When you’re pregnant, as a future mommy, you must always consider your baby’s health which involves in its turn an equal development both in your womb and after birth; and not only the ruling out of harmful substances consume such as alcohol, tobacco or coffee represent the main steps towards a healthy diet for pregnant women. All the nutrients you choose to consume during the entire day must also be taken into account, especially when it is said that pregnant women have to eat for two. Nothing more wrong so far: you mustn’t gobble up food just because you’re pregnant and more importantly, you shouldn’t eat at any hour during the night when waking up with cravings. The healthier and more balanced your diet is, the fewer problems you will develop over the nine months of pregnancy, plus, if before that you had an appropriate diet you won’t have to face hardships while carrying the pregnancy to an end. You only have to consult a doctor and make a few adjustments, eventually trying some supplements, or giving up some habits to a certain extent.
Scientists proved that healthy diets for pregnant women help prevent some disorders that the babies may suffer from, such as obesity, heart disease, or diabetes mellitus. During pregnancy, the feminine organism modifies its appetite, style, needs, all these increasing or decreasing according to necessity and a series of other factors that matter a lot in this metabolism transformation are the social and cultural ones. Usually, if a young mother is taught to eat more during pregnancy, because she has to consume for two, she should think above all that if the hunger or craving sensation doesn’t solicit her body, she shouldn’t force herself.
This means that she has to consume the exact quantity of food she needs and not overdo just because of thinking that she has to supplement it. Especially during the first months, it doesn’t matter so much as it does during the last ones when the fetus is more developed and needs more nutrients. What is a healthy diet for pregnant women? It means consuming everything you need, keeping a balance, without making excesses and eating variedly, without fixating on one certain product. You can eat a lot of fresh fruit, especially in the morning, evidently only as much as you feel the need to. You can also consume different types of cereals with milk and cooked or grilled steak with green vegetables. Everything that matters is to know how to combine nutrients and avoid abuses because in this way, you and your growing baby will feel much better.
A healthy diet for pregnant women also includes the necessary consume of liquids, avoiding certain bubbly drinks, which in turn, are recommended during breastfeeding; you should also avoid alcoholic drinks and excessive consume of sweets. Even if you are strongly influenced by your cravings and you really consider them to be the baby’s actual needs, the reality is another one. Maybe it’s all in your imagination and the fetus is not the one that actually needs you to consume certain nutrients but your consciousness which is filled with traditional advice.
Just think that your entire body is going through a continuous change during the nine months of pregnancy and it may just play tricks on you in the most inappropriate moments, such as waking you up in the middle of the night with certain cravings. A healthy diet for pregnant women also means a high content of iron, folic acid, calcium and vitamin D for whose storage you can also just stay in the sunlight. More meals of smaller quantities during the day are more indicated than fewer and richer in nutrients. Having reduced and more meals you can also avoid sickness sensations that you usually have in the morning. Do not forget about the fibers in nutrients which you can get from whole grains, fish or other green vegetables that also help you avoid constipation which always appears during pregnancy. And to make a clear idea about what you have to eat during pregnancy, here’s a small list:
- Approximately 8 servings of cereals, such as a slice of whole wheat bread, a bowl of cereals, half a cup of rice or pasta
- Vegetables – most indicated are the green ones, spinach, broccoli or cauliflower, usually 4 servings, for example carrots, about two clusters.
- Fruit, varied consume being highly suggested; you can choose a pear, an apple, an orange or a banana
- Dairy products such as cheese, milk and yogurt
- Light pork, poultry or fish meat, eggs and nuts or seeds
- Remember that sweets and fats or oils are only recommended in very small quantities.