I m pregnant what should i eat

Water is a wonder drink. It addresses many different kinds of health issues and pregnancy is no exception. As much as possible, drink the recommended amount of water every day. Staying hydrated may help alleviate pregnancy symptoms like morning sickness and nausea. In contrast, dehydration, especially if this occurs during your third trimester, can lead to contractions and pre-term labor. Hydrate with water but never with energy drinks.

Cut back on soda and caffeine intake. Switch to fruit drinks and juices as a substitute for soda and caffeine, but still try to limit the amount of fruit juices so you are not taking in too much sugar too quickly.

Even better would be to eat a small serving of fruit to help satisfy the sugar or caffeine craving. Continuing these precautions while breastfeeding is important because unsafe foods, like alcohol, can pass through the breast milk to the baby.

Everything changes when you become pregnant and each pregnancy can be different from the previous one. You may need to re-educate yourself about what foods are good to eat during pregnancy or what foods to avoid while pregnant. It would help if you have someone you can call whenever you have questions or concerns regarding your diet or condition; someone to guide you throughout or warn you against bad eating decisions, big or small.

Knowing what to eat during pregnancy will keep you and your baby safe and healthy. With nutritious meals on the table, you can safeguard your child from various health risks. Eating the right foods will also reduce symptoms, such as nausea, morning sickness and fatigue. Some long-time parents who insist that they know the routine should never assume this pregnancy will be like their others nutritionally.

Your family and friends may also mean well when giving you pregnancy advice, but keep in mind that a legitimate set of guidelines is what you need the most. This will ensure that you get precise details on what to eat and what not to eat during pregnancy.

Ideally, consult one, who will offer advice tailored for your specific needs. Family Health Centers of San Diego can guide you through your pregnancy.

We will help you manage your symptoms through the foods you eat and educate you on prenatal care. To learn more about how we can help you, call us at , visit a Family Health Center of San Diego clinic nearest you or fill out the form below. Go to top. These eggs have a red lion logo stamped on their shell. Pregnant women can eat these raw or partially cooked for example, soft boiled eggs.

These eggs should be cooked until the white and the yolk are hard. Find out more about foods to avoid in pregnancy. Dairy foods such as milk, cheese, fromage frais and yoghurt are important in pregnancy because they contain calcium and other nutrients that you and your baby need.

Choose low-fat varieties wherever possible, such as semi-skimmed, 1 percent fat or skimmed milk, low-fat and lower-sugar yoghurt and reduced-fat hard cheese. If you prefer dairy alternatives, such as soya drinks and yoghurts, go for unsweetened, calcium-fortified versions.

Find out more about the nutritional benefits of dairy and dairy alternatives. There are some cheeses you should avoid in pregnancy, including unpasteurised cheeses. To find out which cheeses you should not eat when you're pregnant on our page about foods to avoid in pregnancy. Sugary foods and drinks are often high in calories, which can contribute to weight gain.

Having sugary foods and drinks can also lead to tooth decay. Fat is very high in calories, so eating too many fatty foods, or eating them too often, can make you put on weight. Eating too much saturated fat can also increase the amount of cholesterol in your blood, which increases your chance of developing heart disease.

If you're having foods and drinks that are high in fat and sugar, have these less often and in small amounts. Try to cut down on saturated fat , and have small amounts of foods rich in unsaturated fat instead, such as vegetable oils. Find out about saturated and unsaturated fat. Instead, choose something healthier, such as:.

When choosing snacks, you can use food labels to help you. Find out more about food labelling , including how the "green, amber, red" code can help you make healthier choices quickly.

You also need to make sure that some foods, such as eggs, poultry, burgers, sausages and whole cuts of meat like lamb, beef and pork, are cooked very thoroughly until steaming all the way through. For tips, read foods to avoid in pregnancy.

You may qualify for the Healthy Start scheme, which provides vouchers to pregnant women and families who qualify. The vouchers can be used to buy milk and plain fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables at local shops.

You'll also get coupons that can be exchanged for free vitamins locally. You can also find out where to get Healthy Start vitamins near you or general maternity services near you. Alcohol in the mother's blood can pass directly to the baby through the umbilical cord.

Heavy consumption of alcohol during pregnancy has been linked with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, a group of conditions that can include physical problems, as well as learning and behavioral difficulties in babies and children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC. Many women drink alcohol before they know they are pregnant, and a study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that a woman's risk of losing a baby increased with each additional week of low-level alcohol exposure.

Seafood such as swordfish, shark, king mackerel, marlin, orange roughy, some types of tuna and tilefish are high in levels of methylmercury, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and should be avoided during pregnancy.

If a person eats high-mercury fish regularly, the mercury can accumulate in their bloodstream and, if pregnant, this mercury can be passed on to a woman's baby and damage their developing brain and nervous system, said the Mayo Clinic.

Canned light tuna has less mercury than albacore "white" tuna and is safer to eat during pregnancy, according to a study published in in the journal Environ Res. According to the USDA, pregnant women are at high risk of getting sick from two different types of food poisoning: listeriosis, caused by the Listeria bacteria , and toxoplasmosis, an infection caused by the Toxoplasma gondii parasite.

Listeriosis is about 20 times more common in pregnant women than in the rest of the population, according to a study published in the journal Reviews in Obstetrics and Gynecology. The CDC says that Listeria infection may cause miscarriage, stillbirth, pre-term labor, and illness or death in newborns.

A mother can pass a Toxoplasma infection on to her baby, which can cause problems such as blindness and mental disability later in life, the CDC reported. Most women are asymptomatic , according to a study published in the journal Pathogens.

To prevent toxoplasmosis, the USDA recommends avoiding the following foods during pregnancy:. Cats are also a source of Toxoplasma. Cats can contract the parasite by eating infected birds, rodents or other small animals, and then transmit the parasite through their feces.

Older cats are less likely to shed the parasite if they have been previously infected. While the CDC does not suggest that you should give away your cat, it recommends that you:.

Some foods may increase a pregnant woman's risk for other types of food poisoning, including illness caused by Salmonella and E. It's hard to measure where pregnancy weight is going, she said, adding that a scale does not reveal whether the extra pounds are going to a woman's body fat, baby weight or fluid gains. When it comes to pregnancy weight gain, Krieger advises mothers-to-be to look at the big picture: During regular prenatal checkups, focus on the fact that the baby is growing normally rather than worrying about the number on a scale.

The total number of calories that are needed per day during pregnancy depends on a woman's height, her weight before becoming pregnant, and how active she is on a daily basis. In general, underweight women need more calories during pregnancy; overweight and obese women need fewer of them. The Institute of Medicine IOM guidelines for total weight gain during a full-term pregnancy recommend that:. The IOM guidelines suggest that pregnant women gain between 1 and 4. The guidelines recommend that women who are underweight or have normal weight gain, on average, about 1 pound every week during their second and third trimesters of pregnancy, and that women who are overweight or obese gain about half a pound g every week in their second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

When people say that a pregnant woman is "eating for two," it doesn't mean she needs to consume twice as much food or double her calories. During the first three months, Krieger tells women that their calorie needs are basically the same as they were before pregnancy.

Krieger typically advises pregnant women to add calories to their usual dietary intake during the second trimester, and to add calories during their third trimester when the baby is growing quickly. When a mother-to-be is experiencing morning sickness , the biggest mistake she can make is thinking that if she doesn't eat, she'll feel better, Krieger said. The exact causes of morning sickness are not known, but it may be caused by hormonal changes, according to the Mayo Clinic.