All women need balanced diet during pregnancy because it helps their baby to grow and develop. Besides, it will make your body keep fit and well. The balanced diet is important for you because it gives you some suggestion to eat food that contains essential nutrients and to avoid eating food that brings bad influence for your body during pregnancy.
To get balanced diet for pregnant women, it does not need to get special diet; all you need is to eat important nutrients that you can eat every day. You have to make difference foods to get right balance of the nutrients for the need of your baby and yourself. While pregnant, you probably get hungry easily more than usual.
To overcome it, you can eat healthy breakfast to help you not to eat snack that must be avoided while pregnant. Make sure that you do not eat any food that contains of sugar and fat highly. Remember, before you do balanced diet, you have to ask your doctor what you should eat or not to eat for your baby health and the portions that you should take.
Vegetables and Fruits
While pregnant, you need to get fiber nutrients from vegetables and fruits. Besides, these foods also provide minerals and vitamins for your body and baby. In a day, you must eat minimal five portions of each vegetable and food. You can consume a lot of kinds of this whether frozen, fresh, dried, juiced, or caned.
The important thing before you eat the vegetables and fruits is that you have to wash them carefully. It is better to cook the vegetables in little water lightly or you can eat them raw and have them washed well. You can get the nutrients benefit from the foods if you do this way. You can also drink one glass portion of fruit juice per day.
Starchy Carbohydrate Foods
Your body and baby need starchy foods because it contains fiber and vitamins. And, these foods do not give a lot of calories intake for your body. You have to place these foods as your main parts of each meal you eat every day. These foods include potatoes, rice, bread, breakfast cereals, pasta, oats, millet, maize, cornmeal, yams, sweet potatoes, and particular varieties of wholegrain.
Protein
Protein is good for blocks new tissues in your body. You need to eat foods that contain of protein every day. The food includes poultry, fish, eggs, pulses, nuts, and beans. When eating poultry, make sure that you choose the lean meat only. If there is any skin on it, remove it fast. It is better to cook it with little fat. You can eat fish about two portions in a week. It is better to choose mackerel or sardines to eat.
Dairy Foods and Healthy Snacks
You just need to eat dairy foods for two or three portions per day. It contains of cheese, yoghurt, and milk that can give you nutrients especially calcium for your baby needs. But, you have to know that not all cheese is allowed to eat. For healthy snacks, you can choose low fat or sugar snacks such as sandwiches, low fat yoghurt, salad vegetables, unsweetened breakfast cereals, and forth.
Vitamins and Minerals
There are some vitamins that are essential for your body. First is folic acid that is good to reduce the possibilities your baby born with spina bifida or other neural tube defects. Second, vitamin B12 is also needed by your body. Third, vitamin A is good for healthy skin but do not get much consume this vitamin because it can be harmful for your baby. Fourth, vitamin C is good for your healthy tissue. Fifth, vitamin D is good to help the body absorb calcium.
Minerals are also needed for your body. Magnesium and zinc are required in little amount only. Minerals which are important are iron and calcium. Iron is essential to make red blood cells. Foods that contain mineral are tuna fish, red meat, dried apricot, spinach, and etc. Calcium is good for strengthening teeth and bones.
