Tips for eating healthy During Pregnancy

When you are pregnant, there are certain things that you need to take care of like; pregnancy diet, Healthy habits, nutrients, etc. Many care required to make sure your baby is born healthy, and all these things might not be known to everyone, especially if you are pregnant for the first time. Don’t worry, as we are going to discuss a lot about pregnancy food tips, and other tips that will help you healthy weight; during pregnancy.

Maintain a healthy amount of weight

The first thing you need to do or know is maintaining a healthy weight; during pregnancy, you must have a healthy weight, or else it can affect your baby during birth. If you are underweight, then your child has more chances of being born unhealthy as well. Although maintaining weight isn’t always about gaining way too much, it also depends where you stand right now in your BMI level.

As if you are already in good weight and you are eating more to get more healthy then, it can result in you having diseases like Gestational diabetes, which is diabetes that occurs during pregnancy. It can quickly turn into type 2 diabetes if not taken care of; you also put yourself at risk of high blood pressure. So eating in a limit and making sure not to get over a certain amount of calories in a day is essential.

Cons about weight during pregnancy

You are eating for two.

I guess this is the biggest con that I need to tell you right now: you have heard this that when you are pregnant, you are eating for two people. This advice is not right; most of the women get high blood pressure and diabetes just by thinking they need to eat twice as much. According to the study, your baby is the size of a walnut for the first three months, so he did need three meals a day with 1000 to 2000 calories.

As I said, it’s essential to increase the calorie amount in your pregnancy diet, but you don’t have to eat twice as much. In the first three months, only 1 to 4 pounds of weight gain per month is best; after three months until the delivery time, 2 to 4 pounds of weight gain per month will be best for you.

Healthy eating

How many calories should you consume?

Well, if you are underweight or under a BMI of 19, start by consuming 200 to 300 calories during the first three months, and after that increase, the amount to 350 calories and, in the last three months, eat at least 500 extra calories.

If you are at a healthy weight, then you don’t have to eat extra calories during the first trimester, increase 340 calories in the second trimester, and, in the last three months, make sure to consume at least 450 extra calories.

Foods to consume during pregnancy

• Fruits and vitamins
• Whole-grain and high fiber foods
• Fat-free or low-fat dairy products
• Protein and lean protein

Best food to eat during pregnancy

Dairy products

Dairy products and food resources are one of the best that you can get during pregnancy, although you need to make sure that they contain low-fat, for example, yogurt, Greek yogurt, skimmed milk, etc.

They are considered so good during pregnancy because they contain high protein, probiotic bacteria, and calcium. Taking dairy products and adding them to your pregnancy diet chart can save you from preeclampsia, vaginal infections, allergies, and gestational diabetes.

Legumes

If you are looking for food that you can add to your vegetarian pregnancy diet plan, you can eat Legumes. Legumes are known for their high fiber nutrients, protein, iron, calcium, and folate.

In this group, you will find food like beans, peas, lentil, peanut, chickpeas, soybeans, etc. Folate is one of the best nutrients you can provide to your body during pregnancy, as it reduces the chances of diseases and congenital disabilities.

Sweet-potato

One of the best foods you can have in your pregnancy diet is sweet potato; sweet potato contains a high amount of carbs, fiber, and protein; it’s also a great source of beta-carotene, which is, later on, turned into vitamin A in your body. Vitamin A is one of the essential nutrients for your body as it helps with the growth of your unborn baby.

Salmon

Salmon is rich in healthy fat and carbs, during pregnancy, you need to make sure you take enough Omega-3 to help your baby have a better brain and eye development. Not only that, but it also contains Vitamin D, which is beneficial for your health; vitamin D also makes your immune system durable and also makes bone healthier.

Eggs

Another food that you can consume during pregnancy is eggs; this is one of the best foods a single egg contains a high amount of protein, carbs, and choline. The protein and carbs make sure that your body stays fit and healthy, and the choline inside the egg makes sure that your child gets born with a healthy brain. Choline is essential for brain development, and it also decreases the risk of neural tube defects.

Greens

Having green vegetables in life benefits your health, especially when you are pregnant, it becomes more beneficial—food like broccoli, spinach, kale, celery, etc. Greens vegetables are high in fiber, potassium, iron, and other vitamins and can help with your baby growth. It is also an enormous source of antioxidants agents that allows you a younger skin.

Lean meat

Eating a healthy lean meat diet can help you save your child from being born underweight. The best lean meat that you should eat during pregnancy are chicken, pork, and beef; they all contain protein, low-fat, low-carbs, choline, and other vitamins.

Whole-grain

During pregnancy, doctors highly recommended that you consume a good diet that includes high fibers. This reason is why whole grains are one of the best foods to eat during pregnancy, as they are rich in fiber and have other vitamins as well.

If you are vegan?

Many people think that vegan can’t have as healthy nutrients as a vegetarian or a non-vegetarian can, which is not entirely true. Vegan foods are not as rich in protein, healthy weight fats, vitamins, etc. But it does give you all the things if you eat enough food in proper portions.

