Nutrition for pregnant women is of great importance. Especially you need to pay attention to nutrition in the first trimester, because it is in the first weeks of pregnancy that all organs and systems in the body of the crumbs are laid and differentiated. Proper nutrition during this period will help provide the child with everything necessary for this important process - embryogenesis.
How does the embryo receive nutrition?
For the first week after conception, the baby does not receive nutrition from the mother's blood - he has no connection with her blood vessels. The yolk sac, which forms at the site of the bursting follicle, is responsible for nutrition. After the ovum descends into the uterus, it lives in the nutrient medium of the intrauterine fluid. On the 7-9th day after conception, implantation occurs - the outer shells of the embryo are attached to the wall of the uterus.
The thinnest antennae-villi, which will become chorion, secrete substances that destroy the cells of the maternal endometrial layer, so the ovum is able to penetrate deeper into the endometrium. The villi connect to the mother's blood vessels and the baby begins to receive nutrients directly from the mother's blood. There is no placenta yet.
In this way, you need to think about what the baby is "eating" in the womb immediately after the woman sees two stripes on the test.
There is no need to postpone this for later - right now the child has a need for certain substances that will contribute to the process of embryogenesis.
What does the child need?
The organs and systems of the embryo are intensively formed. These are very energy-intensive processes, and therefore in the 1st trimester a woman must definitely increase the calorie content of her daily diet by 100 Kcal (up to 2300-2700 Kcal).
The sensitivity of the crumbs to the lack of certain nutrients and vitamins, as well as to their excess, is very high in the first three months of the gestation period, and therefore you need to try to ensure that the food is maximally saturated with vitamins and minerals. Even if a woman is accustomed to having breakfast and lunch at a fast food restaurant on the run, after two strips on the dough, you must definitely change your habits - start eating vegetables, fruits, berries, fresh herbs, seafood, nuts, fermented milk products, meat and fish.
The need for carbohydrates (as the main source of energy) increases by 15%, in fats - by 5%, in proteins - by 30%. The daily ration of the above calorie content should be distributed as follows:
- the share of carbohydrates - 55% of the diet;
- the share of fats - 30% of the diet;
- the share of proteins - 15% of the diet.
Even if the woman is a convinced vegetarian, right now an exception needs to be made for the sake of the baby's health - protein is needed as a building material for his body, and, alas, vegetable protein cannot be such. You need a full-fledged, animal protein (man is not conceived by nature as a herbivore, many processes of embryogenesis require a sufficient amount of animal protein).
Protein is essential in the first trimester not only for the proper development of the fetus, but also for the growth of the uterus. Animal protein is actively involved in the formation of the placenta. It is very simple to calculate the amount of protein for a particular pregnant woman: for each kilogram of her body weight, 1.5 grams of protein per day is required.
Of the amount obtained, only 50% should be represented by plant proteins, the rest is animal proteins, which are now indispensable.
You can get the amount of animal protein you need from meat and fish - about 25% of the daily amount, from milk - 20%, and about 5% - from chicken and quail eggs. Attempts to replace meat and fish with milk alone will not be crowned with success.
The consequences of a lack of protein in the first trimester can be quite dire for a child:
- the development of diabetes mellitus;
- obesity;
- violation of the functioning and structure of the heart and blood vessels.
Vegan women who flatly refuse meat are advised to diversify their menu with at least milk and eggs, although this will not fully provide the required amount of structural protein.
Fats are necessary for the development of the baby's brain, for the formation and laying of nerve cells and endings, to ensure the intellectual potential of the child, which is only half dependent on genetic data. Without the presence of fats, some vitamins cannot be absorbed, such as vitamin A and vitamin D.
Fats must be obtained from vegetable oils, which can be used to dress salads and side dishes. There is no need to heat or boil the oil. It is better to eliminate animal fat and fat from the diet, since it will not benefit. Don't skip butter. It needs to be consumed about 20 grams per day. Total fat per day in the first trimester requires about 85 grams per day.
The energy costs of the female and child's body must replenish carbohydrates. They need about 500 grams per day if a woman is not overweight, and only 300 grams if overweight. It is best to consume carbohydrates that are quickly absorbed and do not require a lot of insulin production. These are buckwheat porridge, oatmeal, rice, fresh vegetables and fruits, bread.
Catering Tips
A woman should definitely drink more fluids. There is still no urgent need to limit what you drink, as in the long term. If you subtract the first courses and do not take them into account at all, then the female body needs from one and a half to two liters of liquid. This includes still water, homemade fruit drinks, fruit drinks, self-pressed juices.
Even if there is little time to cook, you should take every opportunity to try to eat only fresh, home-made. Products that a pregnant woman needs early every day:
- lean meat or fish - about 150-200 grams;
- milk or dairy products - about a glass;
- low-fat cottage cheese - about 60 grams;
- fresh vegetables - about 450 grams;
- fruits and berries - about 400 grams.
Try to break the daily diet into 4-5 meals, but in less plentiful portions. Up to 30% of the diet should be given for breakfast, 40% for lunch. 10% receive dinner and two snacks during the day.
Important! The propensity for allergies in children whose mothers in the first trimester have foods with high allergenicity is 75% higher than in children whose mothers avoided such foods.
