Do you find it a struggle to remember all of your pregnancy nutritional needs? It’s true that there is just no substitute for home cooking when it comes to staying healthy and eating well, which is particularly important when you are pregnant. The initial step, and arguable the most important, in cooking delicious and healthful meals at home is meticulous planning. Here are few things you may want to keep in mind.
Organic Food
Consuming organic food is one way to eat in a more healthy fashion. Organic food is produced without using pesticides or bioengineering. Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are not given antibiotics or growth hormones. Choosing organic foods also benefits the environment, since organic farming promotes the use of renewable resources, as well as soil and water conservation. This helps to safeguard the health of the planet for future generations.
An increasing number of supermarkets now carry a range of fresh organic produce, due to growing demand. Organic foods and other produce have the fewest chemical residues and additives, but do cost more than regular produce. Although they often taste much better, organic fruit and vegetables may not appear to be as free of blemishes as those you are used to seeing in the supermarkets, but don’t let a few brown spots deter you from buying them.
This advice is not intended to make you nervous about eating supermarket produce, and it is important to remember that not all meats are pumped full of antibiotics and not all fruits and vegetables are coated with harmful amounts of pesticides. Most additives are safe during pregnancy – after all, most women don’t change their diets much during pregnancy and still have perfectly healthy babies. The most important step in eating a healthy diet is to cook from whole foods and fresh fruits and vegetables. Eating organic is a second step that adds to a healthy foundation of eating.
Food Precautions
There are some food precautions related to diet that you need to be aware of in pregnancy. When you are armed with the knowledge of foods to include and omit, both you and your baby will thrive.
- Listeria is a bacteria to which pregnant women are especially susceptible. Avoid lunchmeats, hot dogs, or prepared deli foods (including cook-chill foods) unless you reheat them thoroughly. Do not eat soft cheeses, unless they are made of pasteurized milk. Do not eat raw seafood.
- An infection caused by a parasite, toxoplasmosis can cause severe problems, especially in the first trimester. Cook all beef, pork, and lamb until medium-well done.
- Salomella bacteria can cause high fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration in the mother, though they do not directly harm the baby. Avoid raw eggs, keep prepared foods chilled, and do not eat unpasteurized dairy products.
- Nearly all fish contain harmless amounts of mercury, but it accumulates in large predator fish. Avoid swordfish, shark, king mackerel, and tilefish, as well as freshwater fish. To stay within safe limits, keep your total fish intake to an average of 12 oz (350g) per week.
- Do not have more than 300mg of caffeine (4 cups instant coffee, 3 cups brewed coffee, or 6 cups tea) a day; high levels can result in babies of a low birth weight or even miscarriage. Caffeine is also present in other drinks such as cola and in chocolate, so be mindful of the amount you consume everyday.
Are you missing any of your favorite foods during pregnancy? Have you found anything to satisfactorily replace them with?
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
Are you expecting? Are you already a mom? Share tips and fun ideas for families at Parenting.Gather.com. To join, click here.
recommend this
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 3
thanks for sharing this!