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When you're expecting, your diet changes just as your body does. Here are 10 simple rules for what's smart to eat (and what isn't) during the nine months your baby is developing.
By Suzanne Schlosberg
When I ordered shrimp rolls at a tapas bar 12 weeks into my pregnancy, one of my friends reacted as if I'd ordered a double martini. "You can't have shrimp when you're pregnant!" she insisted. When I asked her why not, all she could offer was, "Well, I'm not sure, but I know you can't."
Turns out, she was mistaken (phew! I ordered the shrimp anyway), a common phenomenon when it comes to prenatal nutrition. "There are many myths out there, and there's a lot of restrictive eating because people think so many foods can cause harm," says Hope Ricciotti, M.D., an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School and co-author of I'm Pregnant! Now What Do I Eat? (DK Publishing).
To be sure, certain foods and eating patterns can compromise a baby's development in utero, and every mom-to-be should know about them. But it's equally important to focus on the nutrient-rich foods and healthy habits that will keep you and your baby thriving for the whole nine months. Here's the prenatal-nutrition lowdown, boiled down to 10 easy do's and dont's that (hopefully) won't make your head spin.
(The Five Do's)
1. Do load up on the "big 5" nutrients: folate, calcium, iron, zinc and fiber.
In the first six weeks of pregnancy, no nutrient is more vital than folate, a B vitamin that can reduce the risk of neural-tube defects, such as spina bifida, by a whopping 50 percent. You can get your daily minimum of 400 micrograms from fruits, vegetables, chicken, fish and fortified grains, but pop
a prenatal vitamin for insurance.
Your daily dose of calcium—1,200 milligrams, from low-fat dairy products, dark green vegetables and fortified orange juice and soy products—plays a key role during the second and third trimesters, when your baby's bone and tooth development reaches its peak.
Iron, important for supporting your 50 percent increase in blood volume, is crucial in the third trimester. Aim for 30 mg per day. "Iron is the one nutrient that's difficult to get from the diet, so take an iron supplement or prenatal vitamin with iron," Ricciotti advises. To boost iron absorption, combine iron-rich foods with vitamin C sources.
Your zinc requirement increases by 50 percent to 15 mg per day when you're pregnant. Zinc deficiencies have been linked with birth defects, restricted fetal growth and premature delivery, Ricciotti says. Although nuts, whole grains and legumes are good sources of zinc, the mineral is better absorbed from meat and seafood.
While all these nutrients are essential for your baby's health, fiber (found in fruits, vegetables and whole grains) is essential for yours. Fiber reduces constipation and makes you feel fuller longer; aim for 25 mg to 35 mg a day.
2. Do drink at least 100 ounces (about
12 8-ounce glasses) of fluid per day.
"It's hard to stay hydrated when you're pregnant because a lot of the fluid you drink leaks from your blood vessels into your tissues," Ricciotti explains. Yet hydration is essential for preventing preterm labor; when you're short on fluids, the body makes a hormone that simulates contractions. Staying hydrated also helps prevent headaches, kidney stones, dizziness and pregnancy complaints such as constipation and hemorrhoids. You know you're well hydrated when your urine is light yellow to clear.
From October/November 2007
