Health Food Eating During Your Pregnancy

Good nutrition is especially important during your pregnancy. Not only do you want to feel good yourself, but your body also has to supply the right building materials for the growth of your child. If you already eat healthy and varied, you don't have to adjust that much. There are a number of nutrients that you can pay extra attention to.

Pregnancy and a healthy diet

When you are pregnant, you want to take extra good care of yourself and the baby in your belly. A healthy lifestyle and a varied diet fit in well with this. If you eat according to the Wheel of Five, you and your child get enough nutrients.

Your baby needs proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals for healthy growth and gets them from your diet. By varying with different types of fruit and vegetables, you can be sure that he gets all the necessary nutrients. Replacing meat with fish two days a week and regularly having a vegetarian day with legumes or eggs is also healthy.

A healthy daily menu

A good starting point for a healthy daily menu can consist of the following:

• 4 or 5 brown/whole wheat sandwiches
• 250 grams of vegetables
• 3 medium potatoes (150 grams), 75 grams boiled rice or 150 grams cooked pasta or legumes
• 2 pieces of fruit
• 2 to 3 portions of dairy: for example 450 ml milk products and 30 grams of cheese

• 100-125 grams (cooked) meat, fish, egg, or meat substitutes
• 40 grams of spreading and cooking fats such as margarine and (olive) oil
• 1.5-2 liters of liquid (including milk)

Food for two?

A grown-up lady needs around 2,000 kcal each day and during the most recent 3 months of your pregnancy this increments by 300-400 kcal. This boils down to an additional sandwich, a bowl of yogurt, or some more meat, fish, or meat substitute. Your developing child requests energy, so you need to eat somewhat more than expected. Be that as it may, eating for two is truly excessive. You need to continue to feel fit.

You additionally need to stay away from a deficiency of supplements during your pregnancy. Severe lines during this period are consequently not suggested. It isn't really how much food you need to change, however particularly the nature of your food. To chip away at your weight during your pregnancy, read how you can get thinner in a solid manner during pregnancy.

Pregnant and eating fish

Fish is healthy because of the fatty acids it contains. Oily fish (sardine, salmon, herring, and trout) in particular contain essential building blocks for your child's brain. During your pregnancy, it is recommended to eat fatty fish once a week and lean fish once a week. Do you not like fish or do you not get to eat fish every week? Then fish oil can offer a good solution. That way you still get good fatty acids.

However, some fish ( tuna, eel, swordfish, zander, mackerel, shark) can also contain dioxins and heavy metals. These are harmful to your child in large quantities. It is, therefore better to leave these fish alone for a while. Also, eat fish no more than twice a week and avoid vacuum-packed raw and smoked fish. The latter may contain the listeria bacteria.

Pregnant and vegetarian

If you're a vegetarian, you probably already know how you can get essential nutrients that are also present in meat in other ways. You can safely eat a vegetarian diet during your pregnancy, it is just extra important that you take enough iron, proteins, and B vitamins.

Since 2021, the Health Council has advised you not to eat too much soy when you are pregnant. This contains isoflavones, a substance that can be harmful in large quantities. A meat substitute is fine but also think of eggs or legumes as a meat substitute. Do you also not use dairy? In that case, limit the use of soy drinks and yogurt to a maximum of 600 ml per day.

Don't give bacteria a chance

Make sure you eat fresh food, wash vegetables and fruit well and cook meat and eggs well. Make sure that your utensils that have been in contact with raw meat no longer come into contact with prepared food and wash your hands before preparing food. This way, you limit the chance of potentially harmful bacteria entering your body. Also, read the article about what you can eat during your pregnancy.

Nutrients to pay extra attention to during your pregnancy

You need more of some nutrients, such as vitamin D and folic acid, during pregnancy. Because you cannot get these from your diet in sufficient amounts, the Health Council advises you to take nutritional supplements for this during pregnancy. Other nutrients, such as calcium, can be obtained from food.

Folic Acid:-

Folic acid, or vitamin B11, is normally obtained from green vegetables, whole grain products, meat, and dairy. During your pregnancy, you have a higher need for folic acid, which you cannot get enough of from your diet. A lack of folic acid in the early weeks of pregnancy can hinder the development of your baby's neural tube. This can cause neural tube defects, such as spina bifida.

You can take extra folic acid by taking a pill with 400 micrograms daily. Because your baby needs the extra folic acid at a very early stage of pregnancy, it is best to start taking folic acid when you are trying to conceive. Continue to take the supplements until you are 10 weeks pregnant. Long-term intake of these amounts, for example, because you have been trying to conceive for some time, has no negative effect on your health.

Vitamin D:-

In addition to folic acid, you can also use some extra vitamin D. Vitamin D ensures strong bones for yourself and a good bone structure for your baby. Normally you get vitamin D from sunlight and especially from oily fish. It is recommended that you take 10 micrograms of extra vitamin D during your pregnancy.

Calcium:-

Calcium is necessary for the development of teeth and bones. You get it from milk or milk products. With two to three slices of cheese per day and two to three glasses of milk per day, you will be fine. You can also replace this with other milk products such as yogurt or custard. It is usually better to use the low-fat dairy varieties, which contain less or even no saturated fat, and relatively more protein.

If you have an increased risk of preeclampsia, you may need to take extra calcium during your pregnancy. Discuss it with your midwife before taking extra calcium.

Iron:-

By taking enough iron, you lower the risk of anemia. Iron is, for example, in meat and wholemeal bread. The absorption of iron is promoted by vitamin C, so eat enough vegetables and fruit.

Other vitamins during your pregnancy

In addition to vitamins B11 and D, you do not need vitamin supplements when following a normal diet. If you still want to take these, choose a multivitamin especially for pregnant women. The general multivitamin can contain vitamin A and this can be harmful to your unborn baby. Check whether this already contains the right dose of folic acid (400 mcg) and vitamin D (10 mcg).