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How to eat during pregnancy
So, you’ve done the pregnancy test, been to the doctors and know your EDD (estimated date of delivery). What next? Do you use this as an excuse to eat for two? Or are you feeling so nauseous that you can’t even bear the thought of food, let alone putting it near your lips?
From someone who’s experienced both of these extremes, I hope the following account of the science behind pregnancy and tips for eating healthily during this wonderful period of your life will prove helpful.
Nutritional requirements during pregnancy
As you would expect, your nutritional requirements increase during pregnancy. But is this a good excuse to eat for two? Certainly, you need to ensure that your diet provides sufficient energy and nutrients for both the growth and development of your baby and also to support your baby’s physiological changes it grows inside you.
Your diet should contain adequate amounts of protein, iron, calcium, folate, iron and vitamins A and D because these nutrients are needed for the formation of bones and teeth, muscles and haemoglobin. If any of these nutrients are lacking, then your own stores of these will be depleted to compensate for the lack in your diet.
In practice, although there may be an overwhelming temptation to eat for two, your additional requirements for energy and nutrients should be met by eating enough food to satisfy your appetite. Indeed, the Department of Health in 1991 suggested that a pregnant woman’s energy requirements should increase by only 200kcal during the last trimester of pregnancy.
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