Every woman longs for a healthy baby. Although many factors come into play, one of the most important things you can do is to eat right during pregnancy. This is all the more important during a teen pregnancy, since young women still need extra nutrition for their own growing bodies. If you're a pregnant teen or know one, these tips can help ensure healthy babies by helping you plan the proper meals and snacks.
Drink Your Milk
The importance of calcium during pregnancy can't be overstated. A baby needs calcium to build strong bones and teeth and to help his brain cells create healthy cell walls. If a woman's diet doesn't provide enough calcium during pregnancy, the body will pull it from her own calcium stores. The old wives' tale about losing a tooth when you're pregnant is rooted in this truth. You need to take in 1,000 to 1,300 mg of calcium a day, so if your diet doesn't normally contain that much, add a glass or two of milk to your daily intake, and keep a store of low fat yogurt on hand.
Here's a tip that will save you money and add nutrition: Skip the sweetened, flavored yogurts in individual servings. Instead, buy plain yogurt in larger tubs and sweeten or flavor it naturally with fruit and fruit juice. You'll cut out processed sugar, artificial flavors and colors and add in extra antioxidants.
Enjoy Whole Grains
Whole grains contain fiber and a host of nutrients that your body needs. They'll also help keep you regular, something that many women have trouble with during pregnancy. The FDA recommends 6 to 11 servings of whole grains daily during gestation.
Eat Your Spinach
Iron is a necessity, and even more so during pregnancy. Try to eat at least three servings of foods rich in iron each day to get at least 27 mg of iron daily. Spinach has a reputation for being high in iron, but there are foods that have even more iron. Many enriched breads and breakfast cereals have extra iron in them. Spinach and leafy green vegetables provide iron, as do chicken and beef liver, cooked beef and lentils or beans.
Sunny Vitamin C
It's important that, each day, you choose at least one good source of vitamin C. Have an orange at breakfast or eat a handful of strawberries for a snack. Other good sources of vitamin C include papaya and honeydew melon, tomatoes, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and broccoli.
Colorful Veggies are Great
Eat a good source of vitamin A at least every other day. Vitamin A is essential for fetal development. It helps your baby's heart, lungs, kidneys, eyes, and bones, as well as the circulatory, respiratory, and central nervous systems. Too much vitamin A, on the other hand, has been linked with fetal abnormalities. Choose carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, kale and spinach as vegetables, or cantaloupe and apricots for fruits.
Get Your Folic Acid
Folic acid is essential to the development of the neural tube. A deficiency of folic acid can result in spina bifida and other neural tube defects in your baby. Eat a serving of folic acid every day. Good foods to eat to provide folic acid during pregnancy include veal, black beans, black-eyed peas, lima beans and dark green, leafy vegetables.
Healthy diets during pregnancy mean healthy babies. Eating right can ensure that you and your baby will be healthy and strong during pregnancy and after birth.
Author Resource:
Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the world's MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web.
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