August 28, 2009

Pregnancy Pathway, Pregnancy — Nutrition

dancingthrupregnancy News, nutrition, pregnancy baby, behavior, health, metabolic syndromes, nutrition, pregnancy, vitamins & minerals, weight

Ques­tion:

How many extra calo­ries do you need in each trimester to off­set the meta­bol­ic cost of preg­nan­cy?

Answer:

First trimester — 0; Sec­ond trimester — 300; Third trimester — 500 (source: Insti­tute of Med­i­cine).

Keep in mind that you may also need calo­ries for any fit­ness pro­gram you are doing. If you are con­tin­u­ing a pro­gram, the only change is due to the preg­nan­cy.

If you begin or increase your activ­i­ty, you need to take that into account. One yoga class = 100 — 150 calo­ries. One aer­o­bics class = 200–400 calo­ries. Walk one mile = 100 calo­ries.

Be sure you read food labels so that you can bal­ance your food intake and your calo­rie out­put. A small woman (under 5′3″ & 130 lbs.) prob­a­bly needs about 1200 calo­ries per day as a base. A medi­um sized woman needs about 1400, and a large woman (over 5′9″ & 160 lbs.) prob­a­bly needs 1600 to 1800 calo­ries. Add your activ­i­ty and preg­nan­cy needs to your base amount.

Ques­tion:

What foods are nec­es­sary for a healthy preg­nan­cy?

Answer, part A:

PROTEIN. Lean pro­teins like turkey and those with omega 3 fats like ocean fish and eggs.…yes! EGGS!

70–90 grams of pro­tein are nec­es­sary each day, along with  ade­quate water.  These are need­ed to make an extra 40% blood vol­ume required to sup­port the pla­cen­ta.

Answer, part B:

WATER. Two (2) quarts of water…more if you are very active…are need­ed to make extra blood and to pre­vent dehy­dra­tion.

Ques­tion: What else?

Answer: CARBS. Fresh, col­or­ful fruits & veg­gies pro­vide nec­es­sary vit­a­mins and min­er­als, as well as fiber. Eat 5 serv­ings a day from all the col­ors:  yel­low, orange, red, pur­ple and green, and you will get live vit­a­mins all day long that help your baby devel­op prop­er­ly! Fruits, veg­eta­bles and whole grains are low glycemic index car­bo­hy­drates — the good ones!

Ques­tion:

Do I need dairy prod­ucts and red meat? Can I get the need­ed min­er­als in oth­er ways?

Answer:

Cal­ci­um is need­ed in ade­quate amounts for bones and teeth. It is most eas­i­ly obtained by drink­ing milk or eat­ing cheese, yogurt or cot­tage cheese. Soy, dark green leafy veg­eta­bles and cal­ci­um for­ti­fied juice are alter­na­tives.

Iron is nec­es­sary for red blood cells to take up oxy­gen. It is found in high amounts in beef,  and less­er amounts in raisins, spinach, and prune juice. Pre­na­tal vit­a­mins are your insur­ance against defi­cien­cies of these essen­tial min­er­als.

Ques­tion:

Any­thing else that’s essen­tial?

Answer:

Yes! Healthy FAT!!

In addi­tion to omega 3 fats found in fish, wal­nuts and flax seeds, you need also need omega 6 fats, which are found in avo­ca­dos, olive oil and oth­er veg­etable oils. Healthy fats help bal­ance car­dio­vas­cu­lar con­stric­tion and dila­tion, reduc­ing the risk for hyper­ten­sion.

Last Ques­tion:

What is a healthy weight gain?

Answer:

In 2009, the Nation­al Acad­e­my of Sci­ences revised its rec­om­men­da­tions. It now bases desir­able weight gain on pre-preg­nan­cy BMI (Body Mass Index…google this!).

BMI less than 18.5 (low) — 28 to 40 lbs.; BMI between 18.5–24.9 (nor­mal) — 25 to 35 lbs.; BMI 25.0 to 29.9 (high) — 15 to 25 lbs.; obese women (BMI over 30.0) — 11 to 20 lbs.

Com­ing Next: Avoid­ing Risks.