both labor and when breastfeeding your baby. Most of your weight gain goes to increases in blood volume, increases in your uterus and breast size, placenta weight, overall fluid volume and amniotic fluid, and of course the size of your growing baby!