Eat Your Way to A Healthy Pregnancy

Planning a pregnancy or already have a ‘bun in the oven’? Either way, it’s good to prepare yourself to ensure a healthy nine-month term.

One of the best preparations you can have is to watch what you eat. You may think food is purely for sustenance. But during pregnancy, what you put in affects your hormones, every single cell in your body and ultimately your baby. Yes, don’t forget that you’re eating for two – and your baby is the direct recipient of your food intake. So, it’s vital that you eat right for a healthy weight gain and increased energy – this means having a nutrient-rich diet!

Here are some foods that you should consider tucking into:

Dark green vegetables are not exactly exciting to eat, but they are considered super foods that play a crucial role in your baby’s development. Rich in calcium, potassium and fibre, leafy greens are also a good source of folate. This nutrient helps to prevent malformations of the brain and spinal cord, and is essential to organ formation. Leafy greens also provide a good dose of Vitamin A to aid in bone and skin growth as well as developing your baby’s eyesight.

Probiotics are the building blocks for digestive health and can be found in fermented foods such as kimchi, a quintessential Korean dish. Eating kimchi can help to maintain the delicate balance of bacteria in the body and strengthen your immune system as well as your baby’s. Including the probiotics-rich kimchi to your diet can even help to starve off yeast infections, a common problem that women face during pregnancy due to hormonal imbalance.

Prized by Asian women in maintaining beautiful skin complexion, bird’s nest is said to contain health and restorative benefits. While you can brew it yourself, many people are turning to bottled bird’s nest for easy consumption and convenience. Brewed with a traditional formula, BRAND’S^® Bird’s Nest with Rock Sugar comes in an easy-to-drink bottle and contains only genuine bird’s nest with no added preservatives or artificial flavouring.

Do you know that your blood volume increases by up to 50 per cent when you are expecting? For this reason, many women may experience anaemia during their pregnancy. A good way to counter this is to load up on lean meat such as beef and pork during your meals. A good source of iron, lean meat also contains enough protein to help stabilise your blood sugar levels and allow your foetus to develop sufficient muscles.

Apart from iron, expectant mothers need to consume more potassium due to their expanding blood volume. You may want to consider eating fruits such as oranges. The high levels of potassium in oranges are excellent in helping your muscles function and in boosting your metabolism. With good levels of Vitamin C, oranges also help to fight colds and keep your teeth and bones healthy as well as your baby’s.

Eating your way to a brainier child may just be possible. Salmon boasts high levels of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), one of the omega-3 fatty acids that is crucial for your baby’s brain and eye development.

Need further proof? Higher levels of DHA in newborns have been associated with higher IQs, advanced motor skills and fewer neurological problems later in life.

And while some other deep-sea fishes have been known to have high levels of mercury, salmon is relatively low in mercury, making it ideal for frequent consumption during your pregnancy and even beyond.