Showing posts with label food for moms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food for moms. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Eating to Prevent Heartburn for Pregnant

Heartburn does not just affect those who are high stressed or love their spicy foods.  Pregnant women suffer from heartburn too.  You will find as your pregnancy progresses that antacids tend to  become your best friend.   Heartburn has nothing to do with your heart.

It is when the acid from your stomach leaks up into the esophagus.  Heartburn is very common during pregnancy.  In fact one in four women experience heartburn during their pregnancy usually during the third trimester.  The reason is that your baby has grown a tremendous amount and your uterus has moved up and is now putting pressure on your stomach.  This crowds the digestive tract and allows acids to travel back up the esophagus.   There is an old wives tale that if you have bad heartburn, your baby will have a lot of hair.   Of course there is no proof in this but it is a fun thing to believe in.

There are ways you can help prevent heartburn during pregnancy.  You can start by taking your time while you eat.  Not only will you enjoy your food better but your stomach will not have to work as hard to digest your food.  You also want to try eating early and eat at least two hours before you go to bed that night so your body has plenty of time to digest your food.

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Source: Eating to Prevent Heartburn for Pregnant

Friday, July 1, 2011

Eating Well Even After Your Pregnancy

Congratulations and welcome to parenthood.  Your body has gone through a lot these past nine months and it still has a while to go before it is back to normal.  The next few months are going to give you and your body a whole new set of challenges especially if you are a first time parent.  Recovering from childbirth is exhausting and when you throw a new baby who has no concept of time into the mix and you might find your head spinning.  Eating well during this time is almost as important as eating well during your pregnancy.

Your body has just been through a traumatic ordeal.  If you gave birth vaginally, you mind find yourself recovering from tears and what not.  If you gave birth via c-section, you are recovering from major surgery.   The first thing most hospitals and doctors like to make sure is that your plumbing and waste systems are working.

Eating high fiber food and drinking lots of water after your delivery will help make that first bowel movement a lot less painful.  This can be a little hard for women who delivery via c-section because they are usually on a liquid diet for the first 24 hours. You may find you need a little help from either stool softeners or prune juice to make that first trip a little easier.

Once you are home from the hospital, you are going to need your energy to take care of the baby.   Gone are the nights where you were able to get a full 8 hours of sleep.  You might not see that again for at least three months,  though ask any parent and they will tell you that getting 8 hours of sleep a night will not happen until your kids are grown and married. Sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on you and it is important that you eat healthy to maintain a decent amount of energy.

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Source: Eating Well Even After Your Pregnancy

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Food Cravings During Pregnancy

Do pickles and ice cream sound good to you?  How about red peppers and peanut butter?  If these do, you are probably a pregnant woman who has just gone looking for that ice cream carton you know you have buried in your freezer. More than three quarters of all pregnant women experience cravings at some point.  The most common cravings are for sweets, dairy products and salty foods although there are some weird cravings out there.  Some women have been known to put black olives on cheesecake, while others have been known to dip fruit in salsa.  As bizarre as some cravings can be, they are mainly perfectly safe.

There are old wives tales that believe what you crave could be a good indication of the sex of your baby.  If you are craving sweets you are having a girl.  If you crave meats or cheeses, it is believed you are having a boy.  Cravings are something that most women love most about pregnancy.  It is when a woman is craving dirt or clay that an alarm should go off.  If you should find yourself craving dirt, soil, or chalk call your doctor right away.  Not only could these be harmful if you do eat them, but chances are they are a sign of iron-deficiency anemia.

Most doctors believe that cravings can be nutritionally based. That is to say the cravings are a message from your body on what it needs to eat.  If you are craving salts foods it could be because your body needs more sodium as your blood volume increases.  If you are craving fruit, your body might need more vitamins C.   The problem is sometimes the message gets lost on the way to our brain.  You may find yourself craving something sweet and instead of getting berries or fruit, you find yourself gulping down snicker bars by the cart full.  Cravings can be the downfall of your weight gain especially if the message is getting scrambled.  There are some ways though you can help curb your cravings.

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Source: Food Cravings During Pregnancy

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Foods to Avoid While Pregnant

Almost every woman knows the basic of what they should and should not do during pregnancy.  They know that caffeine should be cut back; they should not smoke, drink alcohol or spend time in any hot tubs.  However more and more studies are being done to see if pregnant women should avoid certain foods for the duration of their pregnancy.

It is essential that pregnant women eat a well balanced meal at all times to provide their growing baby with the vitamins, nutrients and minerals that the baby needs to grow.   There are some foods though that needs to be avoided due to the risk they pose to not just to the mother, but also to the growing baby.

