About Pregnancy Diet
The Pregnancy Diet should provide you with sufficient nutrients and energy for your body, and for the baby to develop. This is why it is essential that you eat a wide variety of foods.
The pregnancy diet should include at least five portions of fruits and vegetables, starchy foods, such as, bread, pasta and rice, plus potatoes, dairy foods containing calcium, like, yoghurt cheese and milk, protein rich chicken, fish and eggs, plus pulses like lentils and beans.
The pregnancy diet needs to include plenty of fiber, as this help prevent constipation, which can be a problem, when you are pregnant. Choosing whole grain pasta, rice and bread is useful for this purpose.
If you do not want to put on too much weight, you should cut back on biscuits and cakes, as these are high in sugar and fat. Look at what you usually eat and then choose a healthier option instead. Try your favorite currant bun without the usual icing, use cottage cheese instead of a high fat one and fresh fruits, rather than the tinned variety in a heavy syrup.
The pregnancy diet should include a 400 mcg supplement of folic acid up until week 12 of your pregnancy. Many breakfast cereals, green vegetables and brown rice contain natural folic acid. Research has confirmed this reduces the risks of spina bifida.
It is common for women to be deficient in iron when pregnant. This can be avoided by eating good sources of iron, such as pulses, green vegetables, bread, fortified breakfast cereals and red meat. Liver is a good source of iron, but it is best avoided when pregnant. Vitamin C taken with iron rich foods, assists you body to absorb the iron. Your doctor will advise whether you should also take a supplement of iron, or any other essential vitamin.
The pregnancy diet also considers what you should avoid, I have already mentioned liver above, but you also need to be careful to avoid fish oil supplements, which like liver, contain vitamin A, as too much can harm the baby, and may even make you ill. You should also avoid certain cheeses, Brie, Chevre, Camembert, and others with the same type of rind, or that are blue, as they can contain a bacteria called listeria, which may harm the unborn baby.
Other foods to avoid in the pregnancy diet include, all types of pate, partially cooked or raw eggs, undercooked or raw meat, raw shellfish, swordfish, marlin, shark, alcohol, nuts and reduce your caffeine intake.
