Best food to eat during pregnancy

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Congratulations, if you are going to give birth to a new life! It is not easy being pregnant, but aren’t you enjoying this phase? This is the time that you are going to look back after you are over giving birth to your child. Pregnancy is something extremely wonderful, yet one heck of a troubled time. To keep yourself calm and fit, you need to struggle a lot as your body is going through some changes. Eating healthy and remaining stress-free is something that counts largely, with respect to your baby’s health.

If you do not eat properly, a number of health complications are going to strike you.  Similarly, if you remain too stressed and anxious all the time, it reflects on your overall health. Such disrupted routines can even hamper your child’s health, alongside yours. You may feel nauseous and pukish sometimes, but that does not mean you will not eat properly. If you are having late night cravings or sudden change in food choices, it is absolutely normal. However, be cautious that you are choosing the right food for your hungry tummy. Do not simply eat anything and everything that you crave for.

It is very important that you follow a healthy diet during your pregnancy. By doing so, you not only ensure your wellbeing but also your child’s health. During pregnancy, you need to supply your body with essential minerals, vitamins, fibers, and many other nutrients. You may even require 350 to 500 calories more every day, at the time of second and third trimesters.

If your body has a deficit of nutrients, it may pose negative impacts that may interfere with your child’s development. Poor diets and lifestyle choices can make you more prone to health complications like gestational diabetes. Follow a good diet plan to get rid of extra body weight, which you have put on during pregnancy. Go for nutritious foods and lead a healthy life to ensure wellbeing your child and yourself.

Which vegetables to opt for?

The first thing that you should do while choosing vegetables, is to go for legumes. This particular group of veggies includes chickpeas, beans, peas, soybeans, peanuts, and lentils. Legumes are a very rich source of nutrients like potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, fiber, folate (vitamin B9), and protein. All of these nutrients are extremely important for your body during pregnancy. Vitamin B9 or folate is very crucial for you and your baby’s growth, mostly when you are in the first trimester.

If you don’t supply enough folate to your baby, there can be problems like:

  • lower birth weight
  • susceptibility to infections
  • other birth defects

Legumes have very high folate content. If you consume 1 cup of black beans, lentils or chickpeas, you get almost 65 to 90 percent of RDA.

Sweet potatoes give you an enormous supply of beta carotene, which gets converted to Vitamin A after entering your body. Vitamin A assists you with various essential functions like growth and differentiation of tissues. If you are pregnant, increase your intake of sweet potatoes. On proper consumption, vitamin A level can go up by 10 to 40 percent in your body. However, do keep a check on the vitamin A level as too much of it can prove to be toxic. Apart from vitamin A, sweet potatoes also offer you with a good amount of fiber. Sweet potatoes can bring down your blood sugar level, gives you hunger satiety, and improves your digestive functioning.

Leafy and dark vegetables are also very effective in ensuring your child’s development, as well as your wellbeing. Veggies like broccoli, spinach, and kale contain a lot of essential nutrients like iron, potassium, calcium, and fiber. The different varieties of vitamins that you will find in leafy and dark veggies are Vitamin K, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, and Vitamin B9. Since these vegetables have high fiber content, it helps you get rid of problems like constipation. Being pregnant, constipation is one problem that you will definitely come across. Now you know how to ward it off! Green veggies like broccoli are good sources of antioxidants. It improves the functioning of your immune system, as well as digestion.

Are dairy products important?

When you are pregnant, your baby needs to have a very good supply of proteins and calcium for growth and development. To support that, you should predominantly go for dairy products like milk, yogurt, or cottage cheese. There are two kinds of proteins that dairy foods offer- whey and casein proteins. Apart from that, dairy products are very good sources of essential nutrients like B vitamins, calcium, zinc, phosphorus, and magnesium.

If you go for Greek yogurt, it is the best dairy option. Greek yogurt has probiotic bacteria in it, which supports your digestive health and improves any prevalent digestion related complications. If you are lactose intolerant, you can easily have Greek yogurt. Probiotic supplements can rid get of certain health problems during pregnancy, including-

  • vaginal allergies and infections
  • gestational diabetes
  • preeclampsia

How important are eggs, fish, and meat?

Eggs are like the ultimate nutritious food item that you can ever opt for. It contains almost all the essential nutrients, which you will require for maintaining your overall health. 1 big egg can provide you with enormous fat, proteins, and around 77 calories, apart from various minerals and vitamins. Eggs are a good source of choline, which helps in proper brain development of your baby. One complete egg contains choline, at a rough measure of 113 mg.

Lean meat such as pork, beef, and chicken contain a very high level of protein. Pork and beef offer you choline, iron and B class of Vitamins. High iron content improves your hemoglobin level, facilitating the proper supply of oxygen in every cell of your body.

Fishes like salmon are extremely essential for your body, as it contains omega-3 fatty acids like EPA and DHA. Omega-3 fatty acids improve brain development and eye functioning of your child. Salmon is a good source of Vitamin D that improves immunity and bone density.

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