Healthy Foods for the Pregnant: Nutrients for Prenatal Health

Pregnancy can be a confusing time, even for mothers who have been through it before. With dietary guidelines for pregnancy seeming to change every day, yesterday's safe food might be on today's forbidden list. There are many options out there for different diets, and there is no lack of variety for picky eaters. Here are some very important nutrients any pregnant woman should get, and a list of foods packed full of them.

Folic Acid. Crucial to prevent crippling or life-threatening neural tube defects such as spina bifida, women who are pregnant or hoping to become pregnant should make sure they eat foods that contain this nutrient, especially before pregnancy and throughout the first trimester. Prenatal vitamins typically have an adequate amount of this nutrient, but I could never keep them down. If this is also a problem for you, you might want to consider trying a serving of beans. Pinto, black, navy, and kidney beans are all rich in folate, the more common form of folic acid. Chick peas, asparagus, and spinach are also very rich in it. Spinach is especially good, since it has many other nutrients important for pregnancy, like vitamin A and iron.

Calcium. We all know that calcium is important for everyone, being a building block of healthy bones. It is especially important to pregnant women, because they are not only trying to keep their own bones strong, but trying to build a whole new set of bones for their baby. Fortunately, there are many options for women trying to increase their calcium intake. Dairy products, such as cheese, yogurt, milk, and even ice cream all contain high amounts of calcium, and milk is often enhanced with vitamin D, a nutrient essential to proper calcium absorption. One warning, however. Chocolate inhibits calcium absorption, so drinking chocolate milk will eliminate many of the benefits. If you don't care for dairy, you can get calcium from other sources, including dark, leafy green vegetables. Broccoli is particularly good. Spinach, however, is high in oxalic acid, which inhibits calcium absorbtion. Not interested in greens? Try small canned fish, such as sardines. Many times, these fish still come with their bones, which add a crunchy flair, and pack quite a bit of calcium into a few bites. And don't worry about choking, these bones are tiny and are easily chewed. If none of this is appealing, there is fortunately a wide array of fairly tasy calcium supplements. Just be sure to get a supplement that includes vitamin D.

Iron. Iron is an important part of hemoglobin, which makes up your red blood cells. These are what carry oxygen from your lungs to all the cells of your body and, by corollary, your baby's. In pregnancy, your blood supply increases by half, which means that you need even more iron in your diet than normal. If you are lacking in it, you may find yourself getting tired more easily, being short of breath, and suffering other complications. Anemia is serious, especially for pregnant women. Luckily, there are plenty of delicious foods out there that are iron-rich. Meat, especially red meat, tends to be high in iron. If you're not much of a meat eater, you can get high iron from beans and dark, leafy green vegetables. Spinach is a good one here, too. Most prenatal vitamins also contain a healthy amount of iron.

Fiber. While no one likes to talk about it, constipation is the bane of many pregnant women. It's no surprise, really. The digestive system slows during pregnancy, and the weight of a baby pressing against the intestines can further delay things. The longer food remains in the intestines, the more water content is removed from it, leading to longer and harder trips to the bathroom. Fiber helps to keep things moving by adding bulk and cleaning the intestines on its way through. It also tends to provide a sense of fullness, which can be especially helpful if you're having trouble keeping your weight gain reasonable during your pregnancy. Fortunately, many of those other healthy foods are also great sources of fiber. Leafy greens and beans are high in fiber, as are other foods like brown rice, non-starchy vegetables, and fruit with the peel included. Many of these have other important nutrients included, which make them especially good foods for pregnant women. If you can't keep any of those down, though, there are also fiber supplements. Constipation can make you feel very ill and irritable, so make sure you're getting enough fiber. It might help you feel well enough to eat other good foods.

