Pregnancy diet plan

“Please Enjoy!! Healthy Eating and Dietitian blogs. Get nutrition advice, tips and facts from Dr. Anjana Kalia”

Pregnancy diet plan

health tips 18 Mar, 2019

Hi would be mommies & daddies... Pregnancy is a natural life event and wonderful experience, hope u all r cherishing experience in whatever stage / trimester u have reached. To take care of Pre-post and Pregnancy term we need to take care of our food intake and life style. It’s a fact and even our Upanishads say that food determines both the fertility & protection of our progeny. Still we undervalue the role of food in our reproductive health.

I will be discussing below about some foods which are good for pregnancy and some foods are better to be avoided.

Pregnancy food rules:

Kind of foods we should be eating during this phase:

1) Foods which are easy to cook and easy to digest: our digestion slows down during pregnancy so have foods which are cooked properly. Cooking helps to get Rasa or essence of food or insimle words nutrients. Once these nutrients are assimilated well, it will nurture you and also your baby.

2) Foods which hydrates and works as a natural antacid: Have lots of fruits / vegetables and other fluids like chaach / coconut water / shikanji /soups most important -WATER etc. this helps to hydrate your body as it is important to keep a proper fluid balance during the pregnancy as the placenta and amniotic fluid depends on it so need to hydrate the body also goes up.

Secondly food acts a natural antacid, due to hormonal imbalances especially in the first trimester there are signs of nausea or morning sickness. The best way to avoid it is have small frequent meals. This won't let acid build up so u will feel better. If you can only remember one thing, then remember the rule of 3 – aim to have 3 meals and 3 snacks by eating every 3 hours.

BUT PLEASE DON'T EAT FOR TWO - we just need to add around 300-500 calories during the entire pregnancy.

TIP FOR MORNING SICKNESS:

Have a nut cracker on empty stomach in the morning or a fruit in the morning. Keeping a small slice of lemon with little salt on it or thin slice of ginger in your mouth also helps a lot.

3) Eat foods which are naturally high in micro nutrients: micronutrients like folic acid, calcium and iron are very important for pregnancy, for healthier pregnancy we need an array of micronutrients which we get from our seasonal fruits and vegetables.

Better options for ‘bad’ foods

1) SUGAR: Mostly females have sugar cravings but weird cravings are felt during pregnancy. Please choose healthier options as Jaggery to white or refined sugar - gur is much better as it is unrefined and has many minerals like iron so helps to enhance your hemoglobin , on the other hand white sugar or refined sugar as the name suggests undergoes chemical cleaning so better to avoid white sugar .

PLS FOLLOW THE LAW OF MODERATION - don't overeat eat even if the particular food is supposed to be very healthy.

Some more examples:
GOOD SUGAR: All seasonal fruits, coconut water, gur and ghee or gur and saunf post meals.
BAD SUGARS: bakery products like cakes, pastries or biscuits , tetra pack juices etc.

2 ) SALT : during pregnancy our serum sodium levels falls as the blood volume goes up , this could be one of the reasons why women crave for salty stuff.
GOOD SALT: Regular salt used in cooking, little bit of kala namak on our fruits or salads is good.
BAD SALT: packaged and processed foods like chips or salted nuts or a pack of popcorns while watching movie etc.
Especially if u r a hypertension patient.

3) CAFFEINE:
how much is too much. having a cup or two of chai with little gur will not harm , but excess of caffeine will lead to dehydration .
# no chai or coffee first thing in the morning , start your day with water , fruit or dry fruit
# don't have tea or coffee as a meal replacement .
# no tea or coffee post any meal be it breakfast or as late night meal post dinner.

DIET FOR GESTATIONAL DIABETES:

Gestational diabetes is that diabetes which only affects pregnant women. It occurs when the body of a pregnant woman fails to produce enough insulin during her pregnancy. This can result in high blood sugar levels in the mother which can be detrimental for both, the mother and the baby. It can result in stressful and problematic situations with the pregnancy and complications in delivery. 9% pregnant women are diagnosed with this condition. But one of the reasons responsible for this is the fact that during pregnancy, your body naturally responds to insulin in a different way. Following this plan can help with better management of gestational diabetes:

1. Carbohydrates: With gestational diabetes, you need to limit your carb intake and space meals properly. Eating lots of carbs at a time can lead to a sudden spike in blood sugar levels. Instead, you must eat more of complex carbs or combine carbs with proteins eg multigrain Atta.

2. Proteins Proteins should be included in your diet with carbs. This will help you maintain the perfect blood sugar balance. Lean proteins are recommended for women with gestational diabetes.

3. Unsaturated, healthy fats: Healthy fats should be combined with proteins and carbs in a good proportion eg ghee . This will work well for women with gestational diabetes by keeping their blood sugar levels under control.

Follow these basic, healthy eating rules:
The best pregnancy diet plan is happiness. Women should be happy always at the time of pregnancy because mental health leads to a healthy body and good things in life.

Don't take tension even if there is some tension in life, try to ignore them. Live life king size. Tension leads to more tension and it may cause of depression and this time you should be very healthy from your body and mind.

Try meditate at the morning or whenever you get time. Do meditation, connect yourself with the supreme power around you. Feel your baby. This really great pregnancy diet plan. This pregnancy diet plan is for mental health.