Foods to Eat While Pregnant
Eating a healthy diet while you are expecting is very important for the health of your baby. Getting good nutrition helps prevent low birth weight and birth defects.
Eat lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. I recommend a vegetarian diet for everyone, including pregnant women. The benefits are incredible. Being a vegetarian will also help to get your child off to a healthy life.
Remember to drink at least 8 glasses of water daily. 10 – 12 is far better. I also recommend drinking bottled water.
Calcium
- Soy Milk
- Tofu
- Collard Greens
- Turnip Grees
- Broccoli
- Blackstrap Molasses
- Figs
- Sunflower Seeds
- Cheese
Protein
- Beans
- Quinoa
- Seeds
- Nuts
- Cheese
- Eggs
Folic Acid
- Avocado
- Oranges
- Eggs
- Spinach
- Beets
- Turnip Greens
- Brewers Yeast
- Bananas
- Tomatoes
- Cantaloupe
- Dried peas and beans
- Whole Grain Breads
Iron
- Blackstrap molasses
- Iron enriched breads and cereals
- Dried beans
- brewers yeast
- Turnip Greens
- dried fruits
- Nuts and seeds
- Prunes
Vitamin D
- Sun Exposure for 5 to 15 minutes a day
- Fortified Cereals
Vitamin B12
- Nutritional Yeast
- Fortified Cereals
- Fortified Soy Milk
Vitamin C
- Citrus Fruits
- Broccoli
- Tomatoes
- Berries
- Peppers
- Melons
- Potatoes with Skin
Vitamin A
- Carrots
- Sweet Potatoes
- Spinach
- Turnip Greens
- Cantaloupe
- Apricots
Carbohydrate
- Whole Grain Breads and Cereals
- Fruits
- Potatoes
- Whole Wheat Pasta
- Rice
- Vegetables
Don’t . . .
Do NOT use Tobacco products, alcohol, recreational drugs at anytime during your pregnancy. Not only are these products bad for you, but they can do serious damage to your unborn baby.
Babies that are born to moms who smoked during pregnancy are more likely to suffer from asthma, ear infections, and low birth weight. Alcohol causes low birth weight, birth defects, and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Drugs can cause low birthweight, birth defects, retardation. Often babies are born addicted to the drug and must go through a “withdrawl” period following birth. You have a choice. Your baby doesn’t.
Do not drink coffee. The baby does not need the caffeine. Don’t drink soft drinks. Your baby doesn’t need the caffeine and you both need your calcium. Soft drinks deplete the body of calcium. Don’t continually eat junk food. Try to make every meal count. It is okay to have a sweet snack, but limit your consumption of foods with no nutritional value.
Enjoy this time with your baby. Help your baby to get off to a good start by providing healthy meals now before he or she is born!
**The ideas on this page are for information only.**
**Please consult your doctor or Midwife if you have questions about your nutrition or before changing your diet.**
Hi, Melissa!
Thank you for your tips and a list of foods. I agree, getting a good nutrition will benefit you and your child not only during the pregnancy but also long time after that. I noticed you wrote “don’t drink coffee”. I agree that not to drink at all is the best condition. But will drinking the small amounts of coffee per day harm your baby? As I found from other blogs and from many other nutritionists that you can consume caffeine beverages in limited quantity. It’s advisable maximum of 300mg of caffeine per day. It’s about 2 mugs of filtered coffee or 3 mugs of instant coffee. I’m aksing because I’m a coffee lover and I think there are a lot of people who love coffee and it’s very difficult to say no.
Thank you!
Katia