Pregnancy is one of the most joyful times in a woman’s life however, many mothers find themselves overwhelmed with the prospect of what to eat during their pregnancy to ensure the best of health for them and their child. If you follow the proper guidelines, eating for two in a healthful manner can be easy and enjoyable. This advertisement is designed to help you to make excellent nutritional choices both throughout your pregnancy journey, and after your baby has entered the world. Healthline.com states that women who are pregnant require more macronutrients and micronutrients than women who aren’t pregnant. Micronutrients are defined as compounds such as vitamins and minerals that are needed by the body in small amounts only (healthline.com). Macronutrients are nutrients that should be used to provide your body with sufficient energy and calories (healthline.com). An example of macronutrients could be fruits and vegetables, meat and alternatives, dairy and alternatives, whole grains, proteins, and other items found on the food guide. Contrary to popular belief, you will not actually be “eating for two” during your pregnancy. This means that the amount of extra calories your body needs during pregnancy is a lot less than what most people expect. During pregnancy, your body requires only 300 extra calories a day during your second and third trimesters (healthline.com). 300 extra calories a day is a very easy goal to meet. For example, one quarter of a cup of mixed nuts contains an average of 160 calories according to Livestrong.com (livestrong.com). With this information in mind, eating just a half a cup of nuts a day would fulfil your extra caloric needs for the second and third trimester of your pregnancy. Nuts also contain unsaturated fatty acids, which are excellent for your heart health, and for the health of your baby (mayoclinic.com).
During your pregnancy you will also require 60 extra milligrams of protein, 1200 extra milligrams of calcium, 15 extra milligrams of folic acid, and 30 extra grams of iron (healthline.com). This is a lot less extra micronutrients than most women might expect and most of these requirements can be met by simply investing in a good prenatal multivitamin. To illustrate how easy these requirements are to meet, a few examples of good sources of each type of micronutrient have been provided for you. One medium sized egg or 50 pistachio nuts contain an average of 6 grams of protein (bbcgoodfood.com). One cup of soy milk contains 60.8 mg of calcium (USDA.com) and one cup of almond milk contains 450 mg of calcium (yournydietician.com). Dark green vegetables are known to be rich in folic acid and are very easy to incorporate into your diet (dieticians.ca). Steamed spinach or a fresh spinach salad would be excellent choices for a folic acid rich snack or addition to your meal. Spinach is also an excellent source of iron as half a cup of cooked spinach contains 2.0-3.4 mg of iron (dieticians.ca). You can also work with your registered dietician to develop an eating plan for your pregnancy that allows you to combine these micronutrient requirements into single food sources to make eating during your pregnancy even easier.
Another important nutritional consideration all new mothers need to make is whether or not to breastfeed their child. For years, nurses have been encouraging new mothers to breastfeed their babies versus starting them on formula. Many major world health organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Health Organization, and the American Medical Association recommend breastfeeding as the best choice for babies (kidshealth.org). Breastfeeding has been proven to help ensure immunity against certain diseases and infections, and prevent allergies in your baby (kidshealth.org). The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that new mothers breastfeed for the first 6 to 12 months of their baby’s life (kidshealth.org). After the first 12 months of life, breastfeeding is recommended to continue if the mother is willing (kidshealth.org). Even though breastfeeding is recommended by many healthcare professionals, many mothers will choose not to breastfeed due to their unique lifestyles, inability to produce adequate levels of breastmilk, or personal preference. In any of these situations, there are many brands of baby formula to choose from on the market that act as excellent alternatives to breastfeeding (kidshealth.org). One of the many advantages to formula feeding your baby is convenience. It is relatively simple to pre-prepare a few bottles for the day or night and pop them in the fridge until you are ready to feed them to your baby either in the home or on the go (kidshealth.org). Formula feeding also means that you can indulge in your favourite pre-pregnancy foods and beverages without worrying about the consequences to your baby’s health (kidshealth.org). Other alternatives to breastfeeding include accessing a milk bank, which allows you to purchase breastmilk donated by other women to feed to your newborn, or hiring a wet nurse – a woman hired to breastfeed babies in the place of the mother.
It has been said that what we eat in our childhoods and what our mothers eat during their pregnancies effect our eating habits and our general health well into adulthood. While choosing the correct nutrition to support the health of you and your baby many seem to some like a daunting task, with the right resources and nutritional knowledge, you can make choices that will benefit your baby for the duration of their life.
- Best sources of protein. (n.d.). Retrieved July 11, 2016, from http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/best-sources-protein
- Breastfeeding vs. Formula Feeding. (n.d.). Retrieved July 11, 2016, from http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/breast-bottle-feeding.html
- Calories & Fat in 1/4 Cup of Raw Mixed Nuts. (2013). Retrieved July 11, 2016, from http://www.livestrong.com/article/301791-calories-fat-in-14-cup-of-of-raw-mixed-nuts
- Food Sources of Iron. (n.d.). Retrieved July 11, 2016, from http://www.dietitians.ca/Your-Health/Nutrition-A-Z/Minerals/Food-Sources-of-Iron.aspx
- Foods List. (n.d.). Retrieved July 11, 2016, from https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list?qlookup=16120
- Heart disease. (n.d.). Retrieved July 11, 2016, from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/in-depth/nuts/art-20046635
- Nutritional Needs During Pregnancy. (n.d.). Retrieved July 11, 2016, from http://www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/nutrition
- Your New York Dietitians. (n.d.). Retrieved July 11, 2016, from http://www.yournydietitian.com/blog/2014/02/03/The-Battle-of-Almond-Milk-Vs-Cows-Milk-.aspx
