I'm currently pregnant with our first baby. And because I'm an enthusiastic aspiring nutritionist, I've obviously paid a lot of attention to what I'm putting into my body right now to support the growth of my belly and my baby. Following a balanced diet and a first trimester pregnancy diet chart that highlights the most important vitamins has been crucial for me. So today, I wanted to share with you guys the five things I'm making sure I actually eat every single day to help support my baby and my body throughout pregnancy.
The first thing that I've been eating every single day is kind of one of the more controversial things, and it's fish oil. It's controversial because there's research showing that high amounts of vitamin A might cause birth defects in some. But those studies were done with synthetic vitamin A, which is completely different than the vitamin A you get from whole food sources like liver or fish oil. I try to eat salmon every now and then, but honestly, like it's just not my thing. I needed to get another source of DHA to help support the baby's brain development. And for all the controversy around vitamin A, it's actually really important for organ development. So I personally take about a teaspoon of fish oil every morning with my meal. I do not forget about folic acid either.
The second thing that I eat every single day are eggs. So I've been eating 3 eggs per day, and that's mainly for the choline content because obviously you also get high-quality sources of essentially every vitamin and mineral that is in eggs. Eggs are like an absolute multivitamin. It's insane. And it's a really great source of protein, which during pregnancy is so important for the baby's development as well as for preventing pregnancy complications. I’m eating eggs every day for the choline, which is also super important and essential for brain development. And it's pretty hard to find in other foods, especially in bioavailable forms. But literally, like all of my daily needs can be covered with just 3 eggs per day. So I might have this as poached or scrambled eggs. Or if I'm making cottage cheese pancakes, I'll put two eggs in there and then maybe have like a hard-boiled egg later during the day. But I always make sure to have 3 eggs per day.
Now, anybody who's been pregnant knows that you're supposed to drink a lot of water. Case in point, I go through a lot of these jugs, and it's because the blood volume increasing, and more blood going to the baby. And so there just needs to be more liquid to support all of that. That's where water comes into play. The issue is with drinking more water. It can also dilute out more electrolytes unless you're replacing those electrolytes. Common electrolyte imbalance issues are things like headaches, muscle aches, constipation, and low energy; they already come with pregnancy. So to make sure that I don't double down on those pregnancy symptoms, I've been taking electrolytes every day and to be honest, like not TMI, but I have not had issues with headaches or constipation, which is like very nice because I hear that's a very common symptom with a lot of pregnant women.
The next thing that I eat is cottage cheese. Or if I'm not having cottage cheese, I have Greek yogurt.
Both of these are really high in protein, which is so important during pregnancy not only for the development of the baby and for pregnancy but also to help stabilize blood sugar levels. So I want to make sure that my blood sugar levels are very stable. So I'll usually have about either a cup of cottage cheese in my cottage cheese pancakes, making a cottage cheese bowl, or I'll have a cup of my homemade Greek yogurt.
Okay, the last thing that I have every day is either collagen or bone broth. My preferred method of collagen is usually in bone broth. So I'll either make my own more realistically, I use kettle and fire, or their kettle and fire soups. Collagen is really rich in an amino acid called glycine. That is so crucial for helping with the stretching and the ligaments and for actually creating collagen within our baby's body, especially in the second and third trimesters. Our glycine needs really go up because things are growing a lot faster. So to support not only my body but also the baby's body I've been having, it's usually like one or the other, either like ten grams worth of collagen from just regular collagen or ten grams worth from bone broth or bone broth soup.
With such a diet, I feel like I’m doing the best I can for both my baby and myself. Each thing I eat supports different aspects of my pregnancy, from brain and organ development to keeping my energy up and helping me avoid some of the more uncomfortable symptoms.
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