Nutrition Addition

Super foods + smart advice = the best prenatal diet

With all there is to learn about being pregnant, it can sometimes feel like an enormous puzzle with a lot of missing pieces. Along the way, your doctor, friends, books and articles help fill in the gaps. Nutrition during pregnancy is an important part of the puzzle, and thinking about the nutrients you need and the benefits they provide in pictures rather than in words may help you remember them better (and it’s a lot more fun than trying to memorize a bunch of nutrition rules). Learn these no-brainer “equations” and apply them to your prenatal diet often to keep you and your baby healthy.

Dairy foods + canned sardines/salmon = STRONG BABY BONES

You need 1,000 milligrams of calcium every day to build your baby’s teeth and bones. Not getting enough could harm you, too. “Inadequate calcium intake may cause bone loss and tooth damage in mothers,” warns OB-GYN Sharon Sutherland, M.D., an assistant professor at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. That’s because your body drainscalcium from your bones to strengthen the baby’s, which could lead to osteoporosis as you get older (see “Osteoporosis Prevention").

MORE CALCIUM SOURCES: Fortified cereals, breads, oatmeal and orange juice; collard greens.

Dry toast + apple + ginger tea = MORNING SICKNESS RELIEF

Morning sickness affects every woman differently, and no one food or treatment will help universally, says Heather Blazier, R.D., L.D., a clinical dietitian at Tuomey Healthcare System in Sumter, S.C. Keep some soda crackers by your bedside and take a few bites before you get up. Eating bland foods at regular intervals—every three hours—will keep your blood-sugar levels stable, which in turn helps prevent queasiness. Plain rice, mashed potatoes,  dry cereal or yogurt are all good options.

MORE MORNING SICKNESS RELIEVERS: Mint; watermelon or other noncitrus fruit.

Chicken + yogurt + nuts = CELL GROWTH AND REPAIR

Protein-rich foods are vital for your tissue growth as well as your baby’s. “Protein intake during pregnancy needs to meet the requirement for growth of the placenta, breasts, uterus and the mother’s expanded blood volume,” says Mark Dykowski, M.D., an OB- GYN at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich. And protein helps repair the cells that are stressed by the changes brought on by pregnancy.

MORE PROTEIN SOURCES: Beans; eggs; low-mercury fish; lean cuts of beef, pork and lamb; seafood; dairy foods; peanut butter.

Fish + olive oil + avocados = BABY BRAIN BOOST

Your daily calorie intake should consist of 25 percent to 30 percent healthy fats, which are important for your baby’s brain and vision. “Dietary fat is one of the basic building blocks in the formation of fetal cells,” says Blazier. “The fat in fish has been found to aid the development of your baby’s brain tissue and central nervous system.” This brain-building fat is docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a type of omega-3 fatty acid found mainly in cold-water fish. To avoid mercury and other contaminants, choose wild Pacific salmon, mussels and other safe varieties. For more information, go to fitpregnancy.com/safeseafood.