Some Additional Good Nutrition Practices

Apart from the regular care and practices that you make in you daily food and diet, you should be extra careful and should take these additional food practices into consideration especially during pregnancy.

Make fats count- ensure that you are getting the right amount of fatty acids. This is important for the healthy brain development of the baby. For the development of healthy eyesight, soybean oil, canola oil, non-hydrogenated margarine, fishes like salmon, mackerel, tuna, rainbow trout and sardines is must. Apart from this see that you consume other food sources like nuts and seeds. The high fatty food should be limited with pies, cakes, pastries, deep fried food; other Trans fried snacks, cookies, brownies etc.

Supplements- the mother should meet hers as well as her baby’s nutritional needs. Extra folic acid is must at times of pregnancy. Multivitamins and iron are also prescribed at this time. Minimum 400 mcg of folic acid is recommended in the nutritious diet. You can talk and discuss with your doctor for appropriate prenatal supplement. This could be in form of powder or shakes too.

Fluids- consumption of fluid is a must, before and after exercising. Ensure that you in take at least 2 ½ to 3 lts of fluids in form of milk, juice, water, soups etc. you can even consume power drinks like Gatorade or powerade, this could be consumed to prevent the sugar levels from going down. This will constantly replace the loss of fluids that happens at this time due to frequent urination and sweating. You can even consume glucose water or electrolytes.

Limiting caffeine- limit, tea, cola beverage and caffeine. They can lead to dehydration which is not good for mother and baby.

Avoid alcohol- stay away from any kind of hard drinks, even beer or wine. Breast feeding mothers should also stay away from it as it can pass to the baby along with beast milk.

Salt- makes sure that you are getting the right amount of salt in your food.

Herbal teas- be careful with them. Certain herbal teas like chamomile tea is said to affect the uterus in negative manner. So stay away from it.

Energy bar- ensure that you eat the right energy bar daily so as to get all the benefits of nuts and cereals.