Nutrition and Diet for Pregnant Women

First of all, pregnant women should eat a balanced diet, because the mother’s diet influences a lot the development of the baby. This is why you should include proteins, fats and carbohydrates in a particular proportion to your diet. The most important are surely proteins, which play a role of the “construction materials” for the baby’s organism. Malnutrition or lack of vitamins disturb a normal course of pregnancy, especially during the early period. This is why the diet should be various, the daily ration should include the necessary amount of proteins, fats, vitamins and mineral salts.

The diet shouldn’t be plentiful, but wholesome, because a fine baby can cause complications during childbirth, at the same time malnutrition can cause various defects in children and increase the risk of premature birth. This is the reason why pregnant women should eat no less than 200 g of meat daily. It’s advisable to consume fresh cooled meat, but not refrigerated meat. It’s recommended to replace the meat twice a week with fat fish.

The sources of proteins for the organism are also eggs and cultured milk foods. A pregnant woman should eat one egg daily, and for the prevention of Salmonellosis, which is one of the most wide spread intestinal infections, it should be boiled no less than six minutes. It’s also necessary to eat 100 g cottage cheese, 50 g cheese and drink at least half liter kefir daily.

The consumption of fruits and vegetables provides the organism with carbohydrates, vitamins and, which is very important, microelements. It’s advisable to eat 600 g of raw vegetables and 300-400 g of raw fruits daily. If you cannot purchase raw fruits for some reasons, they can be replaced with dried fruits, such as raisins, fig, prunes and dried apricots.

Vitamins and Microelements During Pregnancy

The organism should be provided with polyunsaturated fatty acids, so-called vitamin F, every day. To do this you need to drink one tablespoon vegetable oil, better olive oil.

Polyvitaminic drugs are also very important, because the organism of a pregnant woman needs them in an increased amount, but only eating fruits and vegetables cannot in full satisfy this need. Some of the polyvitamins on sale are developed especially for pregnant women and contain an ideal proportion of vitamins and microelements. If you found out that you were pregnant early (during the second or third week), it’s a must to take polyvitamins containing Selenium. Contemporary studies find, that it is important for the normal formation of the nerve tube, which is going on during this pregnancy period.

It’s better to go easy on candy, avoid eating grapes and watermelons (as they contain a lot of glucose) 3-4 weeks before delivery, because the baby can become fine and thus make the delivery complicated.

Stimulate Lactation. Nutrition for Breast Feeding

If you are going to breast-feed your baby, start eating walnuts and black chokeberry about two months before delivery. Go on eating these products during all breast-feeding period, because they stimulate lactation very well.

Why Pregnant Women Gain Excess Weight

Weight gain should be gradual. If you notice, that you have gained a lot of weight during a short period of time, it’s most likely because of imperfect diet. But in order to exclude all other reasons, consult your gynecologist.

How to Prevent Toxicosis During Pregnancy

If you suffer from early toxicosis, you feel sick and just a glance at all kinds of food makes you flesh creep, you can try a remedy, which helped many women to get rid of it. The remedy is very easy – eat crackers. They are surely not ideal meals for a pregnant woman, but it is anyway better than nothing. Another remedy for toxicosis are citrus plants, best of all lemons. They are also very healthy. It’s also good to drink prunes and dried apricots decoction (together or separated), and exactly decoction, but not compote, that means with no sugar. Or just chew dried fruits little by little.

What to Drink During Pregnancy

Water regime is also very important during pregnancy. You should provide a regular water supply to your organism, that is to drink at least a few gulps every 1,5-2 hours. The most healthy is to drink tea, fruit and berry juices, pure water. It’s of vital importance to exclude alcohol from your diet, including beer.

Nutrition and Diet During the First Half of Pregnancy

During the first half of the pregnancy the woman should eat her usual meals in a habitual amount: 100 g of cottage cheese, 25 g of cheese, 1 egg, 0,5 liter of dairy products, 200g of fish or meat, 500 g of vegetables, 250 g of fruits and berries. As a pregnant woman needs twice as much vitamins, she needs to eat fresh raw fruits and berries. During the first half of pregnancy a woman should have four meals a day.

Nutrition and Diet During the Second Half of Pregnancy

During the second half of pregnancy it’s recommended to eat in small portions six times a day, which stimulates a better nutrients fixation. During this period the demand for protein and fats increases, while consumption of carbohydrates should be restricted (especially macaroni foods and confectionery – no more than 250 g of bread and 50 g of sugar).

As exactly during this period of pregnancy the demand for vitamins and minerals (especially calcium necessary for the formation of the skeleton) increases, a pregnant woman should consume 1,5-2 times more fruits, berries, milk and cottage cheese daily.

How to Increase Hemoglobin and Prevent Anemia During Pregnancy

In order to increase hemoglobin you may drink a mix of fresh carrot and beet juices. But you should be careful. Beet juice is very biologically active. It’s very coarse for the gastric mucosa. It should be consumed only in small potions (no more than 0,5 cup a day) and diluted with other, softer juices. And the reaction to it should be carefully observed. The best way is to leave beet juice in the refrigerator for 2 hours and drink only after it, in contrast to other juices, which are taken freshly made.

How to Prevent Edemas During Pregnancy

Pregnant women often suffer from edemas, but they occur not because you drink a lot, but because the tissues accumulate excess sodium salts, which are taken together with food, and kidneys don’t manage to discharge them – they work hard without it. These salts keep water in tissues (usually in legs and near eyes). This is why during the second half of pregnancy a future mother should strictly bound the consumption of salted and spicy foods (excess functioning of liver and kindeys), and also allergens.