But facts are clear, for excellent pregnancy baby health, you need an excellent pregnancy diet.
And if you're not eating healthy for pregnancy, your body is designed to rob itself of essential nutrients to nourish your growing baby. But since the Standard American Diet is so lacking, even sacrificing your own health can’t provide enough nutrition for a healthy baby.
How to Have a Healthy Pregnancy
Can a healthy pregnancy produce a happy, healthy, smart baby? You bet it can!
And what you eat is the key to a healthy pregnancy. Food goes into your mouth, down to your stomach and becomes nutrition for you and baby. Junk food can lead to many health problems.
But great nutrition during pregnancy reduces the risk of birth defects and is essential to your own well-being and your baby's growth, intelligence, health and happiness.
And great nutrition for pregnancy baby health and a healthy mom means that you need to get higher levels of protein, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and essential oils from the healthy pregnancy food list, plus high quality supplements.
Just remember that even though having a healthy pregnancy requires that you get twice as much nutrition, eating much better doesn't mean eating much more.
You need less than 300 extra daily calories, with a total of no more than 2,500. Use the healthy pregnancy weight gain chart to guide you.
Here's what eating healthy for pregnancy baby health requires:
- Protein supplies the building blocks for making a baby and acts as a natural diuretic, preventing swelling and fluid buildup that can lead to toxemia. Quality protein requirements during pregnancy are higher – between 75 and 100 grams a day. Well-cooked lean meat, fish, skinless poultry, beans and eggs are your highest sources.
- Whole Grains provide you with good quality fiber, minerals, essential oils and vitamins, particularly B complex, which is vitally important during pregnancy. One B vitamin, folic acid, can help prevent serious birth defects. But it's important to get the entire balanced B complex family.
- Vegetables and Fruit are rich in important vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and fiber. Mainly focus on brightly colored fresh produce, such as red and green peppers, dark green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, berries, oranges and papaya. This doesn't include juices, which are high in sugar and low in fiber.
- Dairy Products high in calcium help your baby grow strong bones and teeth. Most are also a good sources of protein and vitamins A and D. Prevent getting too much saturated fat by sticking with low in fat dairy products that are high in nutrition, such as low-fat plain yogurt.
- Essential Oils improve your mood, energy, hormonal balance, fetal development and decrease swelling. Studies show omega 3 fish oil greatly improves brain development and helps your baby sleep better after birth. Essential oils are found in whole grains, seeds, nuts and fatty fish, such as salmon.
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Note: The information contained on this website is not intended to be prescriptive. Any attempt to diagnose or treat an illness should come under the direction of a physician who is familiar with nutritional therapy.
