Eating a healthy diet is important at all stages of life, but especially during pregnancy, as this is an excellent opportunity to adopt healthy habits, since eating healthy has a positive influence on both the health of the mother and the baby.
To begin with, we must tear down the myth “during pregnancy you have to eat for two”. This is not the case, what can be said is that “you have to give twice the importance to food during this period”.
During the first trimester of pregnancy it is not necessary to increase the calories we eat, it is emphasized the consumption of a balanced diet in combination with regular physical activity.
Starting in the second trimester is when it is advisable to increase caloric intake by 300 to 500 kcal, including slowly absorbed carbohydrates (legumes, potatoes, rice, pasta). This caloric increase should be maintained in the third trimester, also ensuring adequate intake. of high protein foods.
How much weight should I gain?
It is advisable to have an adequate weight before pregnancy. The increase is a reflection of the formation of new tissues such as amniotic fluid and placenta, the formation of the baby, the increase in the mother’s tissues (breasts, uterus, body water and blood volume), of all the weight gained , the power reserve accounts for 25%.
Total weight gain is highly variable and there is no specific figure, it depends on many factors and must be assessed individually for each pregnant woman. This weight gain must be adequate and controlled.
For a woman who begins the pregnancy with an adequate weight, the average weight gain during the 9 months of gestation is 9 to 12 kilos.
In the first trimester, little weight is usually gained, 1-3 kilos. Some women even lose weight because of the nausea and vomiting they experience.
It is in the second and third trimesters that most of the pregnancy weight is usually gained.
Basic feeding tips
During pregnancy you do not have to follow a special diet, the ideal is to have a complete, balanced, sufficient, adequate diet:
Complete, including the 6 food groups:
1. Cereals, tubers, roots, bananas.
2. Fruits and vegetables
3. Dairy and derivatives
4. Meats, eggs, dried legumes, nuts and seeds
5. Fats
6. Sugars.
Balanced: each of the food groups should be consumed in the necessary amount.
Sufficient: that covers the needs of energy and nutrients.
Adequate: it must be adapted according to the stage of the pathology cycle, among others.