For starters, raw meat needs to be avoided due to the risk of toxoplasmosis and salmonella.  This means no more rare steaks, or rare burgers.  Pregnant women should take caution and make sure that all of the meat they eat is cooked well done.  Cold deli meat should also be avoided because of the risk of listeria.  Listeria can cross the placenta and can cause an infection or blood poisoning to the baby.  Keep in mind though that deli meat can be reheated until it is steaming and this will help reduce the risk.

Speaking of listeria there are other foods that can contain this bacteria.  Some soft cheeses such as brie, feta, and gorgonzola.  These cheeses are commonly made with unpasterized milk.  Unpasterized milk often contains listeria, so pregnant women need to make sure that any soft cheeses they are going to eat are made with pasteurized milk.

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Source:  Foods to Avoid While Pregnant

Monday, June 27, 2011

Eating Well For Your Baby

Congratulations, you are pregnant!  The next nine months are going to be an exciting time, not just for you but for your growing baby!  Think of all the things a baby has to accomplish in only nine (ten) short months.  They start as a single cell and then divide at an enormous rate.  Their organs develop, the heart forms and starts beating and all five senses form.

Basically your baby goes from a little blob that can’t be seen with the human eye into a seven, eight, nine or even ten pound adorable newborn baby.  In order for your baby to develop as healthy as possible, your diet should play a big part.  This is because your diet is how your baby is going to receive all the vitamins, minerals, protein and fluids that he or she needs to grow and develop.  The best thing you and any other pregnant mother can do for your growing baby is to eat as healthy as you possibly can.  Let us look at all the benefits eating well can do for your baby.

First, eating right is going to help your baby’s organ development.  Your baby only has a short time to develop vital organs such as their heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys.  Eating a diet that lacks vitamin D or calcium can interfere with your baby’s bone and tooth growth.

Next eating too lightly through out pregnancy might stop your baby from growing as it should in your uterus.   You might find yourself measuring behind for where you should be in your pregnancy.  Small babies are at a greater risk for healthy problems once they are born.  On the other hand, eating to much can cause your baby to grow too big to fast.  Babies who are measuring ahead are at a greater risk for delivery complications.  Babies who are too big usually can not be delivered vaginally without the assistance of instruments such as forceps or a vacuum.  Some women are forced to have a cesarean section because they can not deliver their baby vaginally.

Source: Eating Well For Your Baby

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

How Eating Well Can Help During Pregnancy

There are a number of aches and pains that come with pregnancy.  While back in the day many doctors just brushed them aside and said that is part of pregnancy, now a days more and more doctors are recommending a well balanced diet to help.  Here are just a few pregnancy aliments that a good diet can help.

A common complaint during pregnancy is tooth and gum problems.  To help keep your teeth healthy and your baby’s teeth healthy, make sure you get enough calcium and vitamin C.  Always keep some sugarless gum near you or chew on some nuts and cheese.

It is also not uncommon for many women to feel dizzy or lightheaded during pregnancy especially if they have gone to long without eating. This is why it is so important to eat through out the day and snack also.  Keep your snacks as healthy as you can and stay away from junk food whenever you can.  These foods will give you a quick rush of energy but ultimately leave you feeling worse than you did before you ate them.  Keep yourself hydrated also.  Snacking and drinking will help boost your blood sugar and keep you hydrated which can help you fight dizziness.

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Thursday, May 26, 2011

How to Avoid Constipation During Pregnancy

It is Murphy’s law that just when you are able to get food into your body without having it come back up, that you suddenly find you can not get the food out of your body.  Nearly half of all the women who are pregnant suffer from constipation during pregnancy.

As with all symptoms of pregnancy there is a reason for constipation.  When you are pregnant your body creates progesterone which in turns relaxes the muscles of the bowels and causes your digestive tracks to work much slower.  Your digestive track works slower to make sure your body absorbs the nutrients from your food for your baby.  This can create constipation, which if it not kept under control, can lead to hemorrhoids.

There are some ways you can help avoid constipation throughout your pregnancy.  Make sure you included plenty of fiber in your diet.  Fiber absorbs water and can help to soften your stools and speed their passage.  Eat plenty of high fiber foods like whole grain cereal and oatmeal.  Instead of eating white bread with your sandwiches, eat whole grain breads.  Add some oat bran to your cereals or yogurt.

Fresh fruits are also an excellent way to get your fiber in.  Melons and plums have a high amount of fiber in them as wells as dried fruits like figs, raisins, apricots and of course the well known favorite prunes.  Prunes and prune juice have a like laxative effect and will help keep things moving properly in your body.  Aim to eat at least 25 to 30 grams of fiber a day.  You can tell you are getting enough fiber if your stools are large and soft and you aren’t straining to pass them.  Keep in mind though that too much fiber can lead to diarrhea which can lead to dehydration so do not over do the fiber in your diet.

 Read more of How to Avoid Constipation During Pregnancy, click here!