Principles of healthy eating when pregnant
Eating well is extremely important but also quite difficult at the very beginning. Don’t give up too soon, let me be your motivation – growing in your tummy. A healthy diet will become a habit sooner than you expect.
Meal planning
Start developing your diet by planning 3 main and 2 complementary meals during the day. Set their times by specifying appropriate time intervals. The minimum interval between meals is 2 hours, the maximum is 4 hours, preferably when you eat every 3-4 hours.
Meals should be eaten at fixed times. If you have trouble with this, the hours may shift slightly, but always remember that it’s best to eat five times a day.
It is inadvisable to constantly snack;
if you need to, take a 2-hour break (sometimes you can nibble vegetables and fruit). Between meals you can drink water or juices squeezed from fresh vegetables and fruit without sugar.
REMEMBER:
Eating regular meals throughout the day:
❖ provide us with an adequate supply of nutrients
❖ promotes the proper secretion of insulin
❖ conducive to normal weight gain in pregnancy
❖ prevents the accumulation of excess body fat
❖ prevents the development of overweight or obesity after pregnancy
Meals during the day
The meals that should provide you with the most energy and nutrients are breakfast and lunch.
Breakfast should be wholesome, giving you energy and strength to start the day. Make sure it contains wholesome protein, good-quality fat, complex carbohydrates as well as vitamins and minerals. A good option is to eat a protein-fat breakfast, which will keep you full for longer and will not cause blood sugar spikes.
Carbohydrates will be a great solution for lunch.
Lunch should consist of products that are a source of wholesome protein (lean meat, fish, legume seeds at least once a week), complex carbohydrates (these can be: barley or buckwheat groats, white or whole grain rice, wholemeal pasta, potatoes ) and a large portion of vegetables, with the addition of oil or olive oil.
Avoid eating fried foods.
Try to bake meat and fish, stew, boil, steamed, in ovenproof dishes, in foil.
Eat cooked or blanched vegetables. Cooking and blanching vegetables causes the fiber to separate from minerals and vitamins, thanks to which they are better absorbed. Raw vegetables are a breeding ground for a bad bacterial flora that causes gas.
Add healthy fats to raw vegetables to aid digestion and the absorption of carotenoids.
Try to eat dinner that is light but varied. Preferably two hours before bedtime. The plate can contain raw or stewed vegetables with the addition of lean or semi-fat cheese, eggs, lean meat, good-quality meats or fish.
Remember:
The share of complex carbohydrates in the diet of a pregnant woman should be the greatest. In second place in terms of quantity are vegetables , then fruit, then dairy products, while the share of meat, fish, cold cuts, eggs and fats is relatively smaller
Source:
Lewandowska A., Healthy mama. Poradnik zdrowej mamy, Wydawnictwo Burda Media Polska 20017.
Makarowska Magdalena, Jedz pysznie i zdrowo w ciąży, Wydawnictwo Feeria 2013.