Pregnant & Eating for Two
Pregnancy is a wonderful and exciting time for most mothers, but it involves tremendous physiological changes and increased nutritional requirements in view of the new life in the mother. Consequently, when you get pregnant your diet becomes even more important. Healthy, wholesome, nutrient dense foods are imperative to provide nourishment for you and your precious baby. Though fruits and vegetables are important to include in your diet, eating healthy means eating lots of different types of foods throughout the day in order to get all the nutrients you need. A balance of carbohydrates, fat, protein and fiber is important to ensure you maintain a stable blood sugar level and a healthy energy level.
Now is the time to pay closer attention to food labels than ever before. Food labels are an important way for producers to tell you about the characteristics of their products. Learn what to look for in food labels to help you eat a balanced and healthy diet for you and your precious baby that is free of toxins.
Reading Food Labels: Top 10 Things to Avoid
- Foods with 10 ingredients or more. Wholesome foods tend to have very few ingredients because they only contain ingredients that are essential to making that product.
- High fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
- Enriched and bleached flour (be careful because it may say "whole grain" or "wheat" on the package. It's not necessarily 100% wheat flour).
- Trans fats/hydrogenated vegetable oils
- Artificial colorings
- Saturated fats
- High-sugars/refined sugars
- High sodium (we should not consume more than 2 grams/2000mg of sodium per day)
- Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
- Sodium nitrate
Ideas for a Healthy Twist on Everyday Meals
- Bread – White wheat bread made from wholesome grain is a wonderful replacement for the bleached overly processed white bread, which has been depleted of nutrients. Bread should have no more than 6 ingredients- (flour, salt, yeast, honey and water+)
- Sodas – Juice-sweetened spritzer is a good alternative for sodas, if you must, or zevia.
- Pasta – Pasta is a commonly consumed meal; thus we can make this an extra nutritious food by using quinoa pasta instead. Quinoa is a fantastic grain that is packed full of amino acids. Brown rice pasta is a good alternative to regular pasta as well. Quinoa can also be boiled to replace regular rice if you are finicky about brown rice. Quinoa has the advantage of being higher in fiber than brown rice.
- PBJ Sandwiches– Use juice sweetened jellies for PBJ (peanut butter and jelly). Use jelly made with only three ingredients and no added sugar. The peanut butter should have no more than three ingredients (peanuts, salt and sugar; no fillers or emulsifiers).
- Junk Food – Make overly processed foods a once in a while event, if at all.
- Dining Out – Limit the number of times you eat out to once a month. You’ll save money and also improve on overall health, for example, by maintaining better control of what you eat.
- Cook at Home – Making meals from scratch is not only cost effective but it helps you avoid a ton of toxic preservatives found in processed foods.
Your pregnancy should not be anxiety laden. The tips above should give you one less thing to worry about―what to eat. Wishing you a safe and fabulous pregnancy and delivery.