F YOU ARE EXPECTING, you need to place a greater emphasis on your diet because you are the only source of nutrition for your baby during pregnancy. What you eat and don’t eat during pregnancy
can affect your child not only during pregnancy but for its entire life.
If you are eating for two how much more do you need to eat? Very little. During the first trimester your caloric intake should remain roughly the same as before you became pregnant; during the second and third trimester your caloric intake should increase by three hundred calories.
But how much is three hundred calories? A slice of pizza or a piece of cake or a generous scoop of ice cream! These are not the foods you want to eat much of during pregnancy. The required extra caloric intake is limited so you want to meet this requirement with foods you and your baby really need: protein, iron, B vitamins, and calcium.
But remember pregnancy is not the time to try to lose weight. Weight reduction during pregnancy can cause a low-birth-weight baby. Women who are normal weight before pregnancy should gain a total of 25 to 35 lbs during their pregnancy.
Given that you have a limited budget of no more than two to three hundred calories to work with, how do you spend it wisely? Pay particular attention to the following nutrients:
Protein: The developing foetus needs protein to grow. Add about thirty extra grams of protein to your diet by eating three servings of protein rich foods such as lean meat, fish, eggs and cheese amounting to a total protein intake of 75 to 100 grams. A very high-protein low-carbohydrate diet is not recommended. You need carbohydrates for a steady supply of energy. If you are a strict vegetarian combine whole grains, nuts, and beans to meet your protein requirement.
Iron: You need extra iron during pregnancy for the additional red blood cells your body produces and for the foetus to produce its own entire blood supply. This comes to about 5 to 6 milligrams of additional iron daily.

Without an iron supplement your own iron stores could get depleted leading to anaemia. You should therefore take a daily multivitamin and mineral supplement providing 30 milligrams of elemental iron.
Calcium: You need plenty of calcium during pregnancy to build your baby’s bones. Make sure you get 1200 mg of calcium daily. This requirement can be met by about four cups of milk and yogurt. If you cannot meet your calcium requirement from food alone, you can add a calcium supplement. Talk to your doctor. Split up calcium doses so you get no more than 500 mg at a time. To maximise absorption, do not take calcium and iron supplements together.
Folic Acid: Your multivitamin and mineral supplement must provide 400 mcg of folic acid. A lack of this B vitamin has been linked with neural tube birth defects such as spina bifida. If you are a strict vegetarian, it is also very important you get adequate vitamin B12 from your vitamin supplement.
Things to Avoid
• Limit consumption of top predator fish such as shark, swordfish and fresh or frozen tuna as these may contain mercury. It is well known that high levels of mercury can damage the nervous system.
• Avoid alcohol. There is no safe amount to drink during pregnancy.
• Stop smoking. Women who smoke during pregnancy are at risk of having low-birth-weight babies. Low birth-weight is one of the leading causes of infant illness, disability, and death.
• Skip junk food: There is increasing evidence based on animal studies that eating fatty processed foods during pregnancy could lead to your child having a higher risk of developing heart disease and type 2 diabetes later in life.
• Be wary of raw foods. Food poisoning can be quite harmful to your baby as it causes dehydration. Red meat should not be pink inside, and avoid any foods containing raw eggs.