Pregnancy Nutritional Know-How
Pregnancy Nutritional Know-How
Even with our all-consuming preoccupation with food, few people, pregnant or not, really understand what constitutes a healthy diet. There’s no mystical, magical, miracle diet for pregnancy; it’s fairly simple.
Calories
The old adage of eating for two isn’t quite accurate. One and a half is the current standard. The single most important factor nutritionally for your baby is adequate calorie intake by you. You need dietary extras in the form of calories, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals, which you get from a sensible balanced diet.
You need approximately 300 extra calories a day while pregnant and breast-feeding. Figure 17 to 18 calories per pound of your normal or ideal body weight. For most women this amount will be 2200 to 2400 calories. Again, consult your doctor if you have questions or special needs.
Proteins, Carbohydrates, and Fats
The types of calories you eat each day are as important as how many. Nutritional experts agree that your daily diet should be divided into three components. Proteins should constitute 20 percent of your diet, fats 30 percent or less, and carbohydrates 50 percent. Few people meet these requirements. The typical American diet is high in fats and proteins, low in carbohydrates. To find out where you fit in between the typical and ideal diet, do a 48hour diet recall. Write down everything you eat, and see where you need to reform-this is a real shocker for most people.
Proteins are important tissue builders for both you and your baby, but you don’t need as much as you think. Most American diets provide more than enough protein. While your body can use protein as an energy source, its prime function is to rebuild tissues and cells. It’s not the most efficient energy source for your body. Too much protein can make you feel sluggish and put a strain on your kidneys. During pregnancy you need 70 grams of protein per day.
Carbohydrates are appropriately called “protein sparers”. They fuel your body so protein can be used for tissue building instead of energy. Next to fats, “carbo’s” are the most misunderstood and maligned component in our diet. It’s important to understand their function in order to use them efficiently.
Carbohydrates are divided into two groups: starches and sugars. The starches provide the complex carbohydrates that maintain a steady source of fuel being released into your system. They satisfy your hunger for longer periods of time in contrast to the simple sugars found in processed junk food. Potatoes, pastas, and breads are excellent complex carbohydrates and they aren’t fattening. Anything can be fattening if you plaster butter all over it, so try using plain, low-fat yogurt on your baked potato instead of sour cream and extra butter (the plain yogurt tastes very similar to sour cream).
While fresh fruits contain sugar, they also provide high fiber, which keeps blood sugar on an even keel. The fiber content also keeps your colon working efficiently. Remember, complex carbohydrates from fresh vegetables, grains, and fresh fruits should constitute at least 50 percent of your daily diet.
The following foods are good sources of carbohydrates for your diet, especially during pregnancy:
Starches
Potatoes
Pasta
Rice
Breads
Sugars
Fresh fruits
Fresh vegetables
Fruit juices
Fats are another important energy source; just don’t overdo them. Your body stores fat as an emergency supply for those times when you use up your carbohydrate fuel. Stored fat is the body’s insurance policy. Fats such as butter, margarine, and salad oils make your diet more appealing to eat, and are a necessary part of your diet. Just keep the amount of fat in your diet to 30 percent or a little less.
Your basic food intake each day should contain 4 servings of milk or milk products for your calcium requirement; 3 servings of meat or meat substitutes such as eggs, beans, dried peas, peanut butter, and nuts; 4 servings of vegetables, fruits, bread, and cereals.