Pregnancy Diet Plan First Trimester

Pregnancy Diet Plan First Trimester - Eating the right food is perhaps the greatest concern for a pregnant woman. There may be doubts about whether you are eating the right food, what should be avoided, how much is right etc.

While you can pretty much continue the same diet as before, if you have been eating healthy, there are certain precautions and awareness to take care during pregnancy. It is important to have a well balanced diet containing plenty of fruits and vegetables, protein, grains and hydrating fluids. You should make sure to consume around 300 calories more per day than you did before becoming pregnant.

Food to include in pregnancy diet

Fruits and Vegetables

You should eat at least four to five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. This should include good sources of folic acid like dark green leafy vegetables, beans etc. At least 0.4 mg of folic acid per day is needed to help prevent neural tube defects such as spina bifida in the baby. Fruits and Vegetables are also rich sources of vitamins and iron.

Milk and dairy products

Dairy products are very good sources of calcium and protein. You should eat and drink at least four servings of dairy products in a day to ensure that you are getting 1000-1300 mg of calcium daily.

Bread and grains

Choose whole-grain breads, cereals, pasta, and rice for your daily servings of bread and grain. These contain more fiber and are more nutritious than the white variety.

Fish, eggs, nuts, Poultry, Meat

Your daily diet should ideally have three to four servings of any of these rich protein sources.

To pregnant women every bite counts. Although there’s no magic formula for diet for a healthy pregnancy, still your diet during pregnancy should include foods that have very good sources of essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients. Your baby’s development inside your womb completely depends on the nutrient you take.

However, food cravings can challenge even the most disciplined mom-to-be, so dieting is surely not the favorite word for pregnant women. Lots of future moms use the pretext of ‘eating for two’ in order to explain their massive weight gain during the nine months but what these women don’t understand is each and every excess pound can trigger unpleasant health problems for both the mother and the growing boy or girl.

Foods to avoid for Pregnancy Diet

Vitamin A rich food

like liver should best be avoided as excessive vitamin A intake is associated with fetal malformations.

Caffeine and Alcohol

They prevent absorption of folic acid and iron and their excessive intake can lead to problems like premature delivery, birth defects, mental retardation and low birth weight babies.

Saccharin and food additives

Avoid saccharin during pregnancy as it can cross the placenta and remain in fetal tissues. Additives like MSG – Monosodium glutamate, artificial food colorings, should also be avoided.

Soft cheeses

These cheeses are often unpasteurized and can cause infection.

Fish

Avoid fish like shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish as they contain high levels of mercury.

So, Adapting diet for a healthy pregnancy is important for you and your baby. Eating healthy during pregnancy has a range of benefits for general health and will prepare your body for pregnancy.What to eat for healthy pregnancy is a good question to ponder upon. Eat lots of assorted food as possible but do not over eat it will lead to excessive weight gain.

Best strategy is to regulate three meals daily or six lesser meals if you have troubles with sickness or indigestion. Eating for a healthy pregnancy requires a sum of 2,200 or 2,800 calories in addition to the normal diet, prenatal food supplements such as vitamins especially iron, calcium, Folic acid, also known as Vitamin B9 are basically prescribed by your doctor during pregnancy.

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