Your Pregnancy Diet Guide
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Foods to Avoid While Pregnant: A Pregnancy Meal Plan
Are you pregnant and looking for the perfect pregnancy diet? Wondering what to eat during pregnancy? Keep reading to learn the perfect pregnancy diet and doctor recommended amounts of food to eat when pregnant. After all, nourishment is even more important when you're caring for more than one human being. Dr. Darna is here to answer the most common nutrition questions about what and how much of each food group you should be consuming, the nutritional value of food versus pill vitamins, and the real story behind good fats and salt. Plus, you’ll learn 11 great low carb snacks to help you maintain a healthy pregnancy weight.
What is a good pregnancy diet?
There is no such thing as a “pregnancy diet,” but when pregnant you should be eating “real food.” Nutrient-dense foods are the best way of taking in nutrients (as the name suggests). Lily Nichols has an amazing book about pregnancy nutrition titled Real Food for Pregnancy that can be found on Amazon.
We can promote the health of our babies by learning from historical cultures that had good eating habits. Some of these cultures include the Swiss (who still have one of the most stringent food regulations to this day), Eskimos, Malay tribes, Maori of New Zealand, Native Pacific Islanders, Polynesians, and Australian Aborigines.
What is a good pregnancy diet?
There is no such thing as a “pregnancy diet,” but when pregnant you should be eating “real food.” Nutrient-dense foods are the best way of taking in nutrients (as the name suggests). Lily Nichols has an amazing book about pregnancy nutrition titled Real Food for Pregnancy that can be found on Amazon.
We can promote the health of our babies by learning from historical cultures that had good eating habits. Some of these cultures include the Swiss (who still have one of the most stringent food regulations to this day), Eskimos, Malay tribes, Maori of New Zealand, Native Pacific Islanders, Polynesians, and Australian Aborigines.
What to Eat when Pregnant?
Real foods maximize nutrient density, meaning they contain more nutrients per item or amount that you eat. This includes fresh vegetables that are in-season and grown without pesticides, minimally processed foods, full fat dairy from grass-fed cows, and foods that don’t have a label. The way I like to think about this is: when you go to the grocery store you should be mostly shopping around the edges. The produce, dairy, meat and other minimally processed food tend to be on the perimeter of the store as opposed to the more processed foods which are in the middle aisles.
What is a Good Pregnancy Meal Plan?
Every pregnancy, every baby, every mother is unique, and thus, pregnancy nutrition will look different based on multiple factors. However, there are some general guidelines that can help ensure you are getting plenty of nutrition for both you and your baby.
The meal breakdown looks like a pie cut into fourths, where vegetables take up ½ , carbs are ¼, and protein and fats are the other ¼.
Nutrition
Best Pregnancy Vegetables:
Non-starchy vegetables, like carrots, spinach, kale and mushrooms, have little effect on blood sugar and are great sources of fiber. Starchy vegetables, like potatoes, corn and peas, act more like carbs. So, for your vegetable portion, be sure to have non-starchy veggies. Fiber is especially helpful to prevent and relieve constipation by acting as fuel for your intestinal bacteria. This keeps your bathroom breaks regular and ensures your body is getting rid of the bad stuff and keeping the good stuff. Fiber also slows down the breakdown of carbohydrates,
like sugar, helping prevent those spikes in blood sugar. Vegetables are better absorbed when eaten with some fat. This is because vegetables often contain Vitamins A, D, E, and K which are fat-soluble vitamins. This means they need to be eaten with fat so they can be absorbed by your body. You may have been told that “fat is bad”, but that generalization is untrue. Too much of anything can be bad, and while there are some fats that are better than others, not all fats are bad. It is important to incorporate fat into your diet while pregnant because your baby’s brain is 60% fat. This is because your baby’s brain is developing and it’s making neurons, or brain cells. These neurons are coated in a substance called myelin which helps the nerve signals transmit faster. Since myelin is fat-based, your baby’s brain is hungry for fats and they are important!
