Pregnancy & Food

Pregnancy

Consume about 300 more calories per day than you did before you became pregnant.

Recommended daily servings include:
6-11 servings of breads and grains,
two to four servings of fruit,
four or more servings of vegetables,
four servings of dairy products,
three servings of protein sources (meat, poultry, fish, eggs or nuts).

Eat and drink at least four servings of calcium-rich foods a day to help ensure that you are getting 1000-1300 mg of calcium in your daily diet during pregnancy.

Eat at least three servings of iron-rich foods per day to ensure you are getting 27 mg of iron daily.


Choose at least one good source of vitamin C every day, such as oranges, grapefruits, strawberries, honeydew, papaya, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, green peppers, tomatoes, and mustard greens. Pregnant women need 70 mg of vitamin C a day.


Choose at least one good source of folic acid every day, like dark green leafy vegetables, veal, and legumes (lima beans, black beans, black-eyed peas and chickpeas). Every pregnant woman needs at least 0.4 mg of folic acid per day to help prevent neural tube defects such as spina bifid a.


Choose at least one source of vitamin A every other day. Sources of vitamin A include carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, spinach, water squash, turnip greens, beet greens, apricots, and cantaloupe.




Healthy Snacks:

• Vegetables, Salad, carrot, celery, cucumber, spinach, water squash, turnip greens, beet greens, apricots, spinach, beet greens, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, green peppers, tomatoes, and mustard greens.

• Low-fat yoghurt. (plain, low-fat yogurt has more calcium than milk, is high in protein.)

• Drinks, Milky drinks or unsweetened fruit juices, prune juice,

• Fresh fruit, apricots, dried fruits, including prunes, raisins and apricots, grapes, grapefruit, oranges, plums, cantaloupe, oranges, grapefruits, strawberries, honeydew, papaya, and watermelon.
• Dried fruits, including prunes, raisins and apricots, grapes, grapefruit, oranges, plums

• Baked potato and beans, sweet potatoes, black beans, white beans, chickpeas, pinto beans, lentils, black-eyed peas, and kidney, lima beans, garbanzo, or soy beans. (Have protein and fiber. Nutrients such as iron, folate, calcium, and zinc.)

• All berries, raspberries, blackberries. (Berries are packed with vitamin C, potassium, folate, and fiber.)

• Eggs.  (Source of protein that provides amino acids, contains more than a dozen vitamins and minerals, including choline.)

• Whole-grains,  hummus, breads, cereals, oatmeal, whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, soft pretzel, (whole-grain is fortified with folic acid and iron.)
• Sandwiches or pitta bread filled with grated cheese, lean ham, mashed tuna, salmon, or sardines, with salad.

• Salmon. (Omega-3 fatty acids are good for your baby's brain and eyes. Salmon provides protein and B vitamins. Relatively low in mercury compared to other fish. You can safely eat up to 12 ounces of low-mercury fish, such as salmon, per week.)
• Meat and Seafood, Lean beef, chicken, salmon, lamb, pork, sardines, shrimp, turkey, and veal.

• Nuts, Seeds. Pumpkins seeds, peanuts, pine nuts, or squash seeds.

Food Rules / Avoid these Foods:

• When selecting eggs, consider buying the pasteurized.
• No Unpasteurized foods!!!!

• Avoid soft cheeses such as feta, Brie, Camembert, blue-veined, and Mexican-style cheese. These cheeses are often unpasteurized and may cause Listeria infection. There’s no need to avoid hard cheese, processed cheese, cream cheese, cottage cheese, or yogurt. 

• Decrease the total amount of fat you eat to 30% or less of your total daily calories. For a person eating 2000 calories a day, this would be 65 grams of fat or less per day.

• Limit cholesterol intake to 300 mg or less per day.

Folate

Folate, also called folic acid when taken in supplement form, is a water-soluble B vitamin found naturally in food and is needed for building DNA and RNA. Folate can help reduce the risk of brain defects like anencephaly and neural tube defects like spina bifida in babies. To offset these risks, pregnant women need 600 mcg of folate per day. Try these folate-rich foods:

• 1 small orange (30 mcg)
• 1 ounce peanuts (40 mcg)
• 1/2 cup sliced avocado (45 mcg)
• 1/2 cup broccoli (45 mcg)
• 4 spears asparagus (85 mcg)
• 1/2 cup spinach (100 mcg)
• 1 cup fortified cereal (400 mcg)

Calcium

Calcium helps promote strong, healthy bones for mom and baby. If a baby doesn't get enough calcium, then it will take it from the mom’s bones, which can lead to problems for mom later in life. Plus, it plays an important role in muscle and nerve development along with promoting a well functioning circulatory system. Pregnant women need 1,000 mg of calcium a day. Foods rich in calcium:

• 8 oz non-fat yogurt (415 mg)
• 8 oz skim milk (302 mg)
• 1 cup fortified orange juice (200-250 mg)
• 3 oz salmon (181 mg)
• 1 oz feta cheese (140 mg)
• 1 cup chickpeas (105 mg)

Iron

During pregnancy, the body needs to support its internal changes along with helping the baby develop his or her own blood supply. Iron helps boost immunity, prevent anemia, and aids in blood supply development—pregnant women increase their blood volume by almost 50 percent during pregnancy. Pregnant women need about 27 mg of iron per day. Iron-rich foods include:

• 3/4 cup fortified cereal (18 mg)
• 1 cup fortified oatmeal (10 mg)
• 1 cup kidney beans (5.2 mg)
• 3 ounces beef tenderloin (2.2 mg)
• 3 1/2 ounces light meat turkey (1.6 mg)
• 3 ounces chicken (1.3 mg)
• 1/2 cup spinach (1.0 mg)

Zinc

Zinc helps with the production of DNA, the development of the baby's organs, and supports the immune system. Pregnant women need 11 mg of zinc per day. Foods rich in zinc include:

• 3 oz of lean beef (8.9 mg)
• 1 chicken leg (2.7 mg)
• 1/2 cup baked beans (1.7 mg)
• 1 cup of fortified cereal (3.8 mg)

Protein

Eating high-protein foods promotes the baby's overall growth, and the amino acids in protein serve as building blocks for the baby's cells. Pregnant women need about 70 g of protein per day. Foods rich in protein include:

• 3oz chicken breast (27 g)
• 3 ounces sockeye salmon (18.8 g)
• 1 large egg (6 g)
• 1 cup skim milk (8 g)
• 1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese (14 g)
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter (8 g)

How often to eat:
Even if you're not hungry, chances are baby is, so try to eat regularly.
Aim for three meals and two to three healthy snacks in between.
And if morning (or all-day) sickness, food aversions, heartburn, or indigestion make eating a chore, eat less, more often. 
You may find that eating five or six small meals is easier on your body. 




Randome INFO:

More Protein

Is it true that I need more protein the last two trimesters of my pregnancy? 

Very true. About 25 g more per day. Vegetarians combine complementary protein foods, such as beans and rice, to get the essential amino acids needed.

Weight Gain

Do you wonder how it's reasonable to gain 25 to 35 pounds (on average) during your pregnancy when a newborn baby weighs only a fraction of that? Although it varies from woman to woman, this is how those pounds may add up:

• 7.5 pounds: average baby's weight

• 7 pounds: extra stored protein, fat, and other nutrients

• 4 pounds: extra blood

• 4 pounds: other extra body fluids

• 2 pounds: breast enlargement

• 2 pounds: enlargement of your uterus

• 2 pounds: amniotic fluid surrounding your baby

• 1.5 pounds: the placenta