Nutrition During Pregnancy

In order for your baby to develop well from the beginning, it is important that you eat healthy during pregnancy. It's not so much that you're eating larger quantities than usual. Pregnant people only need a little more energy, i.e. calories, starting in the fourth month of pregnancy. Even at the end of pregnancy, the difference is pretty small at around 250 extra calories per day. This is roughly equivalent to one serving of vegetables or one cup of soup. It’s more important that the growing fetus gets quality nutrients and vitamins. Although the need increases greatly during pregnancy, it gets most of them automatically if you eat healthy. But there are a few substances that pregnant people often lack, even with good nutrition. These are mainly folic acid, iron and iodine. It is best to talk about these issues with your doctor. A blood test can determine whether you are sufficiently supplied with all important substances. It's also important to know that there are foods that you should avoid eating or drinking if possible when pregnant.

The best thing for you and your baby is to eat lots of fresh vegetables, salads and fruit and cook hot meals using fresh ingredients. If possible, spread the food out over five small meals a day. This will help you prevent heartburn and nausea. It is important to always wash fruit, vegetables and salad thoroughly under running water before preparing them, to cook meat through thoroughly and to prepare the food as shortly as possible before eating and to consume it quickly. Ideal ingredients include whole grains, low-fat milk and dairy products (such as yogurt), fresh fish, fresh potatoes, lean meat, and good vegetable oils. These are, for example, olive oil or rapeseed oil. These foods contain many more minerals and vitamins than highly processed products like potato chips or convenience foods. You should eat as little of that as possible. So-called ‘superfoods’ like chia seeds or goji berries are not necessary for a healthy diet, by the way. There are plenty of local foods that are just as healthy. With a purely plant-based diet, as well as with a generally unhealthy diet, you lack vital nutrients such as iodine, folic acid and vitamin B12. If you still want to avoid animal products during pregnancy, be sure to discuss this with your doctor or a nutritionist and talk about what you need to watch out for and how you can get these nutrients in a different way, for example as a dietary supplement. Counseling is also recommended for vegetarian diets to ensure your baby is getting all the nutrients they need.

You need extra fluids during pregnancy. Therefore, you should drink at least 1.5 liters per day. Water, unsweetened fruit and herbal teas and juices diluted with plenty of water are best. Drinks that contain a lot of sugar and calories, such as sodas, fizzy drinks, or fruit juice drinks, are not suitable. Like other sweets, such drinks can lead to increased blood sugar levels. This increases the risk of gestational diabetes.

Of course, you can still eat sweets and fast food from time to time during pregnancy if you feel like it. It just shouldn't be too frequent. If you consume a lot of sugar in the form of cakes, biscuits, chocolate and ice cream, you are at risk of developing gestational diabetes. This is a form of diabetes that can lead to serious health problems for you and your baby. Fast food is not healthy either. It often contains larger amounts of additives and low-quality fat. At the same time it has few vitamins and minerals. You should also eat meat only in moderation. Experts recommend 300 to 600 grams of low-fat meat or sausage and two servings of fresh saltwater fish per week. Fatty saltwater fish such as salmon or mackerel contains a lot of protein and also provides iodine and healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

If you're healthy, you can eat almost anything you like during pregnancy. However, there are a few foods you should not eat. This includes raw or undercooked meat, raw sausage such as salami or tea sausage, raw fish, raw seafood, smoked fish and raw milk products, as well as all types of food containing raw eggs. This is due to certain pathogens that are found in or on these products and can cause toxoplasmosis, for example. For adults, these germs are mostly harmless. During pregnancy, however, they can endanger the fetus. That's why you shouldn't eat cheeses labeled ‘raw milk’ or ‘attested milk’, such as soft cheeses like gorgonzola, or camembert. This also applies to smear-ripened cheeses such as esrom, handkäse cheese or tilsiter. Soft cheeses made from pasteurized milk and hard cheeses, on the other hand, are not a problem. With these varieties, however, you should cut off the rind. Caution is also advised with raw eggs. Salmonella can be inside or on the shell of eggs. Therefore, you should only eat eggs cooked through and avoid desserts that are prepared with raw eggs. Also, be sure to wash kitchen items and your hands thoroughly if they have come in contact with raw food. If you like to eat liver, you should also avoid it during pregnancy. The high vitamin A content can harm the baby.

Not only coffee, but also many other drinks contain caffeine. If you ingest large amounts of it, it's not good for your baby. Because caffeine goes directly into the body of the fetus. There, as in your own body, it stimulates the release of stress hormones. This increases blood pressure and the heart beats faster. Experts recommend that pregnant people drink no more than 200 milligrams of caffeine per day. That's the equivalent of about two cups of coffee. Black and green tea and cocoa also contain caffeine, but much less than coffee. It is important to know, however, that cola and energy drinks contain as much or even more caffeine than coffee. Energy drinks may contain up to 320 milligrams of caffeine per liter. This is well above the amount considered safe for pregnant people. It is best not to drink energy drinks at all during pregnancy. They also contain a lot of sugar and various other substances about whose interactions little is known.