Best Pregnancy Vegetables:
Non-starchy vegetables, like carrots, spinach, kale and mushrooms, have little effect on blood sugar and are great sources of fiber. Starchy vegetables, like potatoes, corn and peas, act more like carbs. So, for your vegetable portion, be sure to have non-starchy veggies. Fiber is especially helpful to prevent and relieve constipation by acting as fuel for your intestinal bacteria. This keeps your bathroom breaks regular and ensures your body is getting rid of the bad stuff and keeping the good stuff. Fiber also slows down the breakdown of carbohydrates, like sugar, helping prevent those spikes in blood sugar. Vegetables are better absorbed when eaten with some fat. This is because vegetables often contain Vitamins A, D, E, and K which are fat-soluble vitamins. This means they need to be eaten with fat so they can be absorbed by your body. You may have been told that “fat is bad”, but that generalization is untrue. Too much of anything can be bad, and while there are some fats that are better than others, not all fats are bad. It is important to incorporate fat into your diet while pregnant because your baby’s brain is 60% fat. This is because your baby’s brain is developing and it’s making neurons, or brain cells. These neurons are coated in a substance called myelin which helps the nerve signals transmit faster. Since myelin is fat-based, your baby’s brain is hungry for fats and they are important!
Best Protein for Pregnancy:
Eggs are also a great protein source and the egg yolk is an excellent source of choline, a relative of B-vitamins. Low choline is a major risk factor of neural tube defects and about 94% of women do not get the 450mg of choline needed per day; so, eat the yolk! The yolks also contain Vitamin A, which is important for proper lung and liver development, and a healthy birth weight.
Omega-3 fats, such as DHA, is found in fatty fish, seafood, grass-fed meat, and pasture-raised eggs and are important in your baby’s brain and vision development. The fat found in meat, chicken skin, and full-fat dairy are excellent sources of fats. There is some evidence showing eating high-fat dairy improves fertility. However, switching to whole fat dairy products is only recommended temporarily. You can switch during the time you are trying to conceive and then switch back to low-fat or skim options after. Other great sources of fats include avocados and nuts for my vegetarian and vegan moms out there.
Proteins are the building blocks of human life. Proteins are basically long pearl necklaces, where each pearl is an amino acid. There are a total of 20 amino acids, nine of which you must get from your diet because your body cannot produce them. Some protein sources that contain these nine essential amino acids include: eggs, milk, cheese, soybeans and quinoa. Protein foods are filling, and help stabilize blood sugar which makes them an integral part of a pregnancy diet especially for women with gestational diabetes.
Protein is so critical to human development because pregnant women need double or triple what is normally needed, about 70-100g per day. Under 20 weeks, your protein requirements are 39% increased, and after 31 weeks it is 73% higher! Eat up those animals, organ meats, cheeses, fish, nut butter, bone broth, and more. Organ meats and bone broth are rich in folate, vitamin B12, and glycine which is essential for fetal formation of DNA, internal organs, connective tissue, bones, blood vessels, skin, and joints. Try sneaking liver into your soups because it is a complete source of all 3. And although every prenatal vitamin (as discussed in Episode 3 Why take Prenatal Vitamins) and many enriched foods contain folic acid. The needed 400mcg of folic acid needed per day prevents birth defects, specifically neural tube defects. Luckily pre-natal vitamins, legumes (beans and lentils) and enriched grains often contain folic acid.
Best Protein for Pregnancy:
Eggs are a great protein source and the egg yolk is an excellent source of choline, a relative of B-vitamins. Low choline is a major risk factor of neural tube defects and about 94% of women do not get the 450mg of choline needed per day; so, eat the yolk! The yolks also contain Vitamin A, which is important for proper lung and liver development, and a healthy birth weight. Omega-3 fats, such as DHA, is found in fatty fish, seafood, grass-fed meat, and pasture-raised eggs and are important in your baby’s brain and vision development. The fat found in
meat, chicken skin, and full-fat dairy are excellent sources of fats. There is some evidence showing eating high-fat dairy improves fertility. However, switching to whole fat dairy products is only recommended temporarily. You can switch during the time you are trying to conceive and then switch back to low-fat or skim options after. Other great sources of fats include avocados and nuts for my vegetarian and vegan moms out there.