Citrus fruits, peanuts, some types of seafood (mussels, oysters, octopuses) are considered to be highly allergenic.
Women who study, work may be confused - how to eat 5 times a day? It's very simple: get a container for food, in which in the morning you can put what will be needed for snacks - fruits, cottage cheese. Nothing bad will happen if in her busy schedule the expectant mother finds two times five minutes each to have a snack and support the healthy formation of her baby.
Prepare food in certain ways. For a pregnant woman, boiled, stewed, baked, steamed dishes will be most useful. Fried should be discarded.
Prohibited foods
The menu of a pregnant woman from the earliest dates should contain only fresh food. If the fruit is grown in the area in which the woman lives, if the meat is of domestic production. There are product groups that you need to give up right away. They should not be eaten under any circumstances throughout the entire period of bearing a child.
- Canned food and pickled foods - all canned food contains preservatives (as the name implies). They have an effect similar to that of carcinogens. The ban applies to canned meat, fish and vegetables.
- Smoked and fat-free sausages, ham, sausages. There is not much meat in such products, but there is more than enough fat, sugar and dyes.
- Store juices in packs and bottles - there are few vitamins, but a lot of sugar. This can also include sweet soda.
- Factory sweets, candies, cakes and pastries - a source of so-called fast carbohydrates, which do not provide a person with energy, but only contribute to the deposition of fat.
- Salted and smoked fish, meat contain a large amount of salt and fat, and smoked in factory conditions contain harmful carcinogens from liquid smoke with which raw products are processed.
- Alcoholic drinks - all without exception. Ethanol has a detrimental effect on the formation of the fetus and, if used systematically, can lead to malformations, to a change in DNA.
- Ketchup, mayonnaise, fast food - an abundance of heavy, unhealthy fats, preservatives and dyes.
Diet for toxicosis
The first trimester is often accompanied by toxicosis. The reasons why a perfectly healthy young woman begins to vomit, doctors still have not been able to establish. It is believed that this is the tricks of the immune system, which refuses to quickly accept the fact that the body is working in a new reality - in a state of pregnancy.
Toxicosis usually begins from 5-7 weeks and lasts, as a rule, up to 13-14 weeks, when the young placenta is finally formed and begins to perform its duties.
The thought that painful smells and vomiting are temporary, of course, soothes, but after all, these three months still have to be endured somehow!
It is important for a woman in a state of toxicosis to see a doctor to determine the degree of gestational intoxication. There is toxicosis, which is treated exclusively in a hospital, and you cannot help with proper nutrition. If a woman develops nausea, vomiting several times a day, some smells seem intrusive to her, but there are no signs of dehydration, then you can do with organizing your meals in such a way as to cope with a difficult period without prejudice to your own body and the health of the child.
- The first rule of nutrition for toxicosis is that you must eat. Even if you don't want to, you still need to eat in small portions, little by little.
- The second rule is not to limit your diet to one product. Some advise women to eat at least what she can eat, but mono-nutrition, for example, only cottage cheese or only pickles, will not provide the child with everything necessary during the laying of organs and systems.
- The third rule is to eat a piece of something containing sugar before getting out of bed. Morning sickness is usually closely related to a drop in glucose levels, which is normal after a night's sleep. If you prepare a plate of dried fruit in the evening and put it on the bedside table, then in the morning it will be easy to quickly replenish your glucose level, and only then get up and do all the necessary morning chores.
Women with toxicosis are not recommended to eat sweets during the day, as well as fatty ones. It is recommended to take food warm, not hot or cold, so there is more chance that it will be absorbed.
If a woman's toxicosis is accompanied by frequent vomiting, then she is allowed to eat salty, but at the same time it is imperative to drink at least two liters of liquid per day - it is important to restore the water-salt balance.
Lemon water can help reduce nausea by adding a few drops of lemon juice to your drinking water. You can take this drink with you to work, to school. A rosehip decoction is useful. It can be prepared both from fresh fruits and from dried ones.
Fruits rich in ascorbic acid will help to cope with unpleasant nausea, but you should be as careful as possible with citrus fruits.
Among herbal teas, it is recommended to drink a decoction of calendula, tea with mint leaves.
It is important to discuss other herbal and traditional medicine recipes with your doctor - not all herbs are equally useful, and some can harm the child at all.
Vitamins - Needed or Not?
Even eating properly, it is quite difficult to maintain the necessary balance of vitamins and minerals in the body. In the first trimester, there is a high need for B vitamins, vitamins D, K, E, A. Iodine and calcium, zinc and selenium, iron are also needed.
Nutrition alone, even a carefully selected menu, cannot always provide a child with everything he needs, besides, the health status of women is different. Therefore, at an early stage, it is recommended to discuss with the doctor multivitamin preparations that can be taken by a specific expectant mother. The conclusion about the deficiency or excess in the body of certain substances is made based on the results of a biochemical blood test. It must be carried out to all expectant mothers when registering with an antenatal clinic.
Nutrition in the first trimester of pregnancy should be flexible, a woman should be ready to change it at any time if something goes wrong in her pregnancy. If anemia is detected at an early stage, iron supplements, apples, buckwheat, red meats, and liver are recommended. If you are constipated, you will need to eat more raw vegetables rich in vegetable fiber.
For more information on nutrition for pregnant women in the first trimester, see the following video.
