What are the best foods to eat during pregnancy?

[23 January 2012 - 17h03]

A pregnant woman’s diet must be varied, balanced and sufficient to ensure the healthy growth of her unborn child. Such a diet should include at least 1½ litres of water every day, but also protein, carbohydrate and fats.

Meat, fish and eggs are a good source of protein and iron, which is essential to avoid the risk of anaemia and alleviate tiredness. Eat some of these forms of protein each day, along with dairy products, which are rich in calcium. These are necessary for healthy bone growth.

When working out your daily food requirements, be sure to include starches such as cereals, rice, pasta, dried vegetables, potatoes and bread. They are a good source of complex sugars – in other words, the slow-release sugars we’ve all heard about that will provide essential fuel to mother and baby. Fruit and vegetables provide rapid-release sugars and, importantly, vitamins and minerals.

During the first trimester, pregnant women should eat plenty of greenleaf vegetables. These are rich in B9 vitamins, the folates that are crucial to reducing the risk of spina bifida, a congenital disorder associated with defective closure of the neural tube.

Finally, fats too are essential. Fat is needed both for the development of the foetal brain and also for the mother’s health. However, fat intake should not exceed 60 to 80 grams a day. It’s quite simple: this is equivalent to 3 tablespoons of olive, sunflower, rapeseed or walnut oil a day.

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