Healthy Diet for Pregnant Women

You need to eat foods that are rich in vitamins, minerals and proteins, carbohydrates and calcium during pregnancy for providing a balanced diet for the baby’s growth. A healthy pregnancy diet will include all these nutrients. Moreover, you need to increase your calorie intake but it should conform to the healthy diet for pregnancy. The increase of calories should be that of healthy calories and not unhealthy ones that come in junk food, fried foods, sugar and others.

Women should also adhere to the injunctions to certain foods for pregnant women. Alcohol, and to some extent caffeine should be given up to allow for the best possible baby’s growth. You should know about the ingredients in a healthy diet for pregnant women.

Healthy Diet for Pregnant Women

• Proteins – About 60 grams of protein daily is essential for baby’s growth and expecting mother’s health. The mother needs it for development of placenta and amniotic tissues while it is critical for cell growth and blood production in babies. Foods rich in protein are cheese, milk, nuts, lentils, brown rice, oatmeal, flaxseeds and whole wheat breads.
• Calcium – Rich sources of calcium include milk and dairy products. Calcium is one of the essential components of healthy diet for pregnant women as it gets depleted in them during pregnancy.
• Folate – Green leafy vegetables such as turnip greens, spinach, collard green and kale are rich in folate. It is needed in a healthy diet for pregnant woman to help in blood and protein development and lessen the risk of neural tube defects.
• Iron – Healthy diet for pregnancy includes foods rich in iron because it is needed for guarding against the possibility of anaemia, very common during pregnancy. Not only is it needed for the expecting mother but also for the growing baby. Broccoli, asparagus, nuts, fruits such as guava, apple and pomegranate have rich iron content.
• Anti-Oxidants – You need to have some anti-oxidants for developing your immunity and your baby’s. Have 4 to 6 servings of vegetables and fruits daily to meet your needs. It would be advisable to get organic fruits and vegetables from an authentic source because they contain 40 % more anti-oxidants than non-organic products.

Healthy diet during pregnancy is critical to the baby’s development and maintaining pregnancy fitness for the complete period.  You also need to understand the importance of avoiding unhealthy foods which harm the body during pregnancy.

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