Omega 3 oils. Everywhere you look these days, it seems like people are talking about the importance of omega oils. They are supposed to help with heart health, boost brain function, and improve overall well-being. They are most easily found in flax seed oil and fish oils. However, there are concerns about fish being contaminated with mercury and other heavy metals, and research on the benefits of omega oils from flax seeds are inconclusive still. So what's a pregnant woman to do? There are, happily, options. First, small fish like sardines, herring, and anchovies still contain omega 3 oils, and don't have the same risks that larger fish do. Don't care for fish? You can buy omega 3 supplements from most vitamin stores these days, and they are made with fish oil. However, before you buy any of these supplements, you should look up the company online and make sure that they test for the presence of heavy metals and other damaging chemicals to ensure that they are safe for you and your baby. Mercury is Dangerous, and is nothing to take lightly when your baby is at stake. The brand I chose is Coromega, though it is not the only one who tests carefully.

Potassium. Potassium is important for everyone, and not just pregnant women. Most people in the US don't get enough potassium to keep their body's system regulated. The body's cells use something called a sodium-potassium pump to regulate themselves. In order for this system to work properly, it has to have the right ratio of sodium and potassium in the blood. Unfortunately, most people have far too much sodium, and far too little potassium. This can lead to fatigue, irritability, and a general feeling of unwellness. It is most noticeable after you start getting more potassium in your diet and start realizing how much better you feel. Happily, it's pretty easy to increase your potassium intake. Lima beans, plantains, bananas, avocado, tomatoes, oranges, apricots, strawberries, and other fruits and vegetables are rich in potassium. Also, you can make a big difference by buying and using 'lite' salt instead of regular table salt. The difference is that instead of only using sodium chloride, the lite salt uses a mix of that and potassium chloride. By using this salt in your cooking and on your food, you are decreasing the amount of sodium you eat, and increasing the potassium. Considering that most people in the US get far too much sodium, this is a good situation all over. Oh, also? Getting adequate potassium will help keep you from getting those debilitating leg cramps in the middle of the night.

Water. Okay, really, this is a no-brainer. Water is vital and essential to everyone, but keeping hydrated is so very important to pregnant women. I know what you're thinking, if you're pregnant, you're already getting up to go to the bathroom every few minutes, and you're dreading the idea of drinking even more fluids. But, believe me, this is important. Water is necessary for everything in your body. It's needed for breathing, digesting, getting rid of toxic chemicals, and even for keeping your skin healthy. Water makes up the amniotic fluid that surrounds and cushions your baby. Water is a main component of blood, and you're carrying around far more of that now than normally. Water is what your kidneys use to clear toxins out of your body. And water is what keeps your skin healthy and moist, and will help prevent dry spots and stretch marks.

Doesn't that sound important? The standard guideline is that you should be drinking eight glasses with eight ounces of water in them each day, but people are starting to reevaluate this, with a higher number in mind. Each time I've been pregnant, I tried to aim for an even hundred ounces of water a day. The good news is that you don't need to be sitting around, guzzling water and waiting for the urge to waddle off to the nearest bathroom all day long. You only need to drink about half of your daily water intake. The rest can come from other liquids, and from the foods you eat. When pregnant, you should moderate your caffeine intake, and the jury is still out on artificial sweeteners, but it doesn't look good for them. Still, milk and juice both count toward your daily water intake, and if you don't drink either of those, you can still have a glass of water with a little lemon or lime squeezed in. Eating foods with a high water content, like melons, berries, or other juicy fruits can add to your daily total, too. If you're finding milk boring, blend some fruit into it, and make a smoothie. Even a splash of juice in your water can give you the flavor you're craving without as much sugar as a full glass of juice. The bottom line is that you'll feel better and function better with enough water in your diet. Try to make sure you're getting enough, whatever form it comes in.

These are, by far, not the only important things to be getting in your diet as a pregnant woman. Everything you put into your mouth in the next nine months will also be going into your baby, and if you plan to nurse, it's the same story for as long as you do that. A general rule of thumb is to not eat anything you wouldn't feel comfortable seeing your child eat, but remember this. Stress hurts the baby, too. If it's going to stress you out less to sneak in the occasional banana split, chocolate bar, or double mocha latte than it will to avoid it for the entire time? Go for it. Just try to keep it in moderation, and make up for it by eating even healthier later on. Good luck, and have a healthy, happy pregnancy!