Planning pregnancy

Healthy nutrition to prepare you for pregnancy

Healthy nutrition is very important when trying for a baby as it provides essential nutrients necessary for your wellbeing, as well as to prepare your body for a healthy pregnancy.

The recommendations are of a typical healthy diet that includes a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole grains, which contain micronutrients important for your body functions, as well as fiber, which is good for your digestion. Make a good balance of your carbohydrate, protein and fat intake.

Good sources of carbohydrates are: bread, potatoes, rice, pasta and cereals. Opt for wholegrain versions whenever you can and leave the skin on your potatoes when you bake them, to increase the amount of fiber you intake. You may obtain proteins from: meat, eggs, fish and dairy products. Beans, peas and lentils are a good substitution for meat. In order not to put too much weight, it is recommendable to mostly stick to unsaturated fat, like vegetable oil.

The more balanced your diet is the more certain you will be that you are ingesting enough of what is needed.

Remember to drink plenty of water.

If however you are uncertain about your nutrition choices, you might consider visiting your doctor or a nutritionist for advice.

What to avoid?

You should limit the intake of sugar and avoid products like: chocolate, biscuits, sweets, sugary soft drinks etc. Reduce the intake of all types of processed foods, for they are high in calorie and low in nutritional value.

Avoid alcohol altogether and reduce the intake of caffeine, which is present not only in coffee, but also in tea, chocolate, certain soft drinks and energy drinks.

Smoking can also be harmful to you and your baby, and therefore it is recommendable not to smoke when trying for a baby, and all through your pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Despite all the efforts for eating healthy, it’s normal to be uncertain whether you are receiving enough necessary nutrients from your diet. Therefore you might also consider a specially formulated supplement like Premama Duo, for additional support.

It is also important to know that during the first few weeks of pregnancy, before most women find out they are pregnant, the baby’s neural tube has already formed. This neural tube forms baby’s brain and spinal cord, essential to the nervous system.

Therefore it is recommended to start taking 400mcg of folic acid a day, as early as you start trying for a baby, because it has been clinically proven that supplemental folic acid in the form of folate reduces the risk of neural tube defects.

Premama Duo contains 100% Quatrefolic ®, active folic acid – 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) – with a dose of 400 mcg in one tablet!