Proteins are the building blocks of human life. Proteins are basically long pearl necklaces, where each pearl is an amino acid. There are a total of 20 amino acids, nine of which you must get from your diet because your body cannot produce them. Some protein sources that contain these nine essential amino acids include: eggs, milk, cheese, soybeans and quinoa. Protein foods are filling, and help stabilize blood sugar which makes them an integral part of a pregnancy diet especially for women with gestational diabetes.
Protein is so critical to human development because pregnant women need double or triple what is normally needed, about 70-100g per day. Under 20 weeks, your protein requirements are 39% increased, and after 31 weeks it is 73% higher! Eat up those animals, organ meats, cheeses, fish, nut butter, bone broth, and more. Organ meats and bone broth are rich in folate, vitamin B12, and glycine which is essential for fetal formation of DNA, internal organs, connective tissue, bones, blood vessels, skin, and joints. Try sneaking liver into your soups because it is a complete source of all 3. And although every prenatal vitamin (as discussed in Episode 3 Why take Prenatal Vitamins) and many enriched foods contain folic acid. The needed 400mcg of folic acid needed per day prevents birth defects, specifically neural tube defects. Luckily pre-natal vitamins, legumes (beans and lentils) and enriched grains often contain folic acid
Fluids:
The Institute of Medicine recommends that all pregnant women should drink about 100z of fluids a day. Now remember that the milk in your cereal and decaffeinated tea also counts towards your total. Your pee should be a pale yellow signifying you're well hydrated, and if you are curious about how your bladder changes during the 3 trimesters check out Episode 11 Frequent Urination in Pregnancy for all the answers.
Fluids:
The Institute of Medicine recommends that all pregnant women should drink about 100z of fluids a day. Now remember that the milk in your cereal and decaffeinated tea also counts towards your total. Your pee should be a pale yellow signifying you're well hydrated, and if you are curious about how your bladder changes during the 3 trimesters check out Episode 11 Frequent Urination in Pregnancy for all the answers.
Salt Intake:
Salt, sodium chloride, is the body’s electrolyte. It is primarily responsible for shifting water into and out of cells. Pregnant women are well known for cramping, because they are not getting enough of these two electrolytes and the electrolyte: potassium. Salt supports normal stomach acid levels by supplying chloride (it’s the chloride in hydrochloric acid). Good stomach acid pH is needed to absorb minerals and vitamin B12, for protein digestion, and to destroy any pathogenic bacteria. Now ladies with pre-eclampsia please reduce your salt intake, for everyone else add a little salt to your kale (it makes it taste WAY better). It’s all about quality over quantity. It is suggested that after your first trimester you need about 300 extra calories per day, which is about an extra snack.
Salt Intake:
Salt, sodium chloride, is the body’s electrolyte. It is primarily responsible for shifting water into and out of cells. Pregnant women are well known for cramping, because they are not getting enough of these two electrolytes and the electrolyte: potassium. Salt supports normal stomach acid levels by supplying chloride (it’s the chloride in hydrochloric acid). Good stomach acid pH is needed to absorb minerals and vitamin B12, for protein digestion, and to destroy any pathogenic bacteria. Now ladies with pre-eclampsia please reduce your salt intake, for everyone else add a little salt to your kale (it makes it taste WAY better). It’s all about quality over quantity. It is suggested that after your first trimester you need about 300 extra calories per day, which is about an extra snack.
Healthy Pregnancy Snacks
- Grilled chicken breast with pesto and parmesan
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