 The Boards Birth Stories Info Alley Mom's Lounge Reading List Resources Your Leader |
by Gail Dahl Excerpted from Pregnancy Tips, by Gail Dahl, copyright 1998, Innovative Publishing, $18.95, Softcover, 192 Pages, ISBN 1-896937-00-4. Distributed through London Drug Stores, Shoppers Drug Mart Stores, Canada Safeway Stores, Shirley K. Maternity Stores, and Thyme Maternity Stores and health food stores across Canada. Excerpted from Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide, by The Burton Goldberg Group, 1995. It is important to the health of both mother and fetus that the mother eats a well-balanced and varied diet. Fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, beans, and fish are essential. Limit refined sugars, processed foods, and saturated fats. Organically grown produce, meats, and poultry are preferable. However, if produce is not organic, it should be washed to remove as much of the agricultural chemicals as possible. Most physicians recommend eating plenty of dairy products during pregnancy, due to their calcium and protein content. Other doctors are more wary about suggesting dairy as a mainstay of a pregnant woman's diet. Lendon Smith, MD, a pediatrician and author of several books on children's nutrition, explains, "Many babies will develop a milk sensitivity before they are born because the mother followed the obstetrician dictum: 'Drink a quart of milk every day so the baby will get the calcium.' If a mother is already sensitive to dairy products and takes in milk, cheese, and ice cream, she may not be absorbing the calcium from those foods she is ingesting." Foods such as nuts, soybean products, such as tofu and soy milk, and goat milk products provide alternative sources of protein. Seaweed, green vegetables, and a mixture of sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin seeds are alternatives for calcium. No one food, including dairy, should be eaten on a daily basis, says Dr. Smith, as this practice increases an individual's chance of developing a food sensitivity. Contrary to popular belief, a well-chosen vegetarian diet is healthy for a pregnant woman. Vegetarians who consume no animal products at all, including dairy and eggs, should use a B12 supplement. Eating five to six small, nutrient-dense meals a day is a sensible idea. Restricting weight gain, which was very popular twenty years ago, was thought to ease a woman's labor. We now know that this is not necessarily so. New guidelines, issued in June 1990 by the Institute of Medicine in Washington, D.C. recommend increased weight gains for healthy pregnant women. The range of optimal weight gains depends on the weight of the mother early in pregnancy: twenty-eight to forty pounds for "underweight women", fifteen to twenty-five pounds for "overweight women", and a minimum of fifteen pounds for "obese women". These new guidelines, "reflect current interests in preventing low-birth weight babies and thus reduce the incidence of infant mortality and mental and physical retardation. Pregnancy is not the time to diet. Dr. Linton offers a simple formula."If you are eating a whole foods diet, drinking plenty of water, and getting adequate exercise such as walking or swimming, then the weight you gain in your pregnancy is appropriate." Opinions vary on the amount of protein that is needed during pregnancy. Some experts advocate consuming even more protein than the Recommended Daily Allowance: "I think that dietary protein," says Dr. Birdsall, "is probably the most common nutrient deficiency in pregnancy." Pregnant women need seventy to one hundred grams of protein daily, which most people will not get with a normal diet. "These levels of protein," adds Birdsall, "help feed increasing blood volume and guard against complications during pregnancy, such as preeclampsia, a potentially dangerous condition characterized by high blood pressure, swelling and or protein spilling into the urine." Sodium is needed to maintain fluid balance and blood volume. For this reason, salt restriction is one common nutritional advisement that does not apply during pregnancy. Restricting sodium and using diuretics, once routine treatments to prevent preclampsia and swelling, are not only unnecessary, but potentially harmful. It is best to use salt to taste. Burton Goldberg Group 1995. Nutrition Do not go on any calorie-reduced eating program while you are pregnant. The single most important thing you can do for your baby is to make sure you are eating well and eating often. A change in the food you purchase can make a vast difference in the health of your baby. If possible, purchase your fruits and vegetables organically. An organic tomato has 2,000 times more iron than a regular tomato. Organic lettuce has 60 times more calcium that regular lettuce. Reduce the amount of sugar in your eating habits. Chocolate, pop, candy, ice cream and the like will stick to your thighs like gum. Junk food fills you up so that there is no room for good nutritious food. Ask for water instead of pop with your food. Ask for herbal non-caffeinated tea instead of coffee. Some of the best teas during pregnancy are red raspberry leaf tea, peppermint and ginger. Wean yourself from regular coffee to half and half and then to decaffeinated coffee. At parties, bring along a bottle of club soda without sodium, or try some non-alcoholic wine or beer. Or ask for a glass of water with a twist of lime or lemon. This pregnancy tip from "Pregnancy & Childbirth Tips" by Gail J. Dahl, Innovative Publishing at www.pregnancytips.com The Online Birth Center News is copyright 2000 by Donna
Zelzer.
|
