Archive

Posts Tagged ‘Pregnancy’

Pregnancy Exercises – shoulders and obliques

December 30th, 2010


Exercises for shoulders and obliques that can safely be performed throughout your entire pregnancy. Effective, safe moves for anyone interested in strengthening and toning their body.

, , ,

Researchers Investigate Role of Exercise as Part of a Healthy Pregnancy Diet Plan

November 15th, 2010

Tournament Strives to Put Some More Zip Into Game
Robin Soderling dispatched Gaël Monfils on an indoor tennis court made for quick work.

Read more on New York Times

Vitamin E linked to stroke risk
More than half of Americans down vitamins or other supplements every day, and about 1 in 10 of those people take vitamin E in the hopes of preventing cardiovascular disease. Research hasn’t painted a clear picture on the antioxidant’s benefit. It seems to make no difference for heart attacks, but the research on stroke has been conflicting. A new analysis …

Read more on Boston Globe

Researchers Investigate Role of Exercise as Part of a Healthy Pregnancy Diet Plan
Certified nutritionist and exercise specialist Isabel De Los Rios discusses the importance of moderate exercise and solid nutrition as part of a healthy pregnancy diet plan in her new educational video series What to Eat While Pregnant. De Los Rios holds a pre-med degree from Rutgers University. She has helped 50,000 people take control of their health and their weight with the aid of her …

Read more on PRWeb

, , , , , , , ,

Folic Acid – One of the Most Important Pregnancy Nutrition Supplements

August 13th, 2010

Pregnant women can reap the benefits of pregnancy nutrition supplements that contain multivitamins and other compounds. And these benefits are not limited during pregnancy. You can start these supplements well before you plan to become pregnant, during labor and delivery, and during breastfeeding too.

Nutrition during pregnancy period is vital; or else, you should be ready to see birth defects in your baby. Unfortunately, the standard American diet is high in salts, sugar, fats, and is devoid of essential vitamins and minerals that are required during pregnancy and nursing. Besides, an average American diet is also low on complex carbs.

By getting proper nutrition guidelines, you can give yourself a well-balanced diet that has a variety. Vegetarian nutrition comes from fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, beans, whole grains. It is characterized by a limited consumption of refined and processed foods, sugars, and saturated fats. Organic foods, too, are fast becoming popular among pregnant women, who do not want to depend solely on pregnancy nutrition supplements for their health.

Folic Acid Studies

The only vitamin whose requirement doubles during pregnancy is folate. A deficiency of can lead to the birth of a low weight baby as well as one that has neural tube disorders. In a study, women with high risk pregnancy, which means they had earlier delivered infants with neural tube disorders, were supplemented with folate pills. They displayed about 72 percent of protective effect as compared to the placebo group.

In another study, it was found that pregnant women, who were kept on a dose of folate nutritional supplements while pregnant, delivered babies with higher birth weight as well as Apgar scores. Also, they had a reduced incidence of maternal infections and fetal growth retardations.

On account of the proven links between folic acid deficiency and incidence of delivery of low birth weight babies as well as neural tube disorders, the US Public Health Service has recommended the intake of its supplements for all women of childbearing age. This will alleviate the risk of congenital birth disorders.

Sources Of Folic Acid

Folic acid is naturally present in green leafy vegetables, whole grains, nuts, parsley, and dandelion. However, you should be careful not to take an overdose of folic acid. It reduces the absorption of zinc. This is a mineral needed for the healthy growth of fetus and development of immunity.

Read books, articles, and talk to your doctor about pregnancy nutrition supplements.

, , , , , ,

Pregnancy Diet – Watch your Nutrition

July 27th, 2010

Pregnancy is not only most creative and fulfilling phase of womanhood but it teaches you to be more responsible and caring towards yourself particularly with respect to pregnancy diet and nutrition. In the pregnancy period, your baby, whom you are creating with your flesh and blood, is still very much part of your body and for that you need more nutrition intake. During pregnancy, nutritional needs are increased, both to support the rapid growing fetus and to supplement the needs of your changing body structure.

Plan your pregnancy diet in such a way that you are the only supply line for your unborn baby’s nutrition needs. Your eating habits will decide your baby’s health and well-being. Poor eating or rather unhealthy food habits can adversely affect your pregnancy diet and nutrition and result in conditions like anemia, pre-eclampsia, mood swings, fatigue, leg cramps, constipation, etc.

Pregnancy: Celebrate It With Healthy Pregnancy Diet

During pregnancy, every bite counts. Whatever an expectant mother eats or hates to eat, affects her child. According to a recent research, besides physical development, intelligence of a child and his/her mental faculty depends a lot on the diet and nutrition of the mother during pregnancy.

