Nutrition Tips for a Healthy Pregnancy
Taking care of yourself by maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle is important at all times, but it is especially important during pregnancy when you need to keep yourself nourished not just for yourself but for your baby as well!
Importance Of Nutrition During Pregnancy
During your pregnancy, your nutritional requirements for certain elements of your diet increase significantly because you are your baby’s main source of nutrition. Not only do you need these nutrients to stay healthy during your pregnancy, but your baby also needs them to grow properly.
This is why it’s important to ensure that you’re taking a healthy diet in addition to nutritional supplements before and during your pregnancy.
Proper nutrition helps you to:
- grow a healthy baby
- have a healthy, uneventful pregnancy
- reduce perineal tearing during labor
Important Nutrients For Pregnancy
You need a healthy amount of all nutrients during pregnancy, but there are some that are especially significant for you and your baby. These include:
- Calcium
Calcium supports bone growth and mineralization, muscle contraction (including heart muscle), and blood clotting. The deficiency of calcium leads to weak bones and muscle cramps.
Your body’s requirement of calcium increases during pregnancy since your baby needs it to grow and you need it as well to support the pregnancy. This is why you need to maintain an adequate supply via diet and supplementation. The World Health Organization recommends 1,500–2,000 mg/day of calcium for pregnant women.
- Iron
Iron is the main component of a pigment called hemoglobin in your blood cells that enables your blood to carry oxygen. The deficiency of iron may lead to anemia which can lead to a number of problems.
Since blood is how nutrients get transported to your baby, you naturally need more during pregnancy. You need about 30mg of iron per day. It’s available in green leafy vegetables, apples, beetroot, and red meat.
- Protein
Protein is one of the main nutrients other than fats and carbohydrates that our body uses for growth and energy. Protein is important during pregnancy to support organ growth, including brain and muscle growth.
To make sure you’re getting enough protein in your diet, we recommend getting 80-100g of protein a day. If meat isn’t quite your thing, you can find high protein sources in other foods like:
- quinoa
- nuts
- seeds
- tofu
- Folic Acid
Folic acid is a vitamin that supports the growth of the brain and spinal cord. Adequate supplementation of folic acid helps prevent neural tube defects in your baby. You need about 400mcg daily. Search for a prenatal vitamin that contains Folic acid to support your baby’s development!
Try out these tips to help you get proper nutrition during your pregnancy:
- Try to practice meal prep beforehand. Cut up vegetables, and marinate some meat that you can put together to make something healthy as well as delicious for yourself.
- If you’re not a fan of salads, try having your fruits and vegetables in a smoothie form.
- Eat small frequent meals instead of large meals to prevent indigestion.
- Stack up on frozen fruit to make smoothie-making easier.
- Ask your health provider for good supplements that can provide you with these nutrients daily.
We hope these tips help you out during your pregnancy!