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During pregnancy, you
need to monitor what you eat to make sure that you are
eating the right kinds of foods.
Women who have good nutrition habits
during pregnancy, have healthier babies, more energy, less
premature labors, and faster healing after birth.
This group contains foods like
bread, crackers, pasta (noodles), rice, and cereal
products. These foods are high in complex
carbohydrates and give you energy. Other vitamins and
minerals provided by this group include vitamin B
(including folate), vitamin E, various minerals, and
fiber. If you have gestational diabetes, this food
group may need to be increased. This group is good to
focus on if you are suffering from morning sickness.
Crackers and pasta can help ease the upset stomach.
Make sure when you are buying wheat
bread that the first ingredient listed is whole-wheat
rather than wheat flour.
The green leafy and the yellow
vegetables of this group provide vitamin A in the form
of Beta-Carotene, which helps the babies cells, skin,
bones, and eyes. The folic acid in the dark green
leafy vegetables (spinach) helps prevent birth
defects. The fiber in the vegetables helps prevent
constipation. Vegetables also provide carbohydrates
and a good source of fiber. This group is also low in
fat and calories. More vitamins are found in fresh
vegetables and then decreases in frozen and canned
vegetables.
The fruits provide vitamin C which
is good for developmental growth and strong bones.
Fruits also provide carbohydrates, vitamin A, folate,
potassium, and a good source of fiber. The body can
not store vitamin C so the baby needs this on a daily
basis. If you can not stand to eat fruits, try
drinking orange juice or something else with vitamin
C. Fruit however, provides additional vitamins and
fiber than fruit juices.
Most of the calcium you will get
comes from this group. The baby needs calcium for bone
growth, teeth, muscles, the heart, and nerve
development. Other vitamins and minerals that the milk
group provides are vitamin A, vitamin D, calcium, and
phosphorus.
Recent studies indicate that
increased levels of calcium intake can help prevent
pre-eclampsia
(pregnancy induced hypertension).
During pregnancy the RDA recommends
60 grams of protein daily. The best sources of protein
are chicken breast (29 grams) and tuna (23 grams).
This group provides for the brain
development, muscle development, hair growth, skin,
nails and immune system of the fetus. This group also
gives some of the needed minerals (iron and zinc).
The protein from this group come in
two forms. These two forms are complete proteins and
the incomplete proteins. The complete proteins come
from animal sources such as meat, milk and eggs. In
order for the complete proteins to be complete, they
must be combined with incomplete proteins. The
incomplete proteins come from plant sources such as
grains, dried beans, seeds and nuts.
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