25 Feb

Diet in pregnancy

During Pregnancy everyone tries to eat healthy. Every expecting mom has different symptoms. Nausea, vomiting, feeling hungry, dizziness among others. You want to eat but because of nausea you are unable to. During pregnancy your requirements increase only marginally, they don’t get doubled!

Many say “Now you need to eat for two”. It literally doesn’t mean you need to double the eating. It only means that your requirements have increased marginally. With each passing month nutrients will be required. The foetus is very small so are its requirements and although the foetus should grow but you should not. A variety of nutrients is important not only the quantity. Every month requires different nutrients.

Let’s see each trimester requirement:

In the first trimester you require Folate and Folic Acid rich foods like eggs, beans, dals. B6 rich foods like nuts, fresh waterfish instead of sea foods, strawberries, milk, curd. Iron rich foods like beetroot, dosas. Calcium phosphorus is required in the 2nd month. In the 2nd trimester Protein is required. Also Constipation develops so include a lot of fibre like daily 2 – 3 fruits, lots of veggies. Water intake is also needed to be taken care of in the 2nd Trimester. Don’t go overboard with protein, it may cause constipation also. Veg protein sources are milk, curd and non-veg are fish, chicken ,cooked eggs. Almonds, walnuts in limited quantity. For Vitamin C sources like Lemon, orange, amla. In the 3rd Trimester Omega 3 and Omega 6 are good fatty acids. Nuts like almond, walnut for DHA, magnesium. Include ghee in 3 trimester. Always prefer local foods like local vegetables and fruits and seasonal once.

 

DIETICIAN & NUTRITIONIST

Dr Rekha Pohani

M.SC, PHD (NUTRITIONIST) BA ,MA

Please feel free to contribute your experiences / articles to our blog - Write to us here

Leave a Comment