Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Nutrition During Pregnancy

Question:
I'm looking for guidelines on what to eat (and how much) during pregnancy ..mainly to make sure I get enough of all the fruits and veggies and fiber etc. Is there anywhere I can find info that will tell me I should eat X pieces of fruit per day or X amount of fiber and what I can eat to constitute that amount of fiber? It would be nice to have it all spelled out for me so that I only have to make sure to eat at least 2 pieces of fruit a day, for example ..

Answer:
Get either Fertility, Cycles and Nutrition by Marilyn Shannon or What to Eat When You're Expecting. They both have good guidelines. The first book has a chart you can copy, laminate and attach to your fridge to mark with a dry wipe marker to keep you on tabs for the day. I really like having that! Another highly-recommended source: the book _Conception, Pregnancy and Birth_ by Dr. Miriam Stoppard. Chapter 4 is titled Food and Eating in Pregnancy, and has general nutritional guidelines, sample diets, and a section for vegetarian mothers-to-be. I can second Roger's suggestion. I have this book and I love it - it covers everything. Unlike WTEWYE, the nutritional guidelines are realistic and it doesn't tell you that you are doomed if you eat a burger every once in a while. I know that a lot of people like WTEWYE, but the eating guidelines are to stringent for me - I like food way to much. I decided to try to follow their guidelines now, before I got pregnant and I was starving all the time and I didn't get to eat any of my favorite foods because they are no-no's Now I am just making sure that I get as close as possible to the RDA for each food group. Yes ... I have laid off the burgers. While the overall discussion of nutrition (i.e. telling you that your baby will be born with birth defects if you let sugar pass your lips) is pretty stupid, the guidelines for healthy food in What to Expect are pretty good. But don't obsess about it. If you are 'supposed to' eat 3 pieces of fruit, and only get in 2 today, nothing terrible will happen.