The term of pregnancy is one of the most important factors to determine how much energy and which nutrients you need from your food.
A woman’s body loses a lot of energy during pregnancy . Nutritional and high-quality organic food is most important in this case. It is necessary to take into account the age of pregnant woman, weight, physical activity, food preferences and term of pregnancy. The term of pregnancy is one of the most important factors in determination of diet energy value and ratio of main food components.
Fetus grows and develops gradually. The third trimester of pregnancy is a phase of its most rapid growth. Nutrition of a pregnant woman must be high-calorie, completely satisfy her increased requirements of calcium, iron, iodine, A, D, E, C vitamins group, folic acid, B12 vitamin and others. Deficiency in the above listed substances is the most dangerous and cause the appearance of osteoporosis, iron deficiency, B12 deficiency anemia.
Nutrition is ordinary in the early stages of pregnancy because of the small sizes of the fetus. You needn’t follow any diet at this period. It is only necessary to ensure, that food is high-quality, organic and has few additives with a code of Е. It is not necessary to increase the caloric value of your food. Nutrition of pregnant women in the first trimester can be characterized as a normal healthy diet. Give preference to food with minimum processing. Exclude fried, spicy, salty, greasy and smoked food. Canned food, dishes in marinade, spices are also undesirable. Include in your diet meat, fish, curds, cultured milk drinks, fruits and vegetables. This is useful for growing fetus. But you have to change your nutrition in the second and later trimesters. If you don’t do this it may cause miscarriage.
Another important point. Sometimes, women start too eat too much of food in the beginning of pregnancy, following the advice of grandparents. Nutrition of high calorie food rapidly leads to an appearance of excesses weight that will be hard to lose.
The first trimester of pregnancy is often accompanied by morning sickness (that seems to occur around the clock, not just the mornings). So, don’t eat food which causes nausea or vomiting. It is not a good idea to eat food at night. Eat meals in little portions. You may eat what your body requires, but think about the consequences. Also, it is not a good idea to test different diets for the weight loss during pregnancy because it is not worth the risk to your child. Malnutrition at early stages of gestation may cause hypotrophy of a fetus and prematurity.
Fetus growth is intensive during the second trimester. It creates a double load on the mother’s body and all her organs. Increase energy value of diet gradually, starting from 3-4 months of pregnancy. Increase amount of proteins if your body is feeling tired. Follow the right nutrition during the second trimester to provide necessary amount of nutrients to your baby. Choose food with predominant content of assimilable proteins. It is necessary to eat milk and curds or food received from them because of an increase likelihood of osteoporosis and fragility of bones during pregnancy. Eat carbohydrate-protein food in the morning and protein food for dinner. It is better to drink a glass of kefir with a low per cent of fat and 100-150 g. of fat-free curds in evening. Exclude salted, smoked and fried food and sausages. Fruits, berries and cellulose-containing food will help to cope with such an unpleasant problems like constipation. Reduce amount of animal fats, but do not exclude it from your diet, because they play a very important role in the formation of a fetus’s nervous and genital system. Also it is a great energy source. Eat calf’s or rabbit’s liver, apples except citrus for prophylaxis of anemia. Brown rye bread contains coarse cellulose and B group vitamins. This product must be included in diet of pregnant women in the second trimester. It will prevent avitaminoses and fetal malformations. Liquid and salt must be limited: liquid to 1.2-1.5 litres per day, salt to 3-4 g. a day.
Fetus doesn’t grow to fast in the final trimester. It needs more power and space (mother’s body can not give more). Metabolism of a fetus becomes slower. Future mother is not so physically active as in the beginning. She prefers to sit more or lie down. Therefore nutrition of pregnant women must not be so calorific during the third trimester as in the second. It must be accomplished since approximately the 32nd week. But don’t decrease protein amounts. If you could treat yourself with a tasty rich bun at the first trimester of pregnancy, so it is desirable to do it now. The third trimester of pregnancy complicates the development of late gestation. You may notice instability of arterial pressure. Albumins may appear in urine because of disturbance of permeability of a renal filter. Protein is losing. It influence badly on mother’s exhausted organism. Late gestosis are caused by incorrect nutrition of pregnant women in the third trimester (protein-vitamin failure). Diet with sufficient content of protein and vitamins will help to prevent these diseases.
Basic requirements for nutrition of pregnant women during the third trimester: minimum of salt (1.5-3 g. per day), restriction of water and other liquids (1.2-1.5 litres), the frequent fractional nutrition with increasing of protein, exclude smoking foods, citrus, chocolate and coffee. Follow full-blown and balanced nutrition and all these simple rules, which will help you stay healthy and give birth to a healthy child.
