Nutrition During Pregnancy
You should have frequent but small servings of meals during pregnancy. You should neither stay hungry for long nor get full up when you eat.
Eating Well During Pregnancy
Make sure you consume fresh food. Try to consume fresh and natural food instead of canned foods and food containing preservatives.
Eat a variety of foods. That way, your body will receive as many different vitamins and minerals as possible.
Instrad of consuming too fatty, sweet, spicy and calorie rich foods, try to eat food that is rich in protein and carbohydrate and low in fat. Remember that it is not the weight you gain which is important but the proper and sufficient nutrition of the baby inside. Although synthetic multivitamin pills can be used as support for those who cannot have a balanced diet, they can never replace natural food.
According to the results of “toxoplasmosis tests”, if your body has never encountered this parasite before, some precautions should be taken. This condition, which especially is caught through cat and dog discharge, might become fatal for the baby or might cause disabililty if it present during pregnancy. Toxoplasma infection might occur especially when fruit and vegatables are not washed thoroughly and when meat is not cooked well.
Consume a lot of water. Drink at least 8-10 glasses of water. In the summer this amount might go up to 15 glasses.
Especially, during later months in pregnancy, if there are complaints regarding constipation, you can overcome this problem by consuming lots of water, fruit which can be eaten with the skin, vegetables and salad on every meal and by going for walks.
Nutrition during pregnancy should be 1-2 glasses of daily milk will be useful in making up for the loss amount of calcium during pregnancy.
If you cannot drink milk, you should have yoghurt and buttermilk. You can also consume cheese. Make sure that dairy products you consume are pasteurized.
Use iodized salt in your meals. If you have a hypertension condition, prepare your meals with a small amount of salt. Reduce salt consumption during the last months to avoid edema.
Usually, for relief of morning sickness, a slice of cheese with some breadsticks can be helpful. To prevent sickness and vomiting during the first three months of pregnancy, you may consume solid, dry and fat-free foods. Stay away from smells from the kitchen and refrain from using intense perfume. You can overcome your complaints by having salted crackers, boiled potatoes, roast chickpeas and biscuits. Remember to eat frequently but in small amounts.
According to recent research, French fries in fast food restaurants (such as McDonald’s) and potato chips sold in markets both of which are prepared in a similar way (frying in excessive heat) are “teratogenic” for the babies (fetus), that is they contain toxic materials. That’s why you should refrain from consuming such products during pregnancy. Home-made potato fries (french fries) do not have the same effect since they are fried in lower heat.
As mentioned earlier, nutrition during pregnancy is not a time for weight loss diets. Soem amoutn of weight gain is part of the process. If you have a weak (low- weight) body you need to gain some weight; if you are overweight, it would be better to gain a, comperatively, smaller amount of weight. You can evaluate your weight via “Body Mass Index” measurements.
