The pregnant mother needs a well-balanced nutritious diet that consists of all the food groups, so that it fulfills the needs of all the nutrients adequately. Since the requirements of the pregnant mother increase, she is supposed to get a little extra, macro nutrients for about 350 kcals . Pregnant mothers must eat for two. If the pregnant mother is over or underweight, the calorie need will be less or more depending on the body weight. Micro nutrients are essential to reduce the incidence of ill-health and complications.
Food myth during pregnancy:
During pregnancy the common advices from anybody are what to eat and what not. While many of these advices hold true, some are not!
Eating papaya causes abortion:
The truth is that raw papaya is suspected to contain chymopapaine which is supposed to induce abortion or early labour. But ripe papaya is considered to be safe. Moreover, ripe papaya is a good source of vitamin A.
Eating hot and spicy foods can cause abortion:
If the spicy foods are eaten in small amount, it causes no harm to the baby. However, one should avoid too much of spicy foods during pregnancy that many have the symptom of heartburn.
Pregnant mothers crave for pickles:
Particular food cravings like this may occur, but it is not universal. The thing is that mothers who crave for pickles are actually craving for salt. Additional minerals are particularly important during pregnancy when the blood volume increases by upto 20 percent, diluting the existing minerals.
Craving for junk foods:
Similarly, pregnant mothers who crave for junk foods such as ice cream do so, because junk food is associated with comfort. Sugar found in sweet foods cause the body to produce serotonin, which makes the mother feel good.
False notions during pregnancy:
Pregnant mothers shouldn’t consume fish and fish oil.
Fish is an important part of a healthy diet as it contains high-quality protein and other essential nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids and is low in saturated fat. So, women and young children in particular should include fish in their diets for many nutritional benefits .Yet, some fish contain higher levels of mercury that may harm an unborn baby or young child’s developing nervous system. However, nearly all fishes contain traces of mercury. Women of prenatal period, pregnant women, nursing mothers and the parents of young children must know, how to get the positive health benefits from eating fish lower in mercury (for example, shrimp, canned tuna, salmon, Pollock and catfish). On the other hand it is essential for pregnant women to avoid fishes with higher mercury content (for example, shark, swordfish, tail fish and king mackerel).
Drinking coffee adversely affects pregnancy.
Again, false. Small amount of coffee does not affect the baby, but avoid drinking more than three cups a day. Very large amount of caffeine may result in low birth-weight of baby.
