How to control weight and eat nutritiously during late pregnancy

Diet and Nutrition During Pregnancy In order to meet the needs of fetal growth and development, women need to consume more nutrients during pregnancy. However, the nutritional needs of women at different gestational ages are not exactly the same. According to the traditional concept, the practice of taking supplements as soon as you become pregnant until delivery is not only unscientific, but may even endanger the health of mother and baby. Therefore, we need to adjust our diet and supplement nutrition in a targeted manner according to the characteristics of each stage of pregnancy. Download the 40-week pregnancy manual [PDF+TXT version] Early pregnancy In the early pregnancy, because the embryo is still relatively small, its demand for calories and most nutrients has not changed much compared with before pregnancy. The woman\’s own nutritional reserves are basically It can meet the normal development needs of the baby, so there is no need to increase the amount of food in the diet. Instead, you should pay attention to the diversity of food types. For example, eating more than 12 kinds of food every day and more than 25 kinds of food every week will be good. Ensure nutritional balance. In addition, since early pregnancy reactions are mostly strong at this time, expectant mothers often lose their appetite. Therefore, you can try to choose light, easy-to-digest foods and eat less and more meals to help absorb nutrients. Food that is too greasy and spicy can easily irritate the gastrointestinal tract and aggravate the discomfort of early pregnancy, so try to eat as little or as little as possible. With a balanced diet, there is generally no need for additional nutritional supplements during the first trimester. But there is one exception – folic acid. Although folic acid is widely found in dark green leafy vegetables, folic acid under natural conditions is easily decomposed when exposed to heat and the absorption rate is not high. Therefore, it is difficult to meet the needs of pregnancy only through food. Therefore, we recommend starting supplementation three months before pregnancy (pregnancy preparation period) and continuing at least three months after pregnancy. Of course, if conditions permit, there is no problem in continuing to supplement folic acid throughout pregnancy. As the fetus grows in the second trimester, the mother-to-be needs more nutrients, and the amount of food eaten at this stage also increases, so more attention should be paid to how to eat. First, you should moderately increase your intake of high-quality protein. For example, lean meat, milk, eggs, beans and nuts, the growth and development of the fetus and the enlargement of maternal tissues require the participation of protein. Insufficient intake can easily cause slow fetal development. Secondly, sufficient carbohydrates should be ensured. In order to maintain their figure during pregnancy, many women, or misunderstand the meaning of \”nutrition\”, choose to eat a large amount of high-protein foods instead of staple foods. This is actually very dangerous. The energy that the fetus can use is mainly glucose, and glucose in the human body is mainly converted from carbohydrates. Insufficient intake will not only restrict the growth of the fetus, but may also cause the mother to accumulate ketone bodies in the blood due to hunger, which is harmful to the fetus. Adverse effects on the fetal brain. Therefore, we recommend that expectant mothers should eat approximately 250-300g of staple food, 300-500g of vegetables and 200-250g of meat every day. In addition, with the development of fetal bones, the demand for calcium increases greatly, and expectant mothers should also pay attention to calcium supplements. Our body automatically prioritizes the needs of the fetus, so when the mother\’s calcium intake is insufficient, the body\’s calcium reserves will be used to supply the fetus. In the long term, it is easy to cause calcium deficiency in expectant mothers, causing cramps,symptoms of osteoporosis. You can eat more foods high in calcium, such as milk, cheese, dried shrimps, black sesame seeds, etc. It is particularly worth reminding that starting from the second trimester, expectant mothers should pay special attention to blood sugar control. Avoid high-fat, high-salt, and high-sugar eating habits, otherwise it will easily induce gestational diabetes and lead to macrosomia and neonatal hypoglycemia. You can eat more foods with a low glycemic index, such as whole grains, green leafy vegetables, lean meats, milk, etc. The amount of fruits must also be controlled, and you cannot eat unlimited amounts. In the third trimester of pregnancy, the fetus is growing rapidly, and the expectant mother\’s diet should also increase accordingly. Ensure that the staple food is 250-300g, vegetables 300-500g, and meat 200-250g every day. In addition, since the fetus begins to store iron in the body for use after birth, the expectant mother\’s demand for iron in addition to calcium at this stage also increases greatly, and she is prone to iron deficiency anemia. You can add some foods high in iron, such as fungus, red meat, animal liver, animal blood, etc. Pay special attention to animal liver, because it contains extremely high vitamin A and a large amount of cholesterol, so it is best to eat it no more than twice a week, and no more than 50g each time. If the effect of dietary supplements is not good, you need to take iron supplements under the guidance of a doctor to enhance the supplement. In addition, expectant mothers gain weight faster in the third trimester, so they need to pay more attention to low-salt, low-fat, and low-sugar diets, while minimizing the intake of refined grains. Fruits can also be replaced by vegetables, which can effectively prevent blood sugar from rising. Reduce the appearance of edema.