Pregnancy Diet & Nutrition: The Do’s & Don’ts
Healthy diet and optimal nutrition throughout pregnancy are essential for you and your baby. As an expecting mom, what you consume becomes your baby’s primary source of nourishment. And as you journey towards motherhood, it proves even more important for you to eat healthy, as you are now eating for two. Everything you take in will have a direct impact on your baby’s growth and development, as well as your own wellbeing.
As you look for a perfect eating plan; one that will help you feel great, nourish your growing baby, and allow you to attain balance in life. Your fellow Intuitive Moms would like to remind you,
THE BENEFITS OF EATING HEALTHY DURING PREGNANCY
Mothers play a vital role in the health and quality of life of their child, which is why it is so important to give focus to maternal health during pregnancy. There are various benefits that you can get from eating healthy during pregnancy and here are just a few of them:
1. Eating well prevents complications from pregnancy.
Expecting mothers are at a high risk of several complications during pregnancy. This includes high blood pressure, infections, preeclampsia, and gestational diabetes. Maintaining a healthy and balanced diet can keep your weight, blood sugar levels, and blood pressure at healthy levels, and eventually reduces the likelihood of such complications to occur.
Having a healthy diet also prevents common pregnancy complaints, such as leg cramps and morning sickness. A diet of lean proteins, complex carbohydrates and healthy fat prevents these symptoms.
2. A healthy diet increases energy
Women often experience fatigue during pregnancy, especially during the early weeks of maternity. This is due to the hormonal changes that the body undergoes during pregnancy.
Having a healthy diet and eating every 3-4 hours keeps the energy up. It’s also very important to track your iron consumption; doubling your iron intake when pregnant sustains your increased blood volume and promotes iron storage for your baby’s needs.
3. It reduces birth defects
The over exposure to certain chemicals or under supply of certain nutrients can lead to birth defects. Deficiency in key nutrients such as folic acid is linked to higher rates of birth defects, like spina bifida (A neural tube effect that happens when the baby’s spine and spinal cord fail to develop properly in the womb. This causes a gap in the spine).
Eating natural, unprocessed foods during pregnancy helps avoid harmful substances that may lead to certain birth defects. It is also essential to take good prenatal vitamins that will ensure adequate intake of key nutrients, such as iron and folic acid.
4. Healthy diet leads to an improved sleep
Sleep and rest are essential for you and your baby. However, various factors during pregnancy, such as body aches, nausea, and bathroom breaks, may affect your resting schedule.
Having a full and healthy meal and avoiding caffeine will help you get your much needed rest. Vitamin B, iron, and calcium also help in regulating your sleep.
5. Healthy diet leads to a baby’s good health
Whatever you consume while pregnant influences your baby’s development and food preference later in life. Having a poor diet will make your baby develop a taste for foods low in nutrition. This may lead to health risks, such as obesity and serious diseases like diabetes.
However, if you maintain a nutritious diet during pregnancy, you’ll promote healthy development in your baby that will guide him throughout life. This will also encourage your baby’s future healthy eating habits.
DEBUNKING PREGNANCY DIET MYTHS
The journey to motherhood comes with an overwhelming amount of information and advice. But with the overloaded messages and conflicting information that moms receive, it may feel exhausting and tiring. So in our mission to help you,, for this section, we’ll sort the nutrition myths you commonly hear during pregnancy.
MYTH #1: PREGNANT MOMS SHOULD EAT FOR TWO
This is perhaps one of the most often heard myths when it comes to pregnancy diet.
Fact: Doing this may cause unhealthy and unnecessary weight gain that can lead to an increased risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, and preeclampsia. It may also jeopardise your health and your baby’s as well. So, instead of focusing on the quantity of food, focus on the quality of your diet.
Key: Expecting moms should reduce salt, sugar, and fat intake, and increase vegetable, whole grain, and fruit consumption. Keep in mind that the additional calories needed to nourish your growing baby should only come from high-nutrient foods.
MYTH #2: EXPECTING MOMS HAVE A MORE SENSITIVE PALATE
You’ve probably heard that a woman’s sense of taste changes during pregnancy, but is it actually true?
Fact: This myth may actually be true. When pregnant, 75% of expecting moms experience altered sense of taste (dysgeusia) and this is attributed to the changes caused by pregnancy hormones and female brain activity during pregnancy. It may make you feel disgusted by the food you normally like or enjoy food you previously disliked. This change in sensation can also ensure the survival of your baby. In the past, where more threats such as poisonous or spoiled foods were more prominent, this phenomenon protects both the mom and the baby.
Key: The logic behind this phenomenon is that with the increase in a mother’s sense of taste and smell, she’ll be able to avoid substances that may cause harm to her and the baby. In cases like this, you should trust your innate wisdom, but also strive for a balance in whatever changes you may feel.
MYTH #3: PREGNANT WOMEN ARE SLAVES TO THEIR CRAVE
While this may hold some truth to it, you still have control over your responses.
Fact: Cravings during pregnancy can be attributed to various factors, such as hormonal changes, alterations in the sense of smell and taste, and nutritional deficiencies. It can happen anytime during pregnancy but typically has its onset during the first trimester and peaks on the 2nd.
Key: Although quite a challenge, you can actually control how you respond to your cravings. Maintaining a well-balanced meal is one of the key things in regulating cravings. Eating on time, getting regular physical activity, and having an emotional support system can also help during the process. Remember to embrace the changes that come with pregnancy. This includes your cravings, because it’s also a form of your innate wisdom. But make sure it doesn’t compromise your well-being as well as your baby’s.
THE DO’S & DON’TS OF PREGNANCY NUTRITION
Most often, the vast information that’s available to you may blur your judgment on the proper pregnancy nutrition that you should follow. So how can you create a pregnancy diet that will help you journey toward motherhood?
READ MORE ABOUT THE DO’S & DON’TS OF PREGNANCY NUTRITION
Good nutrition plays a big role in keeping you and your developing baby healthy. As a mother, you hold in your hand the fate and future of your precious one and one of your tasks is to make sure that your baby is getting the nourishment she needs. So, before your little bundle of joy arrives, remember that the most important responsibility that you have at the moment is to nurture, love, and provide a safe and healthy environment for your baby.
