So you know that diet in pregnancy is important. And you know that most pregnant women don’t have enough of the recommended foods.
What exactly are these ‘recommended foods’ in pregnancy? What is a ‘pregnancy diet’ after all?
First, let’s simplify things by breaking down the food we eat into four main food groups.
THE FOUR FOOD GROUPS
- Vegetables and fruit
- Grains, starchy vegetables
- Fish, chicken, legumes, meat and protein-rich alternatives
- Dairy and dairy-alternatives
Some examples from each group would be:
- Beetroot, pumpkin, spinach, parsnip, peas, strawberries
- Red rice, couscous, oats, buckwheat, corn, kumara and potato
- Eggs, salmon, quorn, chickpeas, tofu
- Cheese, yoghurt, soy milk, almond milk
WHAT ABOUT EXTRAS?
For those with an astute eye, you may have noticed some foods you eat do not fall into any category. As examples, oils, sauces, chippies and cookies. The first two are condiments and we use them in smaller quantities. The chippies and cookies we would call treat foods. As the name suggests, treat foods are enjoyed occasionally. If it’s every day or most days it’s no longer a treat! What is occasionally? You get to decide; for me, it’s less than once per month.
We’re recommended to eat a mix of foods each day from these four groups. The recommended amounts of each food group are below. It’s meeting these recommended amounts that pregnant women have a difficult time doing.
| Food group | Servings per day | Serving size |
| Veggies & fruit | Veggies >5 Fruit = 2 | A handful e.g. one apple, ½ cup frozen veg, one cup salad leaves, 3 strawberries |
| Grains & starchy vegetables | Grains 4-6 Starchy vegetables 1-2 | ½ cup cooked rice, cooked pasta, one slice of grainy bread ½ cup cooked potato, fist-size of kumara |
| Fish, chicken, legumes, meat and protein-rich alternatives | Legumes = 1 Others = 2 | ½ cup legumes Palm-size chicken & meat Hand size fish ½ cup tofu, quorn |
| Dairy & substitutes | 2-3 | Milk = 250mL Yoghurt = 100g Cheese = 40g |
WHO COMES UP WITH THESE RECOMMENDATIONS?
That’s a great question! Groups of people who have spent their careers researching, applying their knowledge and helping others to eat well meet together to agree on national recommendations. They look at all the evidence produced by studies and researchers from around the world and conclude that eating a particular way has better outcomes for mum and bub. Then they write a large document and make it available on the Ministry of Health website (in New Zealand).
The information is all there if you would like to read it – and those of you who enjoy researching may well do so. There is one problem though…it is a general document meant to guide every pregnant mumma in New Zealand.
…AND WE’RE ALL DIFFERENT
What we like eating, how we prepare and eat food, what times of day we eat, how we eat when tired and sick (a la first trimester) changes from woman to woman. You still need personalised nutrition support and guidance.
Furthermore, just as your supplements might change as pregnancy continues, the amount of food you need changes; as your body and weight are changing so your diet should shift too.
Why not get support around which supplements you need, what foods you should be eating, and guidance around your ideal weight gain during pregnancy?
As a pregnancy dietitian, that is exactly what Hannah loves to do! Get in touch, today!
