Good nutrition during pregnancy is very important for your baby’s growth and development. You should take in about 300 more calories per day (600 a day if you’re carrying twins) than you did before you became pregnant.
Although nausea and vomiting during the first few months of pregnancy can make this difficult, try to eat a well-balanced diet and take prenatal vitamins. Here are some recommendations to keep you and your baby healthy.
Goals for Healthy Eating When Pregnant
- Eat a variety of foods to get all the nutrients you need. Aim for 6-11 servings of breads and grains, 2 to 4 servings of fruit, four or more servings of vegetables, four servings of dairy products, and three servings of protein sources (meat, poultry, fish, eggs or nuts), daily. Ease up on the fats and sweets.
- Choose foods that are high in fiber, such as whole-grain breads, cereals, beans, pasta, and rice, as well as fruits and vegetables. Although it’s best to get your fiber from foods, taking a fiber supplement can help you get enough. Examples include psyllium and methylcellulose. Talk with your doctor before starting any supplements. If you take a fiber supplement, start with a low dosage and slowly increase the amount you take. This can help prevent gas and cramping. It’s also important to drink enough liquids when you increase your fiber intake.
- Protein drives blood production, especially when it comes to iron that your body easily absorbs, like the kind from red meats, chicken, and shellfish. Your blood volume increases during pregnancy to supply your baby’s blood. Opt for healthy proteins that aren’t high in fat, like lean meats, fish, poultry, tofu and other soy products, beans, nuts, and egg whites.
- You and your baby need some fats to stay healthy. Just remember to pick the healthy, unsaturated kind like vegetable oils, olive oil, and nuts.
- Make sure you’re getting enough vitamins and minerals. A prenatal vitamin supplement can help. Your doctor can recommend an over-the-counter brand or prescribe one..
- Eat and drink at least four servings of dairy products and calcium-rich foods a day. You need 1,000-1,300 milligrams (mg) of calcium each day.
- Eat at least three servings of iron-rich foods, such as lean meats, spinach, beans, and breakfast cereals, each day. You need 27 mg of iron daily.
- You’ll need 220 micrograms (mcg) of iodine a day for your baby’s brain and nervous system development. But avoid high-dose supplements. The safe upper limit is 1,100 mcg a day. Choose from a variety of dairy products like milk, cheese (especially cottage cheese), and yogurt, as well as baked potatoes, cooked navy beans, and limited amounts (8 to 12 ounces per week) of seafood such as cod, salmon, and shrimp.
- Choose at least one good source of vitamin C every day, such as oranges, grapefruit, strawberries, honeydew, papaya, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, green or red peppers, tomatoes, and mustard greens. This vitamin makes it easier for your body to absorb iron from plant foods. And it builds strong bones and teeth, boosts immunity, and keeps blood vessels strong and red blood cells healthy. You need 80-85 mg of vitamin C a day. Don’t exceed 2,000 mg.
- Choose at least one good source of folate every day, like dark green leafy vegetables, veal, and legumes (like lima beans, black beans, black-eyed peas, and chickpeas). You need at least 0.64 mg (about 600 mcg) of folate per day to help prevent neural tube defects such as spina bifida. Supplements called folic acid can be an important source of folate.
- Choose at least one source of vitamin A every other day. Foods rich in vitamin A include carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, spinach, water squash, turnip greens, beet greens, apricots, and cantaloupe.
Foods to Avoid When Pregnant
- Avoid alcohol.. It’s been linked to premature delivery, intellectual disability, birth defects, and low birth weights.
- Limit caffeine to 300 mg per day. The caffeine content in tea and coffee depends on the beans or leaves used and how it was prepared. An 8-ounce cup of coffee has about 150 mg of caffeine, while black tea usually has about 80 mg. A 12-ounce glass of caffeinated soda contains anywhere from 30 to 60 mg. Remember, chocolate (especially dark chocolate) contains caffeine – sometimes a lot of it.
- Try not to use saccharin, because it can cross the placenta and may remain in fetal tissues. You can use other artificial sweeteners approved by the FDA during pregnancy. These include aspartame (Equal or NutraSweet), acesulfame-K (Sunett), stevia (Pure Via, Truvia)and sucralose (Splenda). These are considered safe in moderation. Talk with your doctor about how much artificial sweetener is OK during pregnancy.
- Keep the total amount of fat you eat at 30% or less of your total daily calories. For someone eating 2,000 calories a day, this would be 65 grams of fat or less.
- Limit cholesterol intake to 300 mg or less per day.
- Stay away from shark, swordfish, farmed salmon (wild is OK), king mackerel, or tilefish (also called white snapper) because they contain high levels of mercury. Too much mercury can hurt your baby’s central nervous system.
- Avoid soft cheeses such as feta, brie, Camembert, blue-veined, and Mexican-style cheese. These cheeses are often unpasteurized and may cause a listeria infection. You can have hard cheese, processed cheese, cream cheese, cottage cheese, or yogurt.
- Avoid raw fish, especially shellfish like oysters and clams.
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