Nothing in life is more exciting than expecting a new baby! Almost everyone had heard that you need to “eat for two”, but this old adage causes many new mothers to overeat and gain unwanted pounds.
Many mothers-to-be are worried about what their unborn baby consumes and whether they should be worried about the food that they eat. While there is no “guarantee” that the unhealthy food that you eat during pregnancy will negatively affect your baby, there are some foods that must be avoided or eaten in moderation. What are these foods to avoid?
The first food that you need to keep an eye on is alcohol. Alcohol can cause birth defects, which can harm the unborn child. For that reason, you should cut out alcohol completely during your pregnancy.
But there are more healthy diet rules for expecting mothers that will be discussed in this article.
Top 5 Healthy Diet Rules for Pregnancy and Childbirth
What you eat during the 9 months of pregnancy can affect your baby for the rest of their lives, so be sure to choose the healthy diet!
Why? Because you need a healthy pregnancy, easy delivery, and a happy baby.
1. Get Your Folic Acid On!
You will need at least 600 micrograms of this important B vitamin once you discover that you are indeed pregnant. For extra insurance, be sure you are consuming at least 400 micrograms while you are trying to become pregnant. Folic acid can not only reduce the risk of early delivery. But it reduces neural defects by as much as 70 percent!
2. Make Fiber a Focal Point of Every Meal
One of the “joys” of pregnancy is painful hemorrhoids and constipation. These two issues tend to go hand in hand, meaning that if you have one, you likely have the other. You can avoid most of this unpleasantness by eating a diet high in fruits, whole grains, and vegetables, especially high fiber vegetables such as lentils, peas, and broccoli. This is when a healthy diet can help prevent hemorrhoids.
3. Make Iron Your New Best Friend
Your need for iron almost doubles to a whopping 30 mg each day to support you and your new baby. Back in high school, you might remember your science teacher telling you that iron was the “truck” that transported oxygen to the body. Both you and your baby can benefit from an increase in iron. Don’t rely on pills that tend to cause constipation, rather, get iron from foods such as liver, meat, fish, eggs, and dried fruit.
4. Drink Your Dairy
Milk really does do a body good and calcium is the main reason to get more dairy products in your diet. Both you and your baby need calcium for strong bones and teeth, as well as for nerves to function as they should and for a normal heartbeat. Getting 4 servings of dairy each day and add some calcium-rich foods to your daily diet, such as almonds, cheese, dark leafy greens, and fish.
5. Vitamin D – It’s Free!
This one goes hand in hand with calcium. Your body absorbs more calcium when you have the proper levels of vitamin D. This means that baby’s teeth and bones will develop properly. You need about 600 IU’s of this vitamin, every day. Foods that are high in vitamin D include fatty fish, dairy products that are fortified with vitamin D, and eggs. Alternatively, there’s a reason why vitamin D is called the sunshine vitamin: our bodies convert sunlight into vitamin D! Free is a pretty cool word, so go outside and get 15 to 30 minutes of beautiful sunlight on your bare skin.
This list is not all-inclusive and you should always take the vitamins suggested by your doctor. These are called prenatal vitamins. Always consult your doctor before you make any changes to your diet to protect the health of you and your unborn child.