Benefits of a vegan diet

1. If you have a vegan diet, you don’t have to worry about a disease like diabetes, high blood pressure, and other heart diseases.

2. Antioxidant agents, most of the vegan food, contain a high amount of antioxidants agents that help you look younger.

3. It helps you to lose weight after pregnancy; we all know that the vegan diet is very low on calories, and that is why it’s also easy to lose weight with a vegan diet.

Things that you need to take care of during the vegan diet

1. A balanced diet is one thing that you need to make sure during pregnancy because you eat a well-balanced diet. A well-balanced diet includes all nutrients in the proper amount to give you a healthy body.

2. Eat five meals a day, at least, as a vegan diet is low on calories and also has fewer nutrients than non-vegan food. This reason is why you need to make sure that you are eating enough to get all the essential nutrients.

Best vegan food to eat

Legumes

Like we have discussed earlier, legumes are plant-based foods like; beans, chickpeas, lentils, etc. It contains high fibers, which help you a lot during pregnancy.

Nuts and seeds

Just like how salmon provides you with healthy fats, nuts, and seeds also provide you with the same nutrient. These foods are also a source of zinc and iron, especially walnut and flax seed.

Plant milk

While you can’t consume any animal products, including dairy products, you can still consume plant-based milk products. There are many dairy milk supplements these days that you can choose from, including almonds milk, coconut milk, etc. They all contain almost the same amount of calcium and help you stay healthy during pregnancy.

Tofu

Protein is one of the essential nutrients that women require during pregnancy, and tofu is one of the best replacements you will get for food like chicken, beef, and pork.

Sprouts and fermented foods

The probiotic nutrient plays a massive role during your pregnancy in keeping your baby for certain complications. That is why you should eat sprouted and fermented plants like miso, tempeh, natto, kimchi, pickle, Ezekiel bread, etc. as they all provide probiotics and other kinds of nutrients.

Things to avoid during pregnancy

While during the pregnancy diet plan, you can eat almost everything, but there are certain foods and drinks that you should avoid.

Alcohol

Alcohol can be harmful to you during pregnancy, and it can even affect your child. While many people say drinking in moderation to drinking, just a little is okay during pregnancy. There is still not much information about the fact of how much alcohol you can consume, so just to be safe, it’s better not to drink any alcoholic drinks.

Caffeine

Caffeine consumption during pregnancy is alright, but you can not consume more than 200 mg caffeine per day. Also, while drinking caffeine, you need to make sure that you don’t drink much more sugar with it if you can then drink it without sugar or milk.

Fish with Mercury

Some fish can affect an unborn baby because it’s a high level of mercury formed inside the fish. Now there are some fish like tuna that you can consume in a moderate amount during the week as they have a low level of mercury and will not affect your child in any harmful way. However, you need to avoid eating fishes like mackerel, shark, swordfish, tile fish, marlin, etc.

Avoid raw or under cooked good

During pregnancy, it’s better to eat only thoroughly cooked food. You are eating food like; raw egg, under cooked dough, rare or medium-rare meat, raw milk, certain seafood like octopus, oyster, etc. It can be unhealthy for you and make you sick during pregnancy, which will automatically affect your child’s health as well.

Stick to food

Avoid eating things that are not food in your pregnancy diet; many women have different kinds of craving during pregnancy. The urges can go to eating cornstarch, corn syrup, clay, chalk, etc.

Do not do that as it’s profoundly harmful and dangerous for you and your baby. If you don’t believe me, then see Dr. Phil and Steve Harvey episode where they are dealing with a woman that started eating cornstarch and corn syrup during pregnancy, and now she eats three whole cans of those every day.

Healthy habits that you need to adapt

Now, we have seen all the do’s and don’t for a healthy pregnancy, so now let’s talk about some habits that will benefit you.

Eat breakfast daily

Like earlier, we talked about gaining weight and eating healthy for that to happen; you will need to eat daily breakfast. Breakfast is the essential meal of the day, and that’s why you need to make sure you eat a healthy breakfast. If you can’t eat and feel sick, try eating light foods.

Drink enough water

The most important thing during pregnancy is that you drink enough water. During pregnancy, your blood increases in your body, and that is why your body also requires more water than usual.

If you do not take enough water, you can even get dehydrated, and that can cause you to faint, have low memory, tiredness, anxiety, etc. So make sure to drink at least a gallon of water every day.

Eat small meals if you have heartburn.

If you are going through heartburn during pregnancy, then make sure to eat more meals in small amounts during your pregnancy diet, also avoid spicy foods.

Conclusion

So like we saw in our nutrition tips for pregnancy and the daily diet for pregnancy that it’s essential to eat the right food in the proper amount. Also, we saw how each person could be on a different pregnancy diet and eating different types of food. So, following these tips could help you make sure about your baby and your health during pregnancy.