Menu Planning During Pregnancy
Menu Planning with Vitamins Minerals and Super Fresh Super Foods!
You need to learn exactly what you need to eat every day and then eat it every day. Vitamins don’t last. They act one of two ways in the body: either they are cycled out of the body when they reach an excess or they build up toxically. Either way you need your vitamins fresh and constantly! When you are pregnant the vitamin stakes are even higher: mommy’s body needs more nutrition, and that doesn’t even count baby, so supplies are depleted quickly. Add this to the fact that you are only allowed an extra 300 calories per day and it means you really need to make each and every daily calorie count as much as possible.
One of the easiest ways to do this is to eat rainbow colors: deeply colored foods (red, green, yellow and orange) are jam packed with nutritional essentials like minerals and vitamins. Increase protein sources like fish protein, meat and beans to these multi-colored menus and you’re set.
Super Star Foods to Eat Often During Pregnancy Perhaps Daily
If you could only choose one item from each food group to eat daily, what would the best choices be? Well, variety is always best because no one food no matter its super food status has everything you need to maintain a healthy pregnancy and trouble free gestation. If you want to put a super star sticker on certain foods that should make it to your plate with frequent flyer miles here are the best ones to invite back again and again.
Dark green leafy greens: Representing the fruits and veggies group green leafies have calcium for bone development, heartburn relief and B vitamins in spades for help converting food to energy. That is just the tip of the iceberg. Representing the dairy group you have protein in milk. It is easy to find and low sugar content. The magnesium and potassium content help the body absorb calcium. When consumed in skim variety it is a remarkably low fat treat. There are so many good options in the protein family, but the award has to go to beef.
With high protein density and a wide variety of meal options, beef is easy to eat daily. Beef also helps to increase the body’s iron supplies that can be seriously depleted as the blood volumes decrease three fold during pregnancy. Iron is essential to maintain energy levels and avoid anemia.
The King Supreme of the miscellaneous food group has to be water. Water increases energy levels, enables the body to function properly and balances hormone levels. Water also keeps fevers and light-headedness reduced, amniotic fluid levels held high and prevents early labor.
Let’s hear it for the Dairy Group!
Milk, cheese, ice cream and yogurt: these refreshing, cool snacks are certain to put a smile on anyone’s face. Expectant moms are encouraged to get at least four servings of milk or other dairy foods daily. Dairy is a great source of many vitamins (like vitamin D and vitamin A) as well as minerals such as potassium, magnesium and calcium. In addition, representing Dairy, it is chock full of vitamins and minerals, with a very high content of protein in milk, it also has a low sugar content, and does a pregnant body good.
Eating Yogurt or cheese easily fills the ‘protein’ shoes for in between meal snack to keep your appetite in check. Organic milk and cheeses are the best choices for mom to be, as these options are free from chemicals, antibiotics and steroids frequently found in non-organically processed milks. The placenta does not filter out these toxic substances and your liver won’t get everything before it reaches your baby.
The best way to safeguard your baby from potential toxins is not to eat them in the first place. Organic products fit this bill and give you one less thing to worry about. A serving size of dairy products is smaller than you’d think. It is easy to drink your entire day’s worth of dairy in one glass of milk. One serving of milk and yogurt is a single cup (8 oz), while cheese is 1 oz (a slice the size of 2, 9 volt batteries) and ice cream or cottage cheese are a full portion at ½ cup.
