Hello everyone,
I thought a small blog post on what to eat during pregnancy would be helpful for people, with some ideas for mummies to be, or even if your currently trying to get pregnant. If you’re growing a human surely this is the time to have the best nutrition of your life? To really jump on the band wagon and eat the best you can for yourself and for your little one.
Eating well can help with fatigue, morning sickness, headaches, skin, sleep and the list goes on and on and eating well will keep that little baby growing healthy and strong.
If you want your baby to eat well once it’s born, the theory goes feed it well now whilst in the womb, apparently it can taste the flavours which we as mums eat. So if your a sugar head, chances are your baby will love sugar, if you eat bowls of broccoli, chances are you will get a baby who loves his/her veg… can anyone vouch for this?
That little baby is there is a miracle, and we as mums are solely responsible for feeding it and nurturing it and I strongly believe what we eat as mums makes a difference. For example, the baby needs lots of healthy fats and fish to build its neurons in its brain (we all want brainy kids). The fast rate of cell turnover is unbelievable so common sense says that needs alot of nutrients to reach full potential.
Here are my guidelines which I am following during pregnancy, now don’t get me wrong, I eat the odd bar of chocolate and I have the odd takeaway… I’m pregnant give us a break but for the most part I am really committed to growing this tiny human.
3 litres of water per day – filtered or bottled if possible
8 veggies per day – salads, soups, smoothies, 1/2 a plate of veggies with your tea – broccoli, kale, carrots etc.
Fats everyday (good fat doesn’t make you fat bad fat does!) – avocado, salmon, seabass, mackerel, sardines, olive oil on salads, Kerrygold butter on my veg and to cook with, eggs (boiled or scrambled), coconut oil to cook with
Protein with every meal to keep your blood sugar balance and energy balanced – eggs, meats, lentils, hummus, fish, nuts and seeds
Snacks – protein balls from Madeline Shaw or Deliciously Ella, flapjacks (see recipe), avocado mashed with chilli flakes and oat cakes, boiled eggs, hummus and cucumber and carrot sticks, smoothie, juices
Above – butternut squash soup | carrot, orange, beetroot and ginger juice | boiled eggs, asparagus with butter on top, oat cakes and mashed avocado with chilli flakes with a lemon and ginger with hot water.
I don’t believe in the whole ‘eating for two’ its the size of a plum… but I personally do feel more hungry but as long as it’s all the good stuff I think thats fine.
That’s a really rough idea of the direction to go in. I don’t think the current guidelines are good enough of cereals, breads etc. surely this is the time to eat very nutrient dense foods?
I am putting together some more in depth Nutrition Workshops soon tailored to pregnancy so keep your eyes peeled.