In the first trimester of pregnancy, one does not need extra calories per se in pregnancy diet. However, one needs to have lots of high protein, calcium, vitamins such as Vitamins B12, B6, vitamin D iron, zinc and folic acid (it has been proved after myriad researches that even a simple tablet of folic acid prevents severe neurological- brain and spinal cord disorders). In addition, minerals, essential fatty acids and substantial calories are all-important for the fetus’ all-round development and therefore should be essential components of pregnancy diet and nutrition plan.

As the pregnancy period progresses, one must start eating more of proteins in the pregnancy diet. A pregnant woman needs approximately 300 calories more than normal during last 6 months of pregnancy. In first three months of pregnancy, your weight gain should be 3-5 pounds in per month but in last 6 months, you should not gain more than 3 pounds per month. Your pregnancy diet and nutrition chart should be designed in accordance with these acceptable weight gain goals.

Foods To Include In Pregnancy Diet

You should include fresh, light, wholesome, high fiber foods in your pregnancy diet in form of porridge (minerals and natural fiber); dairy (calcium); red vegetables like carrot and tomatoes (carotene); red and orange fruits like apples and oranges (vitamin B complex). Walnuts, almonds and raisins (vitamin and minerals); leafy vegetables like cabbage, spinach, broccoli (calcium and iron); brown rice, jaggery, lotus stem (iron); sprouts, lentil and pulses (protein), curd, buttermilk, paneer and of course plenty of milk (calcium) are important ingredients of pregnancy diet.

During the pregnancy period, eat five small meals a day instead of three heavy meals. Also, reduce your intake of fat, sugar and salt. Do not indulge in overeating during pregnancy because if you eat too much you will feel uncomfortable.

One basic mantra of staying healthy is to drink lots of water (will prevent dehydration and wash out the toxins of body) as soon as you wake up in the morning and after your afternoon nap It helps clean your digestive system too. You might be scared you would vomit if you drink more water, when you have nausea, which is normal in pregnancy, but the fact is, water helps to flush out the toxins from your body.

During pregnancy, strictly avoid junk food because they just give you empty calories (and extra pounds) without the nutritional benefits of healthier foods also avoid caffeine and alcohol fats, oily food, additives and unpasteurized food.

Besides healthy eating and maintaining a healthy pregnancy diet and nutrition plan in consultation with your doctor, you should do yoga and other light exercises under expert medical advice. Last but not the least, try to remain stress free, meditate and in this period of your pregnancy increase your connectivity with the Almighty. This will definitely shower you and your baby with positive energy.

So, be cool, relax, and celebrate your pregnancy and be a responsible and caring mom-to-be with balanced pregnancy diet and nutrition.

, , ,

Pregnancy Nutrition Guidelines for a Healthy Pregnancy

July 7th, 2010

Pregnancy nutrition guidelines are necessary for pregnant women. It’s true that during this time, you need just 300 calories extra daily. However, they should not be empty calories. Nutrition is the word here.

Read on to know about the exact nutrition during pregnancy that you need. It’s not difficult at all to follow a well balanced vegetarian nutrition diet during pregnancy.

Calcium

As per the pregnancy nutrition guidelines that are prepared by doctors, your calcium intake at this time should range from 1200-1500 mg daily. Calcium is vital for the healthy growth and development of your baby’s bones, muscles, heart, and teeth. If you do not take adequate calcium, your baby will use your calcium reserves. This increases the risk of osteoporosis in you.

Your pregnancy nutrition chart should contain milk and its products. For lactose intolerant women, there are lactose-free milk products, buttermilk, soy milk, or cultured yoghurt. If this doesn’t work, ask your doctor for calcium supplements.

Protein

During pregnancy, you need about 60 grams of protein daily for the healthy growth of your baby. Besides, it keeps your placenta, uterus, and breasts in a healthy state; it increases the volume of blood, and produces adequate amniotic fluid.

Iron

According to the pregnancy nutrition guidelines, iron is important for production of hemoglobin in the mom-to-be and her fetus. Besides this, in the last trimester, your baby takes iron reserves from your body to keep anemia at bay in the first six months of it’s life. Also, you lose a certain amount of blood during delivery. For all these reasons, it’s crucial to increase the intake of iron.

Your body needs only 27 mg of iron daily yet you need to take 60 mg because not all ingested iron is absorbed in the body. If you are found to be anemic, it’s good to take pregnancy nutrition supplements of iron.

One of the tricks to absorb iron better is to take it with vitamin C enriched foods. Tomato juice, orange, or grapefruit are good options. Avoid taking them with milk, cheese, or other calcium enriched foods, as calcium hampers the absorption of iron.

Vitamins

Pregnancy nutrition guidelines recommend a 25-50 % increase in the intake of vitamins. The requirement of folic acid doubles to 400 micrograms daily at this time. Eating a variety of foods in your pregnancy diet leads to the fulfillment of vitamin requirement.

Even if you think that you are taking a nutritious diet during pregnancy, it’s important to have a look at pregnancy nutrition guidelines and read pertinent articles and books.

, , ,