Diet for PregnancyPregnancy and Diet Guidelines

One of the most pressing issues for pregnant women today is diet and nutrition. With the  availability of preprocessed foods and fast-food restaurants, it’s easy to inadvertenly do harm to by making poor food choices.  I am presenting information to demystify pregnancy and diet guidelines.

 It’s well-known that a significant percentage of the foods that we eat are not really healthy. During pregnancy a woman’s body has increased nutritional requirements during pregnancy and if you don’t give the body what it needs during this crucial period, the risk for pregnancy-related problems increases. 

Making meals healthier

Great nutrition during pregnancy begins with being selective with what you eat and how much planning you put into your daily meals. Because it’s easy to fall into the habit of using too much salt or too much butter.   I have identified the following guidelines which will help you quell bad cooking habits and develop better ones:

  • If a recipe calls for cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, or any other cheese, take the amount in the recipe and reduce it by 50%. That’s 50% fewer calories from fat but you’ll still be getting calcium and other essential nutrients from the cheese.
  • If a recipe calls for granulated sugar or confectioner’s sugar, reduce the actual amount that you put into the food by 25% to 50%. The resulting food will be less sweet, but mild sweetness is better than excess sugar, which can lead to gestational diabetes (if you eat lots of sugar during your pregnancy).
  • Do you have a love affair with the salt shaker? Don’t – because excess salt in the body can increase the risk for fluid retention and high blood pressure. If you have to cook with salt, reduce the amount of salt you use by 50%. If a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of salt, add only ½ teaspoon. Adjust the taste of the dish by adding spices instead. Spices not only taste good, but some spices actually contain essential nutrients such as choline, which is good for your baby’s brain development.
  • The easiest way to add flavor to a dish is by adding spice to it. Salt is actually a weak seasoning because you need to add so much of it to flavor an entire dish. It’s different when you flavor meats and vegetables with a variety of spices. The dish will have a stronger flavor, over all. If spices don’t work, use vinegar or citrus juices instead.
  • Vegetables are one of the cheapest and easiest sources of vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber. You don’t have to  deprive yourself  of these essential nutrients and you don’t have to –  you should start doubling the amount of vegetables that you eat.  If a dish calls for one medium-sized potato and a cup of green peas, you will add two medium sized potatoes and two cups of green peas. Of course, the additional ingredients may require more seasoning, but in the end, you have more vegetables to eat.  There are no restrictions when it comes to vegetables!