During pregnancy you need to be careful with regard to the food you ingest. Your food intake is likely to go up at this time because you are eating for not one but two. But that shouldn’t be taken to mean that you can eat just about anything. Sit with a dietitian and draw up a diet plan if you want to be really fastidious. But if you don’t want to be, there are certain rules of thumb that you can follow.

Increase your carbohydrate intake to begin with. An adequate proportion of cereals, breads, rice, potatoes, vegetables and fruits should do the needful as far as your carbohydrate intake is concerned.

For your baby to grow with a good blood count you would need to add a fair amount of protein to your diet. Fish is especially good for the growth of your baby’s cells. Also try and consume a decent proportion of egg whites, tofu, lean meats, and pulses.

If protein is good for you so are iron and calcium. Iron aids the development of red blood cells and doesn’t let you become anemic. Spinach and red meat (make sure it is lean) and some breads and cereals happen to be rich iron sources. Calcium, on the other hand, helps build bones and teeth. Dairy products like milk and yogurt are great sources of calcium as are most cheeses and seafood like sardines and salmons.

Another nutrient that aids the development of teeth and gums is vitamin C. Citrus fruits like orange, apple, and lemon are absolutely dripping with vitamin C. While going shopping don’t forget to look out for vitamin C-fortified fruit juices.

All these foods will also strengthen your baby’s umbilical cord which may be banked to aid stem cell research, a major breakthrough in medical science.

Contact us to know more about umbilical cord blood storage.

Tags: pregnancy, pregnancy food

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 21st, 2010 at 10:04 am and is filed under Pregnancy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.