Pregnancy! Ah, the excitement. Oh, the many questions. Did you know that a pregnant woman needs 300 more calories than she normally would? Her need for calcium, iron, and folic acid are greater now than ever. The growing baby needs lots of calcium to grow healthy teeth and bones.
In light of how important calcium is to your baby, you need to get 40% more calcium than you normally take, perhaps more if you weren’t getting adequate calcium before pregnancy. So what does 40% more calcium mean? About 1000 mg daily. That may seem like a lot, but you would be surprised at how many of the things you normally eat contain calcium. Foods like low fat dairy products, cereals, green vegetables, and dried beans all have a nice supply of calcium. You can also take a calcium supplement.
Because anemia is a common problem for pregnant women, they need to make sure that they are getting 27-30 mg of iron a day. You can accomplish this through red meat, salmon, eggs, green leafy vegetables, etc.
Folic Acid is another crucial mineral. This prevents birth defects such as spina bifida. There are lots of foods that provide folic acid. See how some of your faves line up. Cereal, rice, pasta, spinach, and wholegrain breads. How does it stack up for you?
In addition to all this, pregnant women need to stay well hydrated. This will help prevent some of the annoyances of pregnancy and more serious things, like preterm labor.
Also, watch out for food poisoning. This can be very harmful to both you and your baby. Take care when handling raw meat and poultry. Consuming raw eggs should also be avoided.
There are certain types of fish that you should watch out for as well. These include shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tile fish. These can prove to have very high levels of mercury which you should avoid.
As a final warning, a pregnant woman should avoid caffeine, drugs, and alcohol as these can cause serious birth defects and dependency upon those substances. Everything that you put into your mouth or bloodstream will have an effect on